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Multiple Choice

Which voice is demonstrated by the sentence 'The ball was thrown by Drew'?

In this sentence the focus is on the thing receiving the action, not on who does it, so it’s in passive voice. The ball is the subject, and it has the action done to it—thrown. The phrase “was thrown” shows a form of “to be” plus the past participle, signaling a past action that is not described as happening by the subject. The doer, Drew, comes afterward in a by-phrase. The active counterpart would be “Drew threw the ball,” where Drew is the subject performing the action. A past perfect would use “had,” as in “Drew had thrown the ball,” and a present continuous would be “is throwing” or “are throwing.” So, the sentence demonstrates the passive voice.

In this sentence the focus is on the thing receiving the action, not on who does it, so it’s in passive voice. The ball is the subject, and it has the action done to it—thrown. The phrase “was thrown” shows a form of “to be” plus the past participle, signaling a past action that is not described as happening by the subject. The doer, Drew, comes afterward in a by-phrase. The active counterpart would be “Drew threw the ball,” where Drew is the subject performing the action. A past perfect would use “had,” as in “Drew had thrown the ball,” and a present continuous would be “is throwing” or “are throwing.” So, the sentence demonstrates the passive voice.