passív

Passív refers to the passive voice in grammar. It is a grammatical construction where the subject of a sentence receives the action of the verb, rather than performing it. This is in contrast to the active voice, where the subject performs the action.

In many languages, the passive voice is formed by using a form of the verb "to be" and the past participle of the main verb. For example, in English, "The ball was thrown by John" is in the passive voice. The subject "the ball" receives the action of "was thrown." The active voice equivalent would be "John threw the ball."

The passive voice can be used for various reasons. It can be employed to emphasize the object of the action rather than the performer, or when the performer of the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context. For instance, "Mistakes were made" is a common passive construction where the perpetrator is not specified. In scientific or formal writing, the passive voice is often used to maintain objectivity and focus on the process or result rather than the experimenter.

However, overuse of the passive voice can make writing sound indirect, wordy, or even evasive. It can obscure who is responsible for an action, which can be a stylistic disadvantage in many contexts. Therefore, writers are often advised to use the passive voice judiciously and to favor the active voice when clarity and directness are desired. The specific rules and common uses of the passive voice vary across different languages.