|
|
- pronunciation:
- pae
sihv
| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition 1: |
If you are passive, something may be happening around you, but you are not active in it. If you are passive, something may be happening to you, but you are not doing anything back.
Watching television is a passive activity.- similar words:
- dormant, motionless, still
|
| definition 2: |
"Passive" is a word that describes something in grammar. Think about this sentence: "Jade baked the cookies." Then think about another sentence: "The cookies were baked by Jade." The same thing actually happens in these two sentences. There is baking and the result is cookies. But the first sentence, "Jade baked the cookies," is called an "active" statement, and the second sentence,"The cookies were baked by Jade," is called a "passive" statement. In passive statements, sometimes the person or thing doing the action of the verb--causing what happens--is not even mentioned.
Here are some examples of passive statements:.The towels were washed yesterday.Both fish were caught by Connor.One man was injured in the crash.The cows were milked early this morning.The garbage will be collected tomorrow. |
| related words: |
neutral |
| contrasting words: |
aggressive |
| derivations: |
passively (adv.), passiveness (n.), passivity (n.) |
|
|