Question:
My english teacher maintains that all instances of the verb "to be" are
passive voice, including the predicate nominative and the predicate
adjective. When I confronted her with the definition of passive voice and
the claim that a sentance such as "the dog is brown" is not passive voice,
she asked what voice the is in if it isn't passive voice. I was wondering if
anyone knows what voice "the dog is brown" is in, if any. I am certain it
is not passive voice because passive voice requires a past participle
Answer:
You are right, and she is wrong. Active voice. The verb "to be" in
this usage is called "copulative" or "linking."
"To be" can also be used with the present participle, as in "I am
writing a letter." This structure is known as the present
continuous or present progressive, and again it is in the active
voice.
The passive voice occurs when the subject of the sentence is the
recipient of the action represented by the verb: "The dog was kicked
by its master." The action is kicking, and the dog is what was
kicked. But if you say "The dog was brown," there is no action,
just a state of existence. "Is" is coplative, and the sentence is
in the active voice.
If it makes you feel any better, many teachers of English to native
speakers are just as befuddled
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