middle voice

In grammar, voice refers to how a verb relates its subject to the action of the verb. The primary distinctions are active and passive voice. In the active voice, the subject performs the action (e.g., "Jerry knocked over the lamp"). In the passive voice, the subject is acted upon (e.g., "The lamp was knocked over by Jerry"). The passive voice often uses a form of "to be" followed by a past participle and can be useful for emphasizing the action or when the doer is unknown or unnamed.12

Middle voice is another distinction, focusing on an action or state where the subject's interest is primary. Unlike the passive voice, which centers on the recipient of the action, the middle voice highlights how the action affects the subject.1