Ever get confused with the homophones ‘bear’ and ‘bare’?

‘Bare’ only ever means naked or uncovered.

Active puts the focus on the who or what doing something (the subject) while passive puts the focus on the who or what it’s being done to (the object).

Use passive when you want to soften a harsh statement. “Your bill has not been paid” rather than “You haven’t paid your bill”.

Or a misplaced modifier? Or a dangling participle, as they are sometimes called? More to the point, who cares?

In the sentence “Rushing to catch the bus, Bob’s wallet fell out of his pocket” the modifying clause (rushing to catch the bus) contains the verb participle (rushing).