Active vs Passive Voice
Writing sentences that hit hard and sentences that get hit
Writing sentences that hit hard and sentences that get hit
In grammar, voice tells us whether the subject of a sentence is doing something or having something done to it. This is one of those concepts that sounds complicated but is actually pretty intuitive once you see it in action. Every time you write a sentence, you are making a choice about who or what is the star of the sentence and what role they play. That choice determines the voice.
English has two voices: active and passive. The active voice is direct and straightforward. The subject performs the action of the verb. The passive voice is more roundabout — the subject receives the action instead of performing it. Both are grammatically correct, but they create very different effects, and one is usually better for clear writing.
In an active sentence, the subject is the doer. The dog bit the mailman. Sarah finished the project. The storm destroyed the roof. In each case, the subject is doing something, and the sentence feels direct and clear. Active voice sentences tend to be shorter, easier to understand, and more engaging to read. They give the reader a clear picture of who is doing what.
Think about the difference between hearing "The ball broke the window" versus "The window was broken by the ball." The first sentence tells you clearly what happened and what caused it. The second sentence makes you wait longer to get to the key information. The active version gets to the point. This is why writing guides consistently recommend active voice as the default choice for most situations.
In a passive sentence, the subject is on the receiving end of the action. The mailman was bitten by the dog. The project was finished by Sarah. The roof was destroyed by the storm. These sentences use a form of the verb "to be" (was, were, is, are, been) plus the past participle of the main verb. They also often include a "by" phrase that tells us who or what performed the action.
Passive voice is not wrong. There are legitimate reasons to use it. Sometimes you do not know who performed an action: "The window was broken last night." Here, "by someone" would be added if we knew who did it. Sometimes the receiver of the action is more important than the doer: "The president was elected in 2020." Here, the emphasis is on the president, not who voted for him. And in scientific writing, passive voice is traditionally used to sound more objective: "The solution was heated to 100 degrees Celsius."
Spotting passive voice becomes easy once you know what to look for. A sentence is passive if it uses a form of "to be" (am, is, are, was, were, been, being) plus a past participle, and the subject is not performing the action. Look for the pattern: something is being done to the subject, rather than the subject doing something.
Here are some telltale signs. The sentence will have a "was" or "were" or "is/are" in it, followed by a verb that ends in "-ed" (or an irregular past participle like "broken," "written," "eaten"). There might be a "by" phrase after the verb. The subject will sound like it is not doing anything. For example, "Mistakes were made" is passive. Who made them? The sentence does not say directly. If you rewrote it as "We made mistakes," it becomes active and much clearer.
Changing an active sentence to passive is a useful skill, especially when you are editing your own writing. Here is the step-by-step process. First, identify the subject and the verb. The subject is doing something in an active sentence. Second, flip them: the old object becomes the new subject. Third, change the verb to a form of "to be" plus the past participle. Fourth, add a "by" phrase if you want to mention who did the action.
Let us convert "The chef prepared a delicious meal." The subject is "the chef," the verb is "prepared," and the object is "a delicious meal." To make it passive: the meal becomes the subject, the verb changes to "was prepared" (form of to be + past participle), and we add "by the chef." So the passive version is "A delicious meal was prepared by the chef." Notice how the sentence shifted. The meal is now the focus, not the chef.
Going the other way — from passive to active — makes your writing punchier and more direct. Find the "by" phrase and make that person or thing the new subject. Then change the verb from its "to be" form back to its regular form. Finally, flip the old subject to become the object. It sounds mechanical, but with practice it becomes natural.
Take "The city was destroyed by the earthquake." The "by" phrase tells us the earthquake did it, so the earthquake becomes the new subject. The verb "was destroyed" becomes "destroyed." And the old subject "the city" becomes the object. The active version: "The earthquake destroyed the city." Much shorter, much clearer. If there is no "by" phrase in the passive sentence — "The window was broken" — you may need to supply a subject, like "Someone broke the window" or "Vandals broke the window," depending on context.
Active voice should be your default. It makes sentences shorter, clearer, and more engaging. Readers can process active sentences faster because they follow a natural cause-and-effect structure. When you are telling a story, giving instructions, or making a point, active voice helps you get there more effectively. "I dropped the plate and it shattered" is active and immediate. "The plate was dropped and shattered" is passive and creates distance.
Passive voice is appropriate in specific situations. When you do not know who performed an action, passive is the natural choice: "My bike was stolen last night." When the receiver of the action matters more than the doer: "The Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776." In scientific and technical writing, passive voice has a long tradition of sounding objective: "The sample was examined under a microscope." In formal reports and official documents, sometimes passive voice helps maintain a professional tone without assigning blame: "Mistakes were made" sounds less accusatory than "You made mistakes."
The biggest problem with passive voice is overuse. When every sentence is passive, writing becomes dull, wordy, and hard to follow. Students sometimes overuse passive voice because it feels more formal, but the opposite is true — active voice is usually more direct and more formal in the best sense. A paragraph full of passive sentences reads like a medical report or a police blotter.
One good strategy is to read your writing aloud. Passive sentences often sound awkward or clunky when spoken. If a sentence sounds clunky, try converting it to active. Another strategy is to add a "who did it?" test. Ask yourself who is doing the action. If you cannot answer that question, the sentence might be passive. That is not always bad, but if you find yourself avoiding the question, your writing may be hiding something — and that is a habit worth breaking.