Definition of active/passive voice

The verb is active when the subject of the sentence is the doer of the action:

The boy threw the rock.

The boy is doing the action of the verb threw. The rock is the receiver of the action.

Passive voice makes the subject the receiver of the action.

The rock was thrown by the boy.

In the following examples, both sentences are grammatically correct, but the second communicates the main idea more quickly and directly.

passive: The activities of women in colonial Pennsylvania are described vividly by Joan Jensen.

active: Joan Jensen vividly describes the activities of women in colonial Pennsylvania.

Preference for Active Voice

Generally, active voice is preferred because it is

 

	less wordy than passive
	less ambiguous
	more active because the doer of the action is the focus of attention
	easier to read than the passive voice

Effective Use of Passive Voice

In some situations, however, the passive voice may be used effectively. In fact, a sentence used above--"You may have been told by a writing teacher to avoid using the passive voice"--employs the passive voice. We chose to use the passive voice because we wanted to emphasize you in the sentence. Let the writing situation guide your use of active or passive voice.

Use the passive voice when

	the person/thing receiving the action is more important than the performer of the action. Harry Osgood was elected county commissioner by a mere 51% of voters.
	you do not want to mention the person/thing performing the action. My parents' favorite lamp was broken.
	you need a smooth transition from one sentence or section of a document to the next. We will develop a new budgeting process that will include all work center supervisors. Work center supervisors will be interviewed by department management.

Changing passive voice to active voice

The following steps can help you change a passive voice sentence to the active voice:

1. Locate the verb of the sentence.

   My parents' favorite lamp was broken by my sister Julie.

2. Determine who the actor of the sentence is (the doer of the action). The actor may or may not be used in the passive voice sentence. Write the sentence so that the actor performs the action.

   My sister Julie broke my parents' favorite lamp.