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Active vs. Passive Voice

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13 views

Active vs. Passive Voice

Uploaded by

vulturebigman5188
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Active Vs.

Passive Voice

Definition (from grammar.commnet.edu):


Verbs are also said to be either active or passive in voice. In the active voice, the subject and
verb relationship is straightforward: the subject is the actor of the sentence and the verb
moves the sentence along. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon by
some other agent or by something unnamed.

In other words, in active voice, the subject is the be-er and the do-er of the sentence. In
passive voice, the subject is not a be-er or a doer, but is the target of the action.

Examples
Active: I heard it through the grapevine.
Passive: It was heard by me through the grapevine.

Active: Robinson argues that schools need to account for student creativity.
Passive: In Robinson’s talk it was argued that schools need to account for student creativity.

Active: A CNN poll found that support for gay marriage is steadily growing.
Passive: It was found that support for gay marriage is steadily growing.

Active: I’ve never told this story to anyone before.


Passive: This story has never been told before.

Is passive voice always wrong?

The short answer is: no. The use of passive voice is not a grammatical mistake or even
necessarily a problem. Sometimes, like in the last example above, writers use passive voice
deliberately because using an indirect expression is rhetorically effective. Also, scientific
writing often uses passive voice because it allows writers to avoid using personal pronouns
or the names of particular researchers. It’s simply important to be making the conscious
choice between active and passive voice, so that if you use passive voice in your writing, you
have a clear purpose for doing so.

Here are the main reasons you may want to avoid passive voice:

1. It can create awkward and/or unclear sentences (see the second example above).
2. It can make your writing seem flat and uninteresting since it removes any strong,
specific subject at the start of a sentence.
3. It can undermine your authority as a writer if you don’t have a specific subject; it
may seem like you have to be vague and general because you don’t know what
you’re talking about (see the third example above).

Some more advice

 Using active voice for the majority of your sentences keeps the sentences from
becoming too complicated or wordy. Sentences written in active voice often require
fewer words.
 You can recognize passive voice because the verb phrase will include a form of be
(was, am, are, been, is). Don't assume that just because there is a form of 'be' that
the sentence is passive, however. Sometimes a prepositional phrase like "by the" in
the sentences above indicates that the action is performed on the subject, and that
the sentence is passive.
 It’s good to avoid sentences that starts in active voice and then shifts to passive. For
example: Many customers in the restaurant found the coffee too bitter to drink, but
it was still ordered frequently.

Additional Resources
 The most helpful resource I used was the Purdue Owl Online Writing Lab. That site
not only explains many grammar topics, but also provides tons of really useful
examples of all different kinds.
 The second most helpful resource I used was the Grammar Girl’s Tips. I liked that
she used very common examples of both active and passive voice, and some
examples from pop culture too. I also appreciated that she discussed the use of
passive voice as a rhetorical choice that can work well in certain writing situations.
 I also looked at the pages on active vs. passive voice in Acts of Inquiry, the old edition
of the UW composition textbook, because it specifically references Tim O’brien’s use
of active and passive voices in his creative writing.

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