What to KnowIn the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action (“The goalie blocked the shot”). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action or is affected by it (“The shot was blocked by the goalie”). Both example sentences have the same meaning, but they put the spotlight on different words. Knowing when to use active voice or passive voice will help you communicate more effectively.
Mistakes were made.
Spotting the difference between active and passive
In an active sentence the pattern tends to be doer → action → receiver.
Active: The committee approved the budget. The committee (doer) did the approving; the budget (receiver) got approved.
If you reverse the order the receiver becomes the subject:
Passive: The budget was approved by the committee.
One way to identify sentences written in the passive voice is that they usually have a version of be (is, was, were) plus a past participle (written, broken, made).
Active: A storm severely damaged the roof.
Passive: The roof was severely damaged by a storm.
When the passive voice works well
- When the doer is unknown. News reports often begin with the passive voice, because the fact of an event is known before the person responsible is.
Passive: Two windows were broken overnight.
- When you want to emphasize the result, not the cause. For instance, when writing about a damaged bridge, the most relevant information is the bridge’s condition, not the identity of the people who closed it.
Passive: The bridge has been closed for repairs.
- When the receiver is much more important than the doer. In scientific writing, for instance, the experiment typically matters more than the person running it:
Passive: The samples were tested at seven different temperatures.
Why to avoid the passive voice
Many people find that the active voice is more clear and engaging, and that use of the passive voice has a tendency to make writing sound weak or evasive. The passive voice also gets a bad reputation due to its use as a tool for avoiding responsibility. A classic example of this is saying “mistakes were made,” rather than “we made some mistakes.” Overuse of the passive voice in this way can make your writing feel insincere, or resemble a press release.
The quick test
Ask yourself ‘who or what is doing the action, and is that the subject of my sentence?’ If the answer to the second part of this question is ‘yes,’ you have used the active voice. If the subject is receiving the action (or the doer has been removed from the sentence) you have used the passive voice. It is important to note that neither one is inherently wrong; each voice is more appropriate in certain settings.
