In order to achieve the strongest possible content, professional writers prefer writing in active voice vs. This involves more than just getting the grammar right - writers must craft sentences in a way that keeps the flow and momentum moving forward. Grabbing the reader and capturing his or her attention means using verbs and active voice properly. Seasoned writers know that small details matter, and just rearranging a few words can make a big difference. Source link.Looking to make your written content sparkle and shine with active voice? 'Active vs Passive Voice in Your Writing.'. *This page borrows from the following source: “ Active Versus Passive Voice,” an article from.“ Passive Voice,” from the UNC Writing Center.The reports had been completed by the students.ġ0. Claudia was enraged by Richard’s sarcastic comments.Ĩ. Many fine sites are hosted by Software Workshop.ħ. Many inventions were created by Edison.Ħ. You will be made well by this medicine!Ĥ. This awful mess was made by your friends.Ģ. In Table 8.6, convert the following passive voice construction to active voice (for example, “James was chosen by Kathy to be her assistant” would become “Kathy chose James to be her assistant”): TABLE 8.6 PASSIVE VOICEġ. Most of the time, however, you can improve a sentence by changing it from passive to active voice.įor more information, watch the following video “ Active vs Passive Voice in Your Writing,” from :Įxercise: Changing Passive Voice to Active When you need to use the passive voice, use it. (agent is obvious-liver transplant surgeries are typically performed by surgeons. An experimental liver transplant surgery was completed yesterday.The passive is also used in many expressions where the writer chooses to be vague about assigning responsibility or when the agent is obvious. Ten people were killed in the plane crash (the focus is on the ten people killed, even though the plane crash is the subject).(the focus is on Tracy, not the TV nightly news).

Tracy was featured on the TV nightly news.Other times you might want to emphasize the recipient, so you would put it at the front in the sentence where it gets the most attention. Sometimes you simply don’t know who or what performed an action (news stories often use passive voice sentences), or you deliberately want to leave out who or what performed an action because it’s obvious or unimportant. Not every passive verb can or should be made active. Fred’s peers selected him to serve on the student council.Put the agent or doer in at the beginning of the sentence followed by the verb (rearrange the sentence, in other words).Fred was selected by his peers to serve on the student council.Locate the agent who/that performs the action.Fred was selected by his peers to serve on the student council.Also, you can look for any ‘ by the’ phrases (something was done by someone). Identify the passive verb: find the “to be” verb (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been).and files were stolen (doesn’t specify who or what ransacked it-either because it is unknown or because the writer has chosen to put the focus of the sentence on the office being ransacked rather than who ransacked it). It essentially shifts the reader’s focus to what happened rather than who or what did it, which in certain situations may work to your advantage. For example, consider the following sentence: “Mistakes were made.” This sentence is problematical (and potentially unethical-see previous chapter on ethics) because it leaves out who made the mistakes, thereby deflecting blame and accountability. Passive voice also occurs when the agent is missing or left off. Passive: Jackie was given a gift by her mother.Passive: The man was bitten by the dog.

Passive voice occurs when the subject is the recipient of the action. Active: Jackie’s mother gave her a gift.Subject-verb constructed sentences are the clearest and most effective way to communicate information. In technical writing, it is almost always preferable to put the subject at the front of the sentence, followed by an active verb. The person or object performing an action is called the agent. Active VoiceĪctive voice occurs when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the sentence. Good writing keeps passive voice to a minimum and uses active voice whenever possible. However, passive voice, instead of making a paper sound more professional, actually makes the writing unclear, hard to follow, and, at times, even boring.

New writers often use the passive voice because they think it sounds more professional. English verbs have two voices- active and passive.

Active vs passive voice in copywriting