The president of the corporation also witnessed the brash theft. Writers need to know what to do when these situations occur. However, in some circumstances, passive voice is actually more effective than active voice. (Note that in this sentence the person performing the action has been eliminated entirely) When Should I Use Passive Voice?Īctive voice tends to be more direct and less wordy than passive voice, so in most cases, you should choose an active voice construction over a passive one. The glass tubing was inserted into the rubber stopper.

Look at these examples of passive voice and notice how the action of the sentences moves toward the left:ĭifficult assignments are always given by my teacher. The professor was tripped by Julie. (PASSIVE VOICE) In the following example, the subject (the professor) is acted upon (tripped) by an outside force (Julie). In passive voice, the subject is acted upon by someone or something else therefore, the subject of the sentence does not provide the answer to the question: “Who did it?” Instead, the person or thing that performs the action is either absent from the sentence or sandwiched into a prepositional phrase that begins with the word by. In each of these sentences, you should ask yourself, “Who tripped?” “Who gives?” and “Who inserted?” Since the sentences are in active voice, the answer to these questions will be the subject of the sentence (Julie, my teacher and I). I inserted the glass tubing into the rubber stopper. My teacher always gives difficult assignments.

Notice that the action of the sentence progresses to the right: In the example below, the subject of the sentence (Julie) performed an action (tripped) on the object (the professor). One way to determine whether a sentence is active or passive is to ask the question, “Who did it?” If the subject of the sentence has performed the action, then it is probably active voice. Passive voice is generally vague and undesirable in a well-constructed paper hence, it should be used sparingly. The voice of a verb indicates whether a subject is acting or being acted upon. Understanding the difference between active and passive voice enhances the writer’s craft.

Activepassive voice