The voice you convey as a writer is important because it influences how readers perceive your ideas. The passive voice is generally discouraged in composition because the subject of the sentence receives the action rather than performing the action itself. Writing in the passive voice can make your work sound flat and uninteresting. It can also imply uncertainty in a statement or a lack of confidence in your ideas overall. The meaning of sentences that use the passive voice can often become lost, leaving readers with unanswered questions. None of these outcomes encourage the reader to consider your points or take your ideas seriously. Focus on writing in the active voice to clearly and effectively express your ideas. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action.
The structure of the passive and active voice depends on where the writer positions the subject, verb, and object of a sentence. Here is an example of the passive voice structure and how to change it to reflect the active voice:
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the sentence.
The students were taught by the teacher.
Object Verb Subject
Although the teacher is the one instructing students, the teacher is not emphasized as the primary actor. Placing the subject at the end of the sentence is often wordy (in this case, by the teacher). The passive voice also relies on “to be” verbs (in this case, were), which creates a flat tone.
Conversely, the active voice is preferable because the subject performs the action of the verb.
Subject Verb Object
Featuring the subject at the beginning of the sentence is helpful because it establishes the main actor (the teacher). The active verb, taught, is stronger and more direct than a “to be” verb (were taught).
Mistakes were made when writing the bill.
Object Verb
This example of the passive voice is vague and deceptive. It leaves the reader with many questions, not the least of which is “Who made the mistakes?” Without a clear subject to the sentence, no one can be attributed to the action. This leads to other questions, like: Why has the writer left out the subject? Are they trying not to place blame for the mistakes? Was the writer uncertain about who made the mistakes? Why wouldn’t the writer find out? None of these unanswered questions leave a reader with much confidence in your writing.
Women have always been oppressed.
Object Verb
In this example, the sentence demonstrates a lack of careful thought. With no clear subject to indicate who or what is responsible for the oppression, the sentence fails to recognize all the possibilities a reader is left to plug in as the culprit. Have their mothers oppressed them? Society at large? Is Capitalism to blame? Or the institution of marriage? The meaning of the sentence is easily lost without the use of active voice.
While most disciplines prefer the active voice, you may be asked to use passive voice for scientific writing where you need to feature the research itself and not the researchers. For example:
The vaccine trials were performed by a team of researchers.
Object Verb Subject
Using the passive construction in this example emphasizes the scientific achievement (vaccine trials) rather than the people involved (team of researchers).
As you read through your paper, look for the “to be” verb forms: am, is, was, were, are, or been. Then, look for the “to have” verb forms: have, has, or had. Decide if these forms are necessary to the meaning of the sentence, or if they are obstructing it. There are plenty of instances where the “to be” and “to have” verbs are perfectly acceptable (i.e., He is a student. They have two dogs.). However, if these verb forms appear in a sentence that follows the passive structure demonstrated above, it is advisable to take a hard look at why. When in doubt, restructure the sentence to follow the more natural and direct sentence order of the active voice: subject, verb, object.
Source consulted: Upswing Writing Lab
Guide created by: C. Jones 3/17/2021, E. Raley 6/5/2021
Revised by: B. McCoid 1/19/2024
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