Active vs. Passive Voice – Definitions, Examples, Rules, and Uses
Active vs. passive voice
Active voice occurs when the subject of a sentence performs the action of the verb, whereas when a sentence is written in passive voice, the subject is the recipient of the action:
Active Voice: The teacher took an informal poll.
Passive Voice: An informal poll was taken by the teacher.
Sentences in the passive voice contain a conjugated form of the verb to be (is, was, has been, will be, etc.) and the past participle form of a verb. Past participle refers to an action that was started and completed in the past. These verbs typically end in -ed, -d, -en, or -t. Passive voice sentences often contain a preposition or prepositional phrase, like by.
Active voice helps writers present their information clearly and concisely. Passive voice emphasizes the action or the object within a sentence, limiting the importance of the subject.
Active vs. passive voice examples
Below are two lists of example sentences written in both the active and passive voice.
The following are examples of active voice sentences:
She delivered the letters yesterday.
The teacher assigned a book report.
The company will hire at least two new employees.
The salesman helped the confused customer at the store.
Hundreds of tourists visit the museum each year.
Below are examples of sentences written with a passive voice:
The letters were delivered by her yesterday.
A book report was assigned.
At least two new employees will be hired by the company.
The confused customer was helped at the store.
The museum is visited each year by hundreds of tourists.
Active and passive voice rules
General rules for active and passive voice include the following:
The placement of the subject, verb, and object determines if a sentence is active or passive.
Active Voice: subject + verb + object
Passive Voice: object + to be + past participle verb + subject (optional)
Interchanging the object and subject determines if a sentence is active or passive.
Active Voice: The dog (subject) jumped over the fence (object).
Passive Voice: The fence (object) was jumped over by the dog (subject).
The subject does not need to be directly identified when using passive voice.
Passive Voice: The fire was extinguished in less than an hour.
The verb form can determine if a sentence is active or passive.
Active Voice: He ate (past tense verb) the entire cake by himself.
Passive Voice: The entire cake was eaten (past participle) by himself.
How to change passive voice to active voice
To change a sentence from passive to active, first determine what makes the sentence passive, and then apply one of the following rules:
Position of subject and object: The position of the subject and the object in a passive sentence are often switched, with the object placed before the verb and the subject placed after.
Switching the position of the object and subject will change the sentence to active voice.
Passive Voice: A letter (object) was written by him (subject) to his family.
Active Voice: He (subject) wrote a letter (object) to his family.
Missing Subject: The grammatical subject of the sentence is often omitted in passive voice.
If the subject or “doer” of the action is not identified, rewrite the sentence with it positioned before the main verb.
Passive Voice: The apples were sold all day.
Active Voice: The farmer (subject) sold the apples all day.
Conjugation and Past Participle: Sentences written in passive voice include a conjugated form of to be followed by the past participle form of the main verb.
To change this type of passive voice to an active sentence, remove the verb to be and change the verb form to agree with the subject. The subject should then be placed before the new verb.
Passive Voice: The pizza was (conjugated form of to be)eaten (past participle verb) by the entire team.
Active Voice: The entire team ate (new conjugated verb) the pizza.
When to use active vs. passive voice
It is typically recommended that writers use active voice in academic writing, as it allows the writer to provide direct and concise information. However, use of the passive voice can be preferred under certain circumstances:
To emphasize the action in the sentence rather than the actor
To create mystery regarding the subject
To avoid naming the subject or when the subject is unknown
To focus on the object rather than the subject
To focus on objective or factual information, like in scientific writing
