Active vs Passive Voice: Choosing on Purpose
Writing Toolkit · Sentences
Neither voice is 'better'. The active puts an actor in lights; the passive puts the result there. Weak writers default to one; strong writers choose per sentence, for emphasis and for honesty.
Forming the Passive
Passive = be + past participle, with the actor optional in a by-phrase: “The window was broken (by the wind).” Any tense works: is built, was built, has been built, will be built, is being built. Keep the tense INSIDE the be-verb; the participle never changes.
- Present: “The rooms are cleaned daily.”
- Past: “The bridge was built in 1903.”
- Perfect: “The rules have been changed.”
- Modal: “The form must be signed.”
- Two-object verbs get two passives: “She was given a prize.” / “A prize was given to her.”
When the Passive Wins
Use the passive when the actor is unknown (“My bike was stolen”), obvious (“He was arrested”), irrelevant (processes: “The mixture is heated”), or when the RECEIVER is the topic of the paragraph — cohesion often demands it: “The vaccine was developed in record time. It was tested on…” Repeating the topic first keeps the chain clean.
- Science and process writing: methods sections live in the passive.
- News: “Three people were injured” — victims before agents.
- Diplomacy: “The deadline was missed” — when naming the culprit would end the negotiation.
- Topic continuity: keep the paragraph's star in subject position.
When the Active Wins — and the Passive Lies
Use the active for responsibility, energy, and narrative: “The committee rejected the plan” assigns the act; “The plan was rejected” dissolves it. The agentless passive is the classic tool of blame-evasion (“Mistakes were made”) — readers decode it instantly. In your own apologies, decisions, and claims, the active is not just clearer; it is the ethics of the sentence.
- Apologies: “We made a mistake.” (never “A mistake was made.”)
- Arguments: “X causes Y” can be checked; “Y is caused” hides the claimant.
- Stories: actors act. Passive narration drains a scene's pulse.
- Rule of thumb: if YOU did it and it matters, say “I/we did it.”
Watch Out: Common Errors
✗ The new bridge was build last year and it is use by thousands of cars.
✓ The new bridge was built last year and is used by thousands of cars. (be + PAST PARTICIPLE)
✗ Mistakes were made in the delivery of your order, and delays were experienced.
✓ We made mistakes with your order, and we delayed it. Here is your refund and our apology.
✗ The experiment was conducted and the results were analyzed and conclusions were drawn by the team after the data was collected by them.
✓ The team collected the data, ran the experiment, and analyzed the results. (One passive chain was enough for a whole novel.)
Practice
Related lessons
✍️ Explaining How Something Works✍️ Nominalization and Academic Register: The Power and the Price✍️ Writing Reports: Findings People Actually Read📘 Grammar deep-dive← All Toolkit pages · Writing Lab
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