For example, ‘Pupils are not allowed in the dining hall after 1:45 p.m. To create an authoritative or factual tone.For example, ‘I had the feeling that I was being watched.’ - I don’t know who was watching me Because we don't know or do not want to say who performed the action.For example, the castle was built in 1066 - we are interested in the castle, not in who built it. To show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action.Passive: The solution was poured into the beaker and heated to 100. Now take a look at these two examples: Active: I poured the solution into the beaker and heated it to 100. Reasons to use the passive voiceĪlthough the active voice is usually the preferred choice, there are sometimes good reasons to use the passive voice: In the second pair, the passive voice makes the message sound stilted and formal rather than an urgent exclamation. Rewrite the sentence so that the subject in the 'by' phrase is closer to the beginning of the sentence.įor example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would change to ‘The pupil passed the exam’. Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences. Passive voice sentences often use more words, can be vague, and can lead to a tangle of prepositional phrases. Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, choosing your words carefully and using active rather than passive voice will always produce more powerful and engaging writing. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy. Improving Your Writing Style Use the active voice Use the active voice Generally, try to use the active voice whenever possible. Finally, because active voice uses simpler sentence structures than passive voice, it allows writers to better manage the flow of information and keep their readers engaged. One way to avoid using the passive voice is to look for a ‘by’ phrase. Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what’s the difference In the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action on the action’s target. Who scored the goal? Doesn’t the writer know? Converting sentences to active voice ![]() Just paste your resume into the app and it will. You can also easily check to see if your resume is using the passive voice with a free online tool called HemingwayApp. If it were in the active voice, it would have only one word: grew. Passive sentences can cause confusion because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action. For example, the verb was grown comprises two words, meaning that it is in the passive voice. Active: The teacher collected the books. ![]() Passive: The books were collected by the teacher. ![]() Using the active voice in a sentence often means less words are used than in the passive voice.
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