What is the active voice?

Active voice versus passive voice

Writing should be easy to follow—it’s all about ensuring a subject carries out an action. When appropriate, the action can flow into the next sentence, ideas can build upon each other. The active voice is a key component for promoting clarity in your writing, ensuring that your sentences are easy to understand.

When you employ the active voice effectively, the subject should be placed before the verb. For instance, in the active sentence, “The host ended the party,” the subject is “the host,” and it performs the action, “ended,” upon the object, “the party.” In contrast, when you invert the order, as in “The party was ended by the host,” the sentence becomes passive, starting with the object and concluding with the subject. This change in structure can make the sentence confusing and harder to grasp. Writing in an active voice not only enhances clarity but also results in more concise sentences, as it eliminates the need for extraneous prepositions like “by.”

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To further illustrate the difference between passive and active voice, here are a few more examples:

• Active: The parrot repeated my words. (The subject is “the parrot”.)
• Passive: My words were repeated by the parrot. (The subject is after the verb.)
• Active: The janitor jangled his heavy keys down the hall. (The subject is “the janitor”.)
• Passive: The heavy keys were jangled down the hall by the janitor. (The subject follows the verb.)

An occasional passive sentence won’t make your writing entirely incomprehensible, but it’s preferable to use active voice as much as possible. Active voice simplifies your writing and delivers effective communication to your audience.

Tips for using an active voice

To ensure an active voice in your writing, try some of the following tips:

Pair an action verb with the subject

Start your sentences with a subject paired with an action verb. This sentence construction creates direct, concise, and active sentences making your writing accessible and clear.

Move the subject from the end of the sentence to the beginning

To transform passive sentences into active ones, start with the subject if it’s at the end of the sentence. Move the subject to the beginning, pair it with an action verb, and conclude with the object.

Review sentences that use the verb “be”

Passive writing often includes forms of the word “be” like “am,” “is,” “are,” and “were.” While not always the case, eliminating “be” from your writing enhances clarity and conciseness. For instance:

• Passive: The dogs were walking toward me.
• Active: The dogs walked toward me.

Pay close attention to how frequently you use versions of the word “be” in your sentences; selective usage can elevate your writing’s quality.

The active voice is a fundamental component of high-quality writing. By consistently, incorporating the active voice into your writing, you ensure your message is easily understood by your readers. If you need more ways to improve clarity in your writing, learn more writing tips.