This handout is also available for download in PDF format. We refer to a sentence as being in the "active voice" when the subject is performing the action of the sentence (the verb). A sentence is in ...

As an example of the passive voice I offer the following sentence: “The dog was hit by a car.” I then ask students to make it active: “A car hit the dog.” It is usually clear that the second sentence ...

In the Strunk example above, the leaves aren’t exactly juggling chainsaws, but it’s a mistake to equate physical passivity with the passive voice: I slept is an active sentence, while I was ...

Which is the better way to compose your research; the direct, bold language of active voice, or the objective, nuanced tone of passive voice? We’ve gathered two expert wordsmiths from the world of ...

However, in each pair one sentence uses the active voice and one uses the passive voice ... is closer to the beginning of the sentence. For example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would ...

Writing in the active voice makes the meaning clear while keeping sentences from becoming complicated and wordy. Sentences using passive voice are not necessarily wrong, just less effective than ...

Here is an appropriate example: "In the past three decades ... If only for the sake of using fewer words, then, the active voice is ordinarily preferable to the passive voice.

However, in each pair one sentence uses the active voice and one uses the passive voice ... is closer to the beginning of the sentence. For example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would ...