A sentence that is written in the passive voice has a subject that performs no action. Instead, the subject is acted upon. To create the passive voice, combine a form of the verb be with a past participle.
| PASSIVE | The memo was written by an employee. [The subject, memo, did not write itself. An employee wrote the memo, but the subject in the sentence, memo, performs no action.] |
In sentences that use the active voice, the subject performs the action.
| ACTIVE | An employee wrote the memo. |
Use the passive voice when no one person performed the action, when you don’t know who performed the action, or when you want to emphasize the receiver of the action. Use the active voice whenever possible, and use passive voice sparingly.
| PASSIVE | The dog was hit by a passing car. [If the writer wants to focus on the dog as the receiver of the action, the passive voice is acceptable.] |
| ACTIVE | A passing car hit the dog. |