Shifts in voice

A verb may be in either the active voice (with the subject doing the action) or the passive voice (with the subject receiving the action). If a writer shifts without warning from one to the other, readers may be confused and distracted.

Example sentence with editing. Original sentence: When the tickets are ready, the travel agent notifies the client. Each ticket is then listed on a daily register form, and a copy of the itinerary is filed. Revised sentence: When the tickets are ready, the travel agent notifies the client, lists each ticket on a daily register form, and files a copy of the itinerary.

The passage began in the active voice (agent notifies) and then switched to the passive (ticket is listed . . . copy is filed). Because the active voice is clearer and more direct, the writer changed all the verbs to the active voice.

Exercise: Shifts: mood and voice, questions and quotations 1

Exercise: Shifts: mood and voice, questions and quotations 2

Exercise: All shifts 1

Exercise: All shifts 2

Exercise: Editing for shifts