Using the active voice

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action; in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.

Heading: Active. Example sentence: Hernando caught the fly ball.

Heading: Passive. Example sentence: The fly ball was caught by Hernando.

In passive sentences, the actor (in this case Hernando) frequently disappears from the sentence.

Example sentence: The fly ball was caught.

Recognizing passive voice

All passive voice sentences share three characteristics:

  1. The subject is not the actor.
  2. The actor is in a by phrase or is not stated.
  3. The verb consists of a form of the verb be and a past participle (such as announced, driven).

Preferring active voice

In most cases, you will want to emphasize the actor, so you should use the active voice. To replace a passive verb with an active alternative, make the actor the subject of the sentence.

The active verb (struck) makes the point more forcefully than the passive verb (was struck).

Exercise: Identifying active and passive voice

Exercise: Using active voice

Exercise: Active vs. passive voice

Exercise: Using active verbs