Passive and Active Voice (Meaning, Examples & Uses)

• Nov 05, 2024
• 7 min read

• Tags: English as a Second Language / ESL, Grammar, Language

Active and passive voice are two important sentence structures in English that offer different ways to express ideas. By understanding the features of each voice, writers can craft more engaging and impactful text. These sentence structures also help you choose what’s most important in your sentences. This blog explains these two ways of writing with useful examples.

It also includes common mistakes to avoid, how to spot active and passive voice, and when each of these is useful. 

So let’s begin by understanding what is the meaning of active voice. 

What is active voice? 

Active voice is a way of writing where the subject (the person or thing doing the action) comes first. This is followed by the verb (the action done). For example, 

The dog chased the cat. 

In the above sentence, the dog is the subject. 

Let us see some more active voice examples. 

The baby drank the milk. (The baby- subject) 

John baked a cake. (John- subject) 

What is passive voice? 

Passive voice is a way of writing where what happened to something or someone is the focus of the sentence. This means that the subject affected by the action comes first in the sentence. 

For example, if a dog is being chased (receiving the action of chasing), the dog will be mentioned first. Let’s see how! 

The dog was chased by the cat. 

In the above example of passive voice, the cat doing the action (chasing) is mentioned at the end of this sentence. This brings us to our first rule: 

• • • A person/object performing the action is usually mentioned towards the end of the sentence written in passive voice. 

In the example sentence of the cat and dog, the word “by” indicates that the dog was chased by the cat. This brings us to our second rule: 

• • • • The word “by” is often used to indicate who performed the action in sentences with passive voice. 

Now let us see two other passive voice examples. 

The dinner was cooked by me. 

The floor is being swept. 

In the second sentence, the word “by” is not there and who is performing the action isn’t mentioned. However, the sentence is still an example of passive voice. This is because the subject being affected by action (the floor in this case) is mentioned first. 

This brings us to our third rule: 

• • • Even if the subject doing the action isn’t there, if the subject to whom the action happened comes first, it shows passive voice. 

After understanding the difference between active and passive voice, let’s understand how to identify them while reading. 

How to understand whether the sentence is in active or passive voice? 

To spot active voice, look for the subject doing the action. Once you find this subject, remember these rules: 

• • • • • • Active voice focuses on the subject doing the action. This subject is mentioned at the beginning of the sentence. 
          • Passive voice focuses on the subject receiving the action. This subject is mentioned at the start of the sentence. 

A simple trick is to check if the subject doing the action is mentioned after the word “by”. This indicates that the sentence is in passive voice. 

Also remember, in passive voice sentences, the object/person to whom the action is happening will always be mentioned towards the beginning of the sentence. 

How to convert a sentence from passive voice to active voice? 

To change passive voice to active voice, first, find who or what is doing the action in the sentence. Then, add this subject at the beginning of your new sentence. Finally, rewrite the rest of the sentence to show the subject doing the action directly.

Here is an example: 

Passive voice: The watch was gifted by Jane. (Jane- subject doing the action) 

Active voice: Jane gifted the watch. 

When to use active voice? 

Active voice is especially useful while writing essays, reports, journal articles, and emails where it’s important to be more clear and direct. It ensures that readers can easily understand and follow your ideas.

Since active voice is more direct, it helps to avoid any confusion. It is used when you wish to focus on: 

• • • • • • Who is doing the action? 
          • Who is the speaker? 

For example: 

I ate a sandwich. 

John gave me a pen. 

He spoke to me. 

Active voice is also used to give instructions. For example, 

Shut the door. 

Give me the key. 

Clean your room. 

Now let’s see the common mistakes to avoid while using active voice. 

Which mistakes to avoid while using active voice? 

One of the common mistakes while using active voice is using too many words when the meaning is easy to understand using few words. For example, using “your own” when the meaning can be understood by only using the word “your”. 

1. Unclear subject: Using vague subjects like “it” or “they” when a specific subject would be clearer. For example: 

Incorrect: They said the movie was great. (Who is “they” isn’t written.) 

Correct: John said the movie was great. 

2. Subject-verb disagreement: The number of the verb and subject doesn’t match. (Singular/Plural). For example: 

Incorrect: The students is happy. (subject- students, plural, verb- is, Singular,) 

Correct: The students are happy. (subject- students, plural, verb- students, plural) 

Now let’s quickly see the advantages of active voice. This will help you to decide when to use active voice. 

Advantages of active voice 

Using active voice makes your writing sound more confident. It also makes the text engaging to read, The following are some other advantages of active voice: 

• • • • • Makes your writing clearer and easier to understand 
        • Shows who’s doing the action right away 
        • Adds energy and excitement to your sentences
        • Useful for giving instructions 
        • Keeps your writing short and to the point

When should you use passive voice?

Passive voice is used while writing science papers, certificates, and medical reports. It is used when you want to focus on: Who/what is affected by the action? What is the result of the action? For example: 

The box was thrown by John. 

The cake was eaten by me. 

Amy was taught to read by me. 

Passive voice is also used when you don’t know who did the action or if there is no need to mention the subject who performed the action. For example,

The room was decorated with balloons. 

The window was broken during the storm. 

The party was canceled. 

Passive voice is used to talk about things that usually happen or are true for most people. For example: 

Mistakes are made by everyone.  

The mall is crowded on weekends. 

Homework is often given to students. 

Now let’s understand some common mistakes to avoid while using passive voice. 

Which common mistakes to avoid while using passive voice? 

A common mistake made is to confuse active and passive voice with past tense. Many think that only if the sentence is in past tense, it is in passive voice. However, active voice can also be used with past tense verbs. Only if the person/object to which the action happened comes first, the sentence is in passive voice. 

Following are some other mistakes while using passive voice: 

• • • • 1. Overusing passive voice: If you frequently use passive voice, it can make writing unclear or wordy.
        2. Incomplete passive sentences: This means forgetting to include “by” and who did the action when it should be written.
        3. Forgetting to change verb forms: If you don’t use the past participle form of the verb in passive voice sentences, this is a mistake. For example, 

Incorrect: The house was paint last week by Indy. 

Correct: The house was painted last week by Indy. 

To decide whether to use passive voice, let’s quickly see some advantages of passive voice. 

Advantages of passive voice 

Passive voice can be used to describe actions in detail. This helps you to make your writing interesting and rich with information. Some other advantages of passive voice are: 

• • • • • • Passive voice can be used to create a sense of mystery or intrigue. 
          • You can talk about things without saying who did them.
          • It can make your writing sound more official.
          • It can help you write without taking sides.
          • A passive voice helps to speak about mistakes without pointing fingers at anyone.

To conclude, both active and passive voice are useful while speaking and writing. You can keep practicing with both active and passive voice. The more you use them, the better you’ll get at speaking and writing. 

After writing, editing is an important step. For this step, consider hiring PaperTrue’s trusted editing and proofreading services. We eliminate all errors in active and passive voice sentences along with any other grammar mistakes. 

Then, our trained editors also proofread your text for spelling errors, capitalization mistakes, and typos. Moreover, we also check formatting and correct any inconsistencies in formatting. Reach out to us if you’re interested in any of our services! 

Here are some other useful resources for you: 

• • • 10 Most Common Grammar Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
    • What Is a Complement in a Sentence? (Meaning, Types & Examples)
    • Modifiers: Definition, Meaning, Types, and Examples
    • The Ultimate Guide to Phrases In English – Types & Examples
    • What are Clauses? Definition, Meaning, Types, and Examples

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Priya

Priya has a talent for academic research and enjoys simplifying complex topics. When she's not helping students improve their writing, she can be seen reading poetry, playing the harmonium, or learning classical dance.