Active & Passive Voice

Active vs Passive Voice

Every sentence that contains an action can be written in either active or passive voice. The choice affects clarity, emphasis, and tone. Understanding both voices makes you a stronger reader and writer.

Key Terms

Term	Meaning
Subject	The noun that performs or receives the action
Verb	The action word in the sentence
Agent	The doer of the action (sometimes omitted in passive)
Past participle	Verb form used in passive (e.g. written, eaten, broken)
Active voice	Subject does the action
Passive voice	Subject receives the action

Active Voice

In active voice, the subject does the action. This is the most common and usually clearest structure.

• The chef cooked the meal. (chef = subject, doing the action)
• The dog chased the cat.
• Scientists discovered a new species.

Active voice is direct, energetic, and usually preferred in writing. It puts the focus on who is doing something.

Passive Voice

In passive voice, the subject receives the action. The doer may or may not be mentioned.

• The meal was cooked by the chef.
• The window was broken. (we do not know who broke it)
• A new species has been discovered by scientists.

Structure: subject + to be + past participle (+ by + agent, optional)

How to Convert Between Voices

Active to Passive

1. Move the object to the subject position.
2. Add the correct form of to be.
3. Change the verb to its past participle.
4. Add by + original subject (optional).

Example:

• Active: The teacher marked the essays.
• Passive: The essays were marked by the teacher.

Passive to Active

1. Move the agent (after by) to the subject position.
2. Remove to be.
3. Change the past participle back to the correct tense.
4. Move the original subject to the object position.

Example:

• Passive: The road was repaired by the council.
• Active: The council repaired the road.

Worked Examples

Active	Passive
The cat ate the fish.	The fish was eaten by the cat.
She will write the letter.	The letter will be written by her.
They are building a house.	A house is being built by them.
He has finished the project.	The project has been finished by him.

When to Use Each Voice

Prefer active voice when:

• You want clear, direct writing.
• You are telling a story or narrative.
• The doer of the action is important.

Prefer passive voice when:

• The doer is unknown: The car was stolen.
• The doer is unimportant: The results were published.
• Writing formal or scientific text: The solution was heated to 100 degrees.
• You want to avoid blame or sound neutral: Errors were made.

Common Mistakes

• Forgetting the past participle: Writing "The cake was bake" instead of "The cake was baked."
• Using the wrong tense of "to be": "The letter is wrote" should be "The letter was written."
• Overusing passive voice — it can make writing feel distant and dull.
• Confusing progressive with passive: "She is running" is progressive (active), not passive.

Tips and Tricks

• To test if a sentence is passive, try adding "by zombies" after the verb. If it makes sense, it is passive: "The report was written... by zombies."
• In academic and scientific writing, passive is often standard — check what your subject expects.
• Most style guides recommend active voice for clarity.
• Reading your writing aloud helps you notice when too many sentences feel weak or indirect.