earthquake essay with active and passive voice

Earthquake Essay for Students and Children

500+ Words Essay on Earthquake

Simply speaking, Earthquake means the shaking of the Earth’s surface. It is a sudden trembling of the surface of the Earth. Earthquakes certainly are a terrible natural disaster. Furthermore, Earthquakes can cause huge damage to life and property. Some Earthquakes are weak in nature and probably go unnoticed. In contrast, some Earthquakes are major and violent. The major Earthquakes are almost always devastating in nature. Most noteworthy, the occurrence of an Earthquake is quite unpredictable. This is what makes them so dangerous.

Types of Earthquake

Tectonic Earthquake: The Earth’s crust comprises of the slab of rocks of uneven shapes. These slab of rocks are tectonic plates. Furthermore, there is energy stored here. This energy causes tectonic plates to push away from each other or towards each other. As time passes, the energy and movement build up pressure between two plates.

Therefore, this enormous pressure causes the fault line to form. Also, the center point of this disturbance is the focus of the Earthquake. Consequently, waves of energy travel from focus to the surface. This results in shaking of the surface.

Volcanic Earthquake: This Earthquake is related to volcanic activity. Above all, the magnitude of such Earthquakes is weak. These Earthquakes are of two types. The first type is Volcano-tectonic earthquake. Here tremors occur due to injection or withdrawal of Magma. In contrast, the second type is Long-period earthquake. Here Earthquake occurs due to the pressure changes among the Earth’s layers.

Collapse Earthquake: These Earthquakes occur in the caverns and mines. Furthermore, these Earthquakes are of weak magnitude. Undergrounds blasts are probably the cause of collapsing of mines. Above all, this collapsing of mines causes seismic waves. Consequently, these seismic waves cause an Earthquake.

Explosive Earthquake: These Earthquakes almost always occur due to the testing of nuclear weapons. When a nuclear weapon detonates, a big blast occurs. This results in the release of a huge amount of energy. This probably results in Earthquakes.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Effects of Earthquakes

First of all, the shaking of the ground is the most notable effect of the Earthquake. Furthermore, ground rupture also occurs along with shaking. This results in severe damage to infrastructure facilities. The severity of the Earthquake depends upon the magnitude and distance from the epicenter. Also, the local geographical conditions play a role in determining the severity. Ground rupture refers to the visible breaking of the Earth’s surface.

Another significant effect of Earthquake is landslides. Landslides occur due to slope instability. This slope instability happens because of Earthquake.

Earthquakes can cause soil liquefaction. This happens when water-saturated granular material loses its strength. Therefore, it transforms from solid to a liquid. Consequently, rigid structures sink into the liquefied deposits.

Earthquakes can result in fires. This happens because Earthquake damages the electric power and gas lines. Above all, it becomes extremely difficult to stop a fire once it begins.

Earthquakes can also create the infamous Tsunamis. Tsunamis are long-wavelength sea waves. These sea waves are caused by the sudden or abrupt movement of large volumes of water. This is because of an Earthquake in the ocean. Above all, Tsunamis can travel at a speed of 600-800 kilometers per hour. These tsunamis can cause massive destruction when they hit the sea coast.

In conclusion, an Earthquake is a great and terrifying phenomenon of Earth. It shows the frailty of humans against nature. It is a tremendous occurrence that certainly shocks everyone. Above all, Earthquake lasts only for a few seconds but can cause unimaginable damage.

FAQs on Earthquake

Q1 Why does an explosive Earthquake occurs?

A1 An explosive Earthquake occurs due to the testing of nuclear weapons.

Q2 Why do landslides occur because of Earthquake?

A2 Landslides happen due to slope instability. Most noteworthy, this slope instability is caused by an Earthquake.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

Talk to our experts

1800-120-456-456

• Earthquake Essay

Download the Earthquake Essay Available on Vedantu’s Website.

Earthquakes are some of the most devastating natural disasters. Millions of dollars worth of property are damaged and a hundred die every time a big magnitude of eater quake strikes.  It is in this regard that everyone must read and know about earthquakes and be prepared to mitigate the damage. Furthermore, the topic of earthquakes is quite often asked in exams. Preparing for this topic will enable them to have an edge and score more marks in the English paper.

To serve the above-mentioned purpose, Vedantu has come up with the Earthquake essay. This essay is prepared by the experts who know what exactly is required to know and weeding out points that are not important. The essay is very precise and would surely allow students to successfully claim marks in the essay question and even stay prepared when an earthquake actually strikes.

What is an Earthquake?

When the earth’s surface shakes, the phenomenon is referred to as an earthquake. Precisely, the sudden trembling of the earth’s surface is the cause of an earthquake. Earthquakes are regarded as one of the deadliest natural disasters. Huge damage and loss of property are caused by earthquakes. There are various types of earthquakes. Some of them are severe in nature. The most dangerous thing about an earthquake is that it is quite unpredictable. It can cause several damages without any previous indication. The intensity of an earthquake is measured by the Richter’s scale. Generally, earthquakes occur due to the movement of tectonic plates under the earth’s surface.

Types of Earthquake

There are four kinds of earthquakes namely 

Tectonic Earthquake,

Volcanic Earthquake, 

Collapse Earthquake and 

Explosive Earthquake.

Tectonic Earthquake 

It is caused due to the movement of the slab of rocks of uneven shapes that lie underneath the earth’s crust. Apart from that, energy is stored in the earth’s crust. Tectonic plates are pushed away from each other or towards each other due to the energy. A pressure is formed because of the energy and movement as time passes. A fault line is formed due to severe pressure. The center point of this dispersion is the epicenter of the earthquake. Subsequently, traveling of the waves of energy from focus to the surface causes the tremor.

Volcanic Earthquake

The earthquake caused by volcanic activity is called a volcanic earthquake. These kinds of earthquakes are of weaker magnitudes. Volcanic earthquakes are categorized into two types. In the first type, which is called volcano-tectonic, shaking happens due to input or withdrawal of Magma. In the second type, which is termed as Long-period earthquake, tremors occur due to changing of pressure among the earth’s layers.

Collapse Earthquake

Collapse Earthquake is the third type of earthquake that occurs in the caverns and mines. This is another example of a weak magnitude earthquake. Mines collapsed due to underground blasts. Consequently, seismic waves are formed due to this collapsing. Earthquakes occur because of these seismic waves.

Explosive Earthquake

The fourth type of earthquake is called an explosive earthquake. This is caused due to the testing of nuclear weapons.

Effects of Earthquake

The effects of earthquakes are very severe and deadly. 

It can cause irreparable damage to property and loss of human lives. The lethality of an earthquake depends on its distance from the epicentre. 

Damage to establishments is the direct impact of an earthquake. In the hilly areas, several landslides are caused due to earthquakes.  

Another major impact of an earthquake is soil liquefaction. Losing the strength of water-saturated granular material is the cause behind this. The rigidity of soil is totally lost due to this.

Since the earthquake affects the electric power and gas lines, it can cause a fire to break out. 

Deadly Tsunamis are caused due to earthquakes. Gigantic sea waves are caused by the sudden or abnormal movement of huge volumes of water. This is called an earthquake in the ocean. When tsunamis hit the sea coasts, they cause a massive loss of lives and properties. 

Earthquake is termed as one of the most huge and lethal natural disasters in the world. It proves the fact that human beings are just nothing in front of nature. The sudden occurrence of earthquakes shocks everyone. Scientists are working rigorously to prevent the damage of earthquakes, but nothing fruitful has been achieved yet.

Examples of Devastating Earthquake

The city of Kobe in Japan witnessed a devastating earthquake on January  17, 1995, killing more than 6,000 and making more than 45,000 people homeless.  The magnitude of the quake was 6.9 at the moment which caused damage of around 100 million dollars.  The governor of Kobe spent years on reconstruction and made efforts to bring back fifty thousand people who had left home.  Japan geologically is a highly active country. It lies upon four major tectonic plates namely, Eurasian, Philippine, Pacific, and North American which frequently meet and interact.

The second incident is in Nepal where an earthquake struck on April 25, 2015. About 9000 people were killed and almost 600,000 structures were destroyed.  The magnitude of the quake was 7.9 and the repels were felt by neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, China and India.  The disaster caused severe damage of millions of dollars. All the countries across the world including India garnered to help Nepal by sending monetary aid, medical supplies, transport helicopters and others.

FAQs on Earthquake Essay

1. How to download the Earthquake Essay?

The Earthquake essay is available on Vedantu's website in PDF format. The PDF could be downloaded on any device, be it android, apple or windows.    One just has to log on to www.vedantu.com and download the document. The document is totally free of cost and a student does not need to pay any prior registration fee.  

2. How to protect oneself during an earthquake?

Earthquakes could be very disastrous and can cause a lot of collateral damage.  During an earthquake you can look for the corners to hide. Another safe place to hide is under the table or under the bed. If one is sitting in a multistory building, avoid taking a lift and only use the stairs. In this kind of situation, one should never panic and stay calm.  Let the earthquake pass until then keep hiding in the safe spot. Once over, come out to evaluate the situation and take appropriate actions.

3. How to mitigate the effects of an earthquake?

Prevention is better than cure. It is always a better idea to take necessary actions before an earthquake has struck. In the first place, send a copy of all your documents to someone reliable. In case of an earthquake that destroys your important documents, there would always remain a facility to retrieve them.  Research and know if your city is in a seismic zone.  One should also take note of earthquakes during the construction of a house and lay emphasis on a seismic-proof house.

4. How can one teach people about the effects of an earthquake?

There are many ways one can raise awareness about the effects of earthquakes.  There is Youtube and Instagram which could be used to disseminate all the knowledge about the earthquake and its impact on humans. You can also go to schools and colleges to conduct a seminar whereby the students could be told about the mitigation and steps to take when an earthquake strikes.  However before that, one must thoroughly research the topic. For this, visit www.vedntu.com and download the earthquake essay for free.

5. Who has written the Earthquake essay?

The earthquake essay provided by Vedantu is prepared by expert teachers who invest a good amount of time and effort to come up with an essay that is highly useful for the students in their personal lives as well as for their academic performance. The students can use this essay to maximize their abilities to cope with the questions on earthquakes and the earthquake itself. The essay is totally reliable and one mustn’t doubt its credibility at all.

5.4 GRAMMAR: Using the Passive Voice

In an active voice sentence, the subject does the action of the verb. If there is an object, it receives the action of the verb.

In a passive voice sentence, the subject is the receiver of the action of the verb. The do-er of the action of the verb is optional; if it is named, it is the agent and usually follows the preposition “by”.

Passive voice sentences are very common in academic writing because they make the information feel neutral or objective. Furthermore, sometimes the writer does not know or does not want to name the subject.

Only transitive verbs (verbs followed by an object) can be made passive. To make an active sentence passive, the subject and the object change places. If the active voice verb is intransitive (not followed by an object), then there is nothing to become the subject of the passive voice. For example:

• Active :  She bakes a cake . (active voice with an object of the verb) Passive :  A cake is baked by her.  (passive voice with an agent)
• Active :  I laugh . (active voice but no object — and laugh never has an object) Passive : Here, the passive voice not possible because there is no object in the active sentence.

How do you form a passive voice sentence?

To form the passive voice, use this formula: (be) verb plus the past participle. For example:  is baked

The subject and object of the active sentence change places. For example:

• Active :  Mom bakes a cake . Passive :  A cake is baked .

Optional: You can use “by” before the do-er of the action, if you want or need to include it. For example:  A new cake is baked by Mom every week.

When do you use a passive voice sentence?

• When you don’t know (or it isn’t important) who does something. For example:  The house was built in 1911.   (it is not important who built it)
• When you want to emphasize the object more than the subject. For example:  The scientific discovery was made in 1950 . (the discovery is more important than who made it)

Note: When a sentence has both a direct object and an indirect object, either object can become the subject of the passive sentence. When the indirect object becomes the passive subject, no additional words are added to the sentence. However, when the direct object becomes the passive subject, the preposition “to” is usually added in front of the indirect object. Compare these sentences:

• Active :  People gave the earthquake victims some food . Passive :  The earthquake victims were given some food . Passive :  Some food was given to the earthquake victims .

Watch these four short videos to learn more about the passive voice:

Now practice with this exercise; it is not graded, and you may repeat it as many times as you wish:

1. How do you form the passive voice?

• “be” verb + past participle
• “have/has” + past participle
• “have/has” + present participle
• “be” verb plus + present participle

2. Verbs that cannot have an object are called intransitive verbs. These kinds of verbs cannot be changed into passive voice.

3. In a passive voice sentence, what does the action of the verb?

• object of the verb

4. Read this sentence: Someone was cooking beans last night. Which of the following is the correct passive voice form of the sentence?

• Beans was cooking someone last night.
• Someone was being cooked beans last night.
• Beans was being cooked last night by someone.
• Beans were being cooked last night by someone.

5. Change this sentence from active voice to passive voice: Some people use cell phones for navigation.

6. Change the sentence from active to passive voice: Someone might have stolen your tickets.

7. Change the sentence from passive voice to active voice: Video games are played by teenagers.

8. Change the sentence from passive voice to active voice: America has been changed by technology for years.

9. Change this sentence from active voice to passive voice: A worker built that car in Korea.

10. Change the sentence from passive voice to active voice: A test will be taken by students in June.

Optional: Where to get more information

If you want more instruction and examples about the passive voice, try these links:

• English First: Passive Voice
• ThoughtCo: Passive Voice Usage and Examples for ESL/EFL
• Towson: Active/Passive Voice

Videos from:  Smrt English. “Passive with Modals.” www.youtube.com, 2 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-2xg6IIRNw. Accessed 30 Dec. 2021. “Passive with the Present Perfect.” www.youtube.com, 3 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=26NhDja68T0&t=1s. Accessed 30 Dec. 2021. “The Active & Passive Voices #1.” www.youtube.com, 2 Jan. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rlvWoNNrcs.  Accessed 30 Dec. 2021.  “The Active & Passive Voices #2.” Www.youtube.com, 3 July 2013,  www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ6bSNimM0o.  Accessed 30 Dec. 2021.

Synthesis Copyright © 2022 by Timothy Krause is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Write an Essay About Earthquakes

Diana v. faustmann.

Earthquakes cover as much ground in essay writing as they do in the real world. You can relate a personal earthquake experience, describe the steps to become a seismologist, narrate the earthquake history of a certain location or compare earthquakes to other natural disasters. Then you can choose to describe your topic, narrate a specific incident, analyze earthquake effects or argue for a better earthquake coping mechanism. These rich options challenge you to narrow your focus and define your purpose upfront. Then use sound research and a simple essay format to convey your informed message about earthquakes clearly and concisely.

Narrow your focus. Choose an area about earthquakes that fascinates or intrigues you and then restrict your focus further within it. For example, go from earthquakes in general to the Haiti earthquake of 2010, and from its effect on the Haitian people to orphans specifically.

Decide on your angle. Perform cursory research on your selected topic and then decide whether you want to narrate, explain, analyze, argue or persuade your readers to take action.

Establish your thesis and identify several sub-topics that exemplify or otherwise support your thesis. Develop a thesis statement that contains both elements. For example, “Seismology is a sound career to consider. You work outdoors most of the time, study the causes and effects of earthquakes in depth, and help to discover ways to limit their damage.”

Outline your introduction, body and conclusion. Focus your research on the data that you need to amplify your sub-topics. For instance, for the sub-topic, “The Richter scale is an inadequate earthquake measurement tool,” in your outline, add three bullets corresponding to case studies that illustrate that claim.

Write your introductory paragraph to compel further reading. First, provide a lead-in that gives earthquakes an interesting or original slant. Then narrow your focus and end with a statement of your thesis. For example, “My family barely escaped calamity in last summer's earthquake. Many of our neighbors were not so lucky; they lost homes and lives. Clearly, our homes still don’t adequately protect us from shifts in the seismic plates beneath us. We need to better earthquake-proof our area with a building code that is stronger in three major areas: (a), (b) and (c).”

Assign one or two paragraphs to address each sub-topic. Begin each paragraph with a topic sentence followed by supporting facts or examples. For example, state that “Governments should discourage new developments over known earthquake faults.” Follow this topic sentence with a description of three communities that earthquakes virtually demolished.

End your essay clearly and confidently. Begin your conclusion with “in summary” or “in brief,” then restate your thesis and sub-topics. Engage your readers with one final, memorable or compelling statement or anecdote. For example, “Compassion can be as earth-shaking as an earthquake, but with the opposite effect. Investigate how you can help to rebuild the lives of Haitian earthquake orphans today.”

• Sometimes your research leads you to a different conclusion than your thesis originally set out to prove. Adjust your thesis statement accordingly.
• Keep your sentences short and coherent. As much as possible, use active verbs throughout.
• Use transitional expressions between sentences and paragraphs; words such as “moreover,” “consequently” and “finally,” help your readers follow your train of thought and move smoothly from one thought to the next.
• Review your essay for spelling and grammar errors and any weaknesses in its flow. If possible, recruit a friend to help you proofread your essay before you submit it.
• 1 Purdue Online Writing Lab: Essay Writing

About the Author

Since 1988, Diana Faustmann has been writing on technology, business and culture. Her articles have appeared in various print publications, corporate websites and authoritative online sites. Faustmann holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of the Philippines.

Related Articles

Classroom Art Activities for Natural Disasters

What is a Clincher in an Essay?

How to Write an Essay on Speculating About Causes or...

How to Create a Civil War Diorama

Tips on Writing Descriptive Paragraphs

Topics in Botany for Research Papers

Differences Between Archaeology & Forensic Anthropology

How to Write Conclusions for Persuasive Speeches

Different Types of Methodologies

How to Write an Analytical Thesis Statement

How to Write a Tentative Thesis Statement

How to Brainstorm for an Essay

Legend Behind the Indian Rain Stick

How to Write the Intro Paragraph of a Literary Elements...

How to Write About an Ethical Dilemma

How to Write a Pros & Cons Essay

How to Write the Opening Paragraph of a Research Paper...

How to Write a Short Detailed Report

Earthquake Projects for Middle School

How to Develop a Problem Statement

Regardless of how old we are, we never stop learning. Classroom is the educational resource for people of all ages. Whether you’re studying times tables or applying to college, Classroom has the answers.

• Accessibility
• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Copyright Policy
• Manage Preferences

© 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. Based on the Word Net lexical database for the English Language. See disclaimer .

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Academic writing

Active vs. Passive Constructions | When to Use the Passive Voice

Published on June 29, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on August 23, 2023.

The passive voice occurs when the person or thing that performs an action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. Instead, the person or thing that receives the action is placed before the verb . Passive sentences are formed using the verb  to be combined with a past participle.

Active voice

The dog bites the bone.

Passive voice

The bone is bitten by the dog.

In a passive construction, the actor does not have to be named at all.

Passive construction

The bone is bitten .

Writers are often advised to avoid the passive voice, but it is not a grammatical error. In academic writing , this type of sentence structure is sometimes useful or necessary. However, overusing it can make your writing unclear or convoluted.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Avoiding the passive voice, using the passive voice, other interesting articles.

In most cases, it’s best to use active sentence constructions where possible. Sometimes the passive voice makes a sentence less clear by obscuring the actor.

Who made the decision? To properly understand what occurred, we need to know who was behind the action. This is possible in the passive voice, but the sentence becomes convoluted.

An active construction is preferable for clarity and concision .

If you write a passive sentence, consider carefully whether leading with the actor would strengthen your point.

This is also relevant when discussing previous research: active constructions that specify who is responsible for findings can make your writing more credible and convincing.

• Evidence   has been found of nonhuman primates engaging in ritualistic behaviour.
• Smith (2015)  found  evidence of nonhuman primates engaging in ritualistic behaviour.
• Several recent studies have found evidence of nonhuman primates engaging in ritualistic behaviour.

Check for common mistakes

Use the best grammar checker available to check for common mistakes in your text.

Fix mistakes for free

Some types of academic writing do not permit the use of first-person pronouns . In these cases, the passive voice can be used for referring to your own actions.

If you use the passive voice in more complex sentences, make sure to avoid dangling modifiers .

The passive voice is often also appropriate when the subject of an action is unknown or unimportant to the meaning of the sentence.

In this case, the object of the action – the votes – is more important than who did the counting. Specifying the actor wouldn’t add any useful information to the sentence.

With verbs like require , there is often no particular actor who does the requiring , so the passive voice is used to state a general sense of necessity or obligation.

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or writing rules make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

 Academic Writing

• Avoiding repetition
• Effective headings
• Taboo words
• Transition words
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

McCombes, S. (2023, August 23). Active vs. Passive Constructions | When to Use the Passive Voice. Scribbr. Retrieved August 5, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/academic-writing/passive-voice/

Is this article helpful?

Shona McCombes

Other students also liked, how to fix dangling and misplaced modifiers (with examples), what is a dangling modifier | examples & how to eliminate, what is a pronoun | definition, types & examples, "i thought ai proofreading was useless but..".

I've been using Scribbr for years now and I know it's a service that won't disappoint. It does a good job spotting mistakes”

Choose Your Test

• Search Blogs By Category
• College Admissions
• AP and IB Exams
• GPA and Coursework

Active vs Passive Voice: Understanding the Difference

General Education

Though fun, writing can also get pretty darn confusing, especially when you’re trying to figure out whether to use the active or passive voice. What is the difference between active and passive voice? When and how should you use them?

In this complete active voice vs passive voice guide, we'll go over how each voice works in English grammar, when to use the two voices, and how to change a sentence from passive to active (and vice versa). We’ll also give you an active vs passive voice quiz to test your skills. Let's get started!

What Is Active Voice?

The active voice is when the subject of a sentence performs an action on an object. In other words, the subject does the action, and the object receives the action .

The active voice is easy to identify in writing because it follows a simple form, which is the basis of English grammar:

Subject ( doer ) → Verb → Object ( recipient )

Here’s an example of a sentence using the active voice:

The dog ate my homework.

In this example, "the dog" is the subject, "ate" is the verb, and "my homework" is the object. Here’s a diagram to better show this connection:

Here, "the dog" is doing (or, in this case, has already done) the action: it is the one that "ate." Meanwhile, "homework" is the object that is receiving this action of eating.

Here’s another example of the active voice at play:

She is writing an essay.

In this example, "she" is the subject, "is writing" is the verb (in the present progressive tense), and "an essay" is the object.

Once again, the subject ("she") is the one performing the action: "she" is "writing." And what is she writing? An "essay," i.e., the noun that’s receiving the action.

Finally, here's an example of the active voice being used without an object:

In this sentence, we have a subject ("he") and a verb ("sings") but no object. Regardless, because the subject is performing the act of singing, we can identify this as the active voice .

What Is Passive Voice?

The passive voice is basically the opposite of the active voice: it’s when the subject is acted upon by the object. In other words, the subject receives the action, and the object does the action .

The passive voice is a little trickier to identify, as it uses more words than the active voice. The basic structure is as follows:

Subject ( recipient ) → Verb ( past participle of "to be" form ) → Object ( doer )

Note that the object here is always preceded by the word "by."

Additionally, the verb takes its "to be" form (meaning it’s preceded by "is/are" for the present tense and "was/were" for the past tense) and is put in the past participle (e.g., "eaten" for the verb "eat" or "given" for the verb "give").

Here’s an example of a sentence using the passive voice:

The ice cream was bought by the little girl.

In this example, "the ice cream" is the subject, "bought" is the verb, and "the little girl" is the object. Here’s a diagram to help you understand this grammar pattern better:

As you can see, "the ice cream" (as the subject) is the one receiving the action, while "the little girl" (as the object) is the one performing the action.

Here's another passive voice example:

Our tests were graded by the teacher.

Here, the subject is "our tests," the verb is "were graded," and the object is "the teacher." Again, the subject ("our tests") is receiving the action from the object ("the teacher") , which is, in turn, performing it (i.e., the one who is grading).

Sometimes you’ll see the passive voice being used without an object (i.e., without identifying the doer of the action—only the recipient). Here’s an example:

The tea was poured.

In this sentence, "the tea" is the subject and "was poured" is the verb; however, there’s no object performing the action of pouring . Simply put, we don’t know who poured the tea! Nevertheless, we can identify this sentence as passive based on its setup: a subject followed by a verb in its past participle "to be" form.

If we wanted to insert an object here, we'd simply add the word "by" followed by a noun:

The tea was poured by my grandmother.

Now, we have an object, or doer, of this act of pouring tea: "my grandmother."

Active vs Passive Voice: When Do You Use Them?

The active and passive voice express the same ideas, just in different ways. In terms of when we actually use them, though, what is the difference between active and passive voice?

In general, you should always aim to use the active voice whenever you write. This is because the active voice is clearer and more direct, while the passive voice is wordier and more confusing.

That being said, this doesn’t mean that the passive voice is inherently wrong. There are many cases in which you might opt for the passive voice over the active voice.

Here are some scenarios in which you might want (or need) to use the passive voice:

• When you want to emphasize the recipient of the action
• When you want to emphasize the action itself
• When you don’t know who or what is performing the action
• When the doer of the action is irrelevant or unimportant

For example, say you’re writing an essay about the Declaration of Independence and you come up with the following sentence:

Most people believe that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, but this is not actually the case.

Let’s parse this out a bit. 

While part of the sentence is clearly in the active voice (the "most people believe" section), the crux of it ("the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4") is in the passive voice. Doing this lets you keep the emphasis on the document, i.e., the topic of your essay .

In addition, there were many people who signed the Declaration of Independence, but listing them all here would only make the sentence longer and more convoluted; this is why the passive voice is a better fit.

Changing From Passive to Active Voice (and Vice Versa)

There are many times you might want to change a sentence from passive to active, or even from active to passive. To do this, you’ll need to understand exactly how the two types of voices work.

First, recall that the primary difference between active and passive voice lies in the roles of the subject and object : whereas in active voice the subject is the doer and the object is the recipient of the action, in passive voice the subject is the recipient of the action and the object is the doer.

Here’s an example of a sentence in the active voice vs passive voice:

Active: She created a travel blog. Passive: A travel blog was created by her.

Below is another way of looking at the difference between active and passive voice:

As you can see here, in the active voice, "she" is the subject and doer, whereas "a travel blog" is the object and recipient of the verb "created."

But in the passive voice, these designations swap : as the original subject, "she" becomes the object (but is still the doer of the action), whereas "a travel blog," which was originally the object, becomes the subject (but is still the recipient of the action).

In addition, the verb, which began in the simple past, has been converted into its past participle "to be" form .

To sum up, to convert from active to passive voice, here’s what you must do:

• Switch the positions of the subject and object so the original object is now the subject and the original subject is now the object
• Add the word "by" before the new object
• Convert the verb into its "to be" past participle form  based on the original tense used
• Switch the positions of the subject and object so the original subject is now the object and the original object is now the subject
• Delete the word "by" used before the original object (now subject)
• Convert the "to be" past participle form of the verb into the appropriate tense as indicated by the verb and overall sentence

The verb is arguably the trickiest part of converting from passive to active. You want to make sure you’re keeping the same tense as indicated by the original verb and sentence.

As an example, here's how you'd change various tenses of the word "do" from passive to active:

• is done → do/does
• is/are being done → is/are doing
• was/were done → did
• was/were being done → was/were doing
• will be done → will do

Finally, know that you cannot convert from active to passive or passive to active if you do not have an object . You can see why this doesn’t work in these active vs passive voice examples:

Active (Without Object): I drank. Passive: ??? was drunk by me.

Without an object, we have no idea what "I" actually "drank."

Passive (Without Object): The project will be completed by tomorrow. Active: ??? will complete the project by tomorrow.

Without an object, we cannot explain who "will complete the project."

Active vs Passive Voice Quiz

It’s time to test out what you learned in an active vs passive voice quiz. 

Before you start, make sure you know what the three types of questions expect you to do:

• Questions 1-3: Identify whether the sentence is active or passive
• Questions 4-5: Fill in the blanks to create a grammatically correct sentence
• Questions 6-8: Convert the sentence from active to passive, or vice versa

Answers and explanations will be provided at the end of the quiz. Good luck!

#1: Active or Passive?

This novel was not written by Charlotte Brontë but rather her sister Emily.

#2: Active or Passive?

The mail arrived on time yesterday.

#3: Active or Passive?

A study on the gender wage gap was conducted in 2018.

#4: Fill in the Blank

This gift was given to me _____ my sister.

#5: Fill in the Blank

The toy will soon be _____ by him. (past participle of "fix")

#6: Convert to Passive

Jessica is teaching me how to speak Italian.

#7: Convert to Active

He was advised by his dentist to floss more.

#8: Convert to Active

The valuable painting is finally going to be sold this year.

Active vs Passive Voice Quiz: Answers + Explanations

In this sample sentence, the subject is "the novel," the action is "was not written," and the object is "Charlotte Brontë" — we can leave out that last part since it’s not really important to understanding the voice here.

Because the object ("Charlotte Brontë") is the doer of the action — that is, she’s the one who did not write "the novel" —you should be able to tell right away that  this sentence is in the passive voice . (You might also be able to tell it’s passive due to the use of the word "by" before the object.)

Here, "the mail" is the subject and "arrived" is the verb — there is no object. Because "the mail" is the one doing the action of "arriving," this sentence uses the active voice .

In this example, "a study" is the subject and "was conducted" is the verb; there’s no object. Since "a study" is receiving the action instead of performing it, this sentence is in the passive voice .

(Just in case you’re wondering, the reason we don’t see "by" is that the object, or doer, of the action is either unknown or irrelevant.)

Right away you should recognize this as the passive voice. "This gift" is the subject, "was given" is the verb, and "my sister" is the object who is performing the action of giving.

As you know, the word "by" must come before the object in a passive sentence , so this is the missing word. The sentence should therefore read, "This gift was given to me by my sister."

Again, you should recognize this example as a passive sentence since it calls for the past participle of the verb and has the word "by" before the object. The past participle of the verb "fix" is the same as its simple past: "fixed" ; t herefore, the sentence should read, "The toy will soon be fixed by him."

To convert this sentence from active to passive, you must switch the positions of the subject and object and then convert the verb (in present progressive) to its past participle "to be" form. Don't forget that "me" must transform into its subject form ("I") when going from an object to a subject. ("Jessica" is a name and proper noun and therefore does not change form.)

Finally, place the word "by" before the new object ("Jessica"). This should give you the following passive sentence: "I am being taught how to speak Italian by Jessica."

To convert this example from passive to active, you’ll need to switch the subject and object, change the verb form from "to be" past participle to simple past, and eliminate the "by." Note that "he" will turn into "him" when converted from a subject into an object.

Doing all this correctly should give you this: "His dentist advised him to floss more."

If you didn’t know it already, this question is actually a trick! But how? Because there is no object in this passive sentence, there’s no way to convert it into the active voice. In other words, we have no idea who is going to sell the painting.

If we tried to convert it, we’d get this nonsensical statement: "??? is finally going to sell the valuable painting this year." As such, we cannot create a sentence in the active voice without a subject .

What’s Next?

Now that you understand active voice vs passive voice examples, want to brush up on your English grammar? Then check out our detailed guides on semicolons , verbs , prepositions , proper nouns , and parts of speech .

To ace the SAT/ACT, you'll need to have an excellent grasp of the English language.  Learn the most important SAT grammar rules and ACT grammar rules so you can earn an amazing score.

Need help with using and identifying literary devices? Our expert guide explains more than 30 key literary devices and how they work to help you become a pro at reading and writing.

Trending Now

How to Get Into Harvard and the Ivy League

How to Get a Perfect 4.0 GPA

How to Write an Amazing College Essay

What Exactly Are Colleges Looking For?

ACT vs. SAT: Which Test Should You Take?

When should you take the SAT or ACT?

Get Your Free

Find Your Target SAT Score

Free Complete Official SAT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect SAT Score, by an Expert Full Scorer

Score 800 on SAT Math

Score 800 on SAT Reading and Writing

How to Improve Your Low SAT Score

Score 600 on SAT Math

Score 600 on SAT Reading and Writing

Find Your Target ACT Score

Complete Official Free ACT Practice Tests

How to Get a Perfect ACT Score, by a 36 Full Scorer

Get a 36 on ACT English

Get a 36 on ACT Math

Get a 36 on ACT Reading

Get a 36 on ACT Science

How to Improve Your Low ACT Score

Get a 24 on ACT English

Get a 24 on ACT Math

Get a 24 on ACT Reading

Get a 24 on ACT Science

Stay Informed

Get the latest articles and test prep tips!

Hannah received her MA in Japanese Studies from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California. From 2013 to 2015, she taught English in Japan via the JET Program. She is passionate about education, writing, and travel.

Ask a Question Below

Have any questions about this article or other topics? Ask below and we'll reply!

Active vs. Passive Voice: What's The Difference?

What to Know When a sentence is in the active voice , the subject of the sentence is the one doing the action expressed by the verb. In the passive voice , the subject is the person or thing acted on or affected by the verb's action. The passive voice is typically formed with a form of the verb be —such as is , was , or has been —and the past participle of the verb, as in "The ball was thrown by Jerry." Although sometimes criticized for being evasive, the passive voice can be useful when someone wants to emphasize an action that has taken place or when the agent of an action is unknown, as is often the case in news coverage.

Mistakes were made.

In English class, we are taught the difference between active and passive voice.

The active voice asserts that the person or thing represented by the grammatical subject performs the action represented by the verb.

The passive voice makes the subject the person or thing acted on or affected by the action represented by the verb.

Active voice: Jerry knocked over the lamp. Passive voice: The lamp was knocked over by Jerry.

Both sentences describe the same action taking place—Jerry making contact with a lamp and causing it to fall over—with the first sentence making Jerry the subject and the second making the lamp the subject.

The passive voice is often distinguished by its use of a linking verb form (e.g., was , had been ) followed by another verb in its past participle form (e.g., "I have been given an opportunity").

Usefulness of Passive Voice

Passive voice often gets criticized as a weak and evasive form of expression. But it is useful for those instances when you want to emphasize the fact of an action having taken place rather than who performed the action. It is also helpful for instances when the doer of an action (also known as the agent) is unknown.

Active voice: The kids have cleaned the kitchen. Passive voice: The kitchen has been cleaned. Active voice: We found an old car in the woods. Passive voice: An old car was found in the woods.

(There is also the mediopassive voice, which is a whole other animal that we discuss in this article .)

In the News

The differences between active and passive voice come up as a subject for discussion in criticism of news coverage. When news media reports on incidents of crime, for example, they will often use headlines that feature the passive voice: “Man (Is) Attacked on Elm Street” instead of “Person Attacks Man on Elm Street.”

The passive voice allows for a shorter headline, but more pertinently, it puts up front information that is known. In many cases, especially in stories involving crime, the fact of the crime being committed, and whom it was committed against, is known before who committed it becomes clear.

The reason for the passive is therefore practical: one might not know who carried out the attack, only that someone did, and that the attacker might still be at large. Even once an attacker has been identified, news writers might avoid the active voice for fear of stating what that person is accused of as fact. (Hence, “Arrest Made in Elm Street Attack.”)

The passive voice gets called out on occasion as a tool for expressing the avoidance of responsibility, like when one says “Mistakes were made” rather than “We made some mistakes.” Sometimes, as in our Elm Street example, it is criticized for placing what appears to be a burden of responsibility on the person who receives the action (i.e., the victim) rather than the person who performs it.

Passive voice is for when the state does violence. Active voice is for when a protester does? Got it. https://t.co/2ror8Sen1K — Rebecca Traister (@rtraister) May 31, 2020

Confusing Active and Passive Voice

There are other instances that technically count as active voice but nonetheless use language that dissociates the performer from the action being performed.

“The lamp fell over” is active voice, but it feels like a passive statement because there is no obvious causative agent like Jerry in “Jerry knocked over the lamp.”

This occurs in news writing as well. A sentence like “a rock shattered the store’s window” is phrased in active voice—the subject is rock , the verb is shatter , and the object is window —though it might be derided as elusive because it avoids the question of who was the agent who propelled the rock that broke the glass.

Word of the Day

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Games & Quizzes

Usage Notes

Prepositions, ending a sentence with, hypercorrections: are you making these 6 common mistakes, a comprehensive guide to forming compounds, can ‘criteria’ ever be singular, singular nonbinary ‘they’: is it ‘they are’ or ‘they is’, grammar & usage, more words you always have to look up, the difference between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.', more commonly misspelled words, plural and possessive names: a guide, commonly misspelled words, pilfer: how to play and win, 8 words with fascinating histories, flower etymologies for your spring garden, 8 words for lesser-known musical instruments, it's a scorcher words for the summer heat.

Passive vs. Active Voice – Difference, Examples

| Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

Why is the passive voice so frowned upon? My editor flags every bit of passive voice in all my writing. But why do so many people prefer to write in the active voice? In this blog post, I’ll discuss the differences between the two voices and give tips on how to use them effectively. I’ll also provide a few examples to see how each voice is used in a sentence.

What Is Active and Passive Voice?

You are dealing with the active voice when you see a sentence where the subject performs an action. This keeps the sentence active and makes it feel more direct. However, in sentences written in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.

Active vs. Passive Voice

The Purdue Online Writing Lab uses the active and passive voice to show examples of the two ways of writing in English. Generally, I consider the active voice style of writing to be more direct and engaging, while the passive voice is more subdued and impersonal.

In active voice, the subject of a sentence takes action, usually by performing an action or making a statement. In this format, the subject comes first, followed by the verb and any additional information.

For example: “She is writing this essay.” Here, the subject is “she,” the person who is taking action. The verb here is “is writing,” indicating that she is doing something by typing this essay herself.

In passive voice, on the other hand, the subject of a sentence receives action instead of performing it. Let’s turn the previous active voice sentence into a passive voice one. It would sound something like, “This essay is written by her.”

So, when should you use the active or passive voice? That depends on your purpose and intended audience. Typically speaking. However, most writers use active voice whenever possible as it tends to be more direct and dynamic than its counterpart.

Active and Passive Voice Usage

Active voice and passive voice are two different ways of constructing sentences. In general, active voice is used to focus attention on the subject of the sentence, while passive voice puts more emphasis on the object. Active voice is considered more direct and engaging, making it a popular choice among writers.

However, there are also times when passive voice is preferable. For example, if I want to make my writing sound more objective or detached, I might use the passive voice.

In some cases, using passive voice can make your writing seem more formal or academic. That’s because, in the passive voice, we don’t necessarily care who is doing the action. After all, the latter is the most important part of the idea.

Examples of Sentences with Active and Passive Voice 

Here are some passive and active sentences to help you understand how to use each in writing. The majority of sentences in fiction are written in active voice, but some genres, and even other kinds of writing, prefer passive. 

Active Voice Sentences

• I knew I couldn’t hold that bag anymore; it was way too heavy.
• Candace didn’t pick up the package yesterday morning.
• Candace bought a new laptop.

Passive Voice Sentences

• The task wasn’t carried out by the trainees.
• Your phone was broken by Candace.
• The debt was paid.
• This movie was not well received by the audience.
• She will be remembered.

How Can You Tell Active or Passive Voice?

Writing in the active or passive voice can sometimes take time to tell which one you are using. In general, the active voice is shorter and more straightforward, while the passive voice tends to be longer and more complex. One way to distinguish between the two is by looking at the subjects of your sentences.

You use the active voice if the subject or doer performs the action described in the sentence. But if the subject receives that action or is acted upon, you use the passive voice.

Additionally, a key characteristic of passive sentences is an auxiliary verb like “was,” “have been,” or “will have been.” This often indicates that an action has already occurred or will be completed in the future.

So if you want to write clearly and concisely, it’s best to stick with the active voice whenever possible. But if you need to convey a sense of continuity or permanence, switching to the passive voice may help achieve your intended effect.

Let’s exemplify:

• The police carried out the mission successfully.

This is the active voice because the subject of the sentence “police” carries out the action.

• The mission was carried out successfully by the police.

Since the subject “police” receives the action “was carried out,” the sentence above is written in passive voice.

Should I Use Passive or Active Voice?

It depends on the context, in my opinion. While active voice is the better choice, some situations and contexts are better off written or spoken using passive choice.

In certain situations and contexts, passive voice is considered more appropriate than active. One of the most common times to use passive voice is when the speaker or writer wishes to avoid assigning blame or responsibility for an action, as in “Mistakes were made.”

In these cases, a more direct statement such as “Someone robbed the bank on Friday night” might appear accusatory. Additionally, passive voice can be useful when the focus of a sentence needs to remain on the receiving end of an action rather than the doer, such as in sentences like “The package was delivered today” or “The building was destroyed by fire.”

Overall, while it can sometimes seem less direct or engaging, there are many situations in which using passive voice is ultimately the best choice.

There are many situations and contexts where using active rather than passive voice is best. One such context is when clarity and directness are important. Writing in an active voice will allow you to convey a sense of urgency or significance, especially when presenting new information or sharing a strong opinion.

This can be especially useful in presentations, public speeches, and news articles, where it is crucial to quickly draw the reader’s attention and keep them engaged.

Another context where active voice can be particularly advantageous is when writing on technical subjects that may require more complex vocabulary or detailed explanations. Using more descriptive verbs and nouns in active voice can help make these concepts easier for the reader, allowing them to focus better on the text’s key points.

Here are some examples of side-by-side passive voice vs. active voice:

• Active voice: I slammed the door shut.
• Passive voice: The door was slammed shut (by me).
• Active voice: Sarah took the car to the repair shop.
• Passive voice: The car was taken to the repair shop (by Sarah).

How Do You Change a Sentence from Passive to Active?

You can take several steps to change a sentence from passive to active voice. First, you need to identify sentences that are written in passive voice. These sentences will typically use a form of the verb “to be,” such as “is,” “was,” or “have been.”

You should also identify the object of the sentence and determine whether it comes before or after the verb. You may want to consider whether the sentence’s subject is clear and if there is an obvious agent that can be used instead.

Once you have identified a passive sentence, you can transform it into an active one. Typically, this involves rewriting the entire sentence to focus on an agent rather than simply describing an action or event.

For example, you might start by removing words like “by” or “with” from your original sentence and replacing them with appropriate pronouns, such as “he” or “she.” You may want to consider restructuring the sentence to more clearly describe the subject and direct object involved.

Let’s take a look at some clear examples:

• Passive voice: That window was smashed into pieces by those kids next door.
• Turned into active voice: The kids next door smashed the window into pieces.

And another example:

• Passive voice: This project can be completed by any DIYer.
• Turned into active voice: Any DIYer can complete this project.

Why Is Active Voice Better Than Passive?

There is a longstanding debate in the writing community over which voice is better: active or passive. While both have their pros and cons, the overwhelming consensus among writers is that active voice is the preferred choice, for several key reasons.

First, since active voice emphasizes who is performing an action, it results in more dynamic and engaging writing. Using active rather than passive voice makes it easier to anticipate what will happen next in a piece of writing.

The passive voice is usually considered “fluff’ and can lead to confusion. Even so, there are situations where passive voice is a better choice.

For example, passive voice is a better option if you are a journalist reporting a crime and don’t know who did it. “A car was stolen downtown last night.”

Finally, because active voice uses simpler sentence structures than passive voice, it allows writers to better manage the flow of information and keep their readers engaged. Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, choosing your words carefully and using active rather than passive voice will always produce more powerful and engaging writing.

Active and Passive Voice Rules

There are two main types of voice in writing: active and passive. Active voice is better when the subject of a sentence acts, and passive voice is used when the subject of a sentence experiences an action being done to them. In general, it is usually better to use active voice than passive voice.

It is because active voice typically produces clearer, more concise sentences that are easier for readers to understand and engage with. Additionally, sentences written in active voice tend to be more direct and less wordy than those in passive.

Because of these benefits, most writing instructors will tell you to always use active voice over passive when possible. However, there are times when the passive voice may be appropriate, particularly if you want to emphasize the object of your sentence or highlight the emotions or feelings experienced by your subject.

Final Thoughts

Remember that active voice conveys a clear message without adding unnecessary words to your text. However, there are situations that call for passive voice use, especially when it’s not important who did the action, but the action itself (or the result) is what matters. I hope I helped you understand the difference!

Grammarist is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. When you buy via the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission at no cost to you.

2024 © Grammarist, a Found First Marketing company. All rights reserved.

• Get started with computers
• Learn Microsoft Office
• Apply for a job
• Improve my work skills
• Design nice-looking docs
• Getting Started
• Smartphones & Tablets
• Typing Tutorial
• Online Learning
• Basic Internet Skills
• Online Safety
• Social Media
• Zoom Basics
• Google Docs
• Google Sheets
• Career Planning
• Resume Writing
• Cover Letters
• Job Search and Networking
• Business Communication
• Entrepreneurship 101
• Careers without College
• Job Hunt for Today
• 3D Printing
• Freelancing 101
• Personal Finance
• Sharing Economy
• Decision-Making
• Graphic Design
• Photography
• Image Editing
• Learning WordPress
• Language Learning
• Critical Thinking
• For Educators
• Translations
• Staff Picks
• English expand_more expand_less

Writing Skills  - Active vs. Passive Voice in Your Writing

Writing skills  -, active vs. passive voice in your writing, writing skills active vs. passive voice in your writing.

Writing Skills: Active vs. Passive Voice in Your Writing

Lesson 5: active vs. passive voice in your writing.

/en/writing-skills/how-to-write-an-effective-business-email/content/

Active vs. passive voice in your writing

Have you ever noticed how some parts of your writing seem to pop, while other parts don't? You can improve those dull sentences if you take a moment to consider the active and passive voices.

Learn more about the differences between active and passive voice in the video below.

The difference between active and passive

There are two voices in writing: Active and passive. In the active voice, the subject of a  sentence acts, like "Neil Armstrong walked on the moon." The active voice is direct, clear, and easy to read.

With the passive voice, the subject is acted upon, like "The moon was walked on by Neil Armstrong". Although the passive voice is still grammatically correct, it typically doesn't carry the same energy or clarity as the active voice. Its structure can feel clumsy and unnatural, which makes your writing harder to read. It also tends to use more words than the active voice. Over the course of a document, all those extra words can make your writing drag.

Overall, we recommend using the active voice more often than the passive. This will help keep your writing snappy and efficient.

Identifying the passive voice

Here's how to spot the passive voice:  

First, look for a phrase like "was visited", "has been cleaned", or "will be built".  Each one contains a "to be" verb , like "was", "has been", or "will be". 

That phrase is followed by an action that's already happened , like "visited", "cleaned", or "built".  Finally, the person or thing doing the action comes last , if they're mentioned at all. 

If you see these parts together, there's a good chance the sentence is in passive voice .

Changing passive into active

Let's change a sentence from passive into active voice.

Our sentence is, "The money was tossed into the air by Jacob". "Jacob" is our subject, and "tossed" is the verb. Move Jacob to the beginning of the sentence, cut out any unnecessary words, and rearrange a few others. Our passive example is now, "Jacob tossed the money into the air". The delivery is more brief, clear, and more immediate.

When passive is best

Although active voice is incredibly useful, the passive voice is occasionally the better choice. For instance, you may go passive if the actor of a sentence is unknown or irrelevant, like in the sentence, "The amendments will be approved after a discussion". In this case, we're interested in the amendments' approval, not who approved them.

Passive voice is also great for creating an authoritative tone , like on a sign requiring employees to wash their hands. It doesn't matter who requires employees to wash up; they just need to do it!

You may also want to go passive when you don't know who is responsible for the action , like in this example: "The mystery was never solved." 

The voice you use can make a big difference in your writing. The active voice will often add pep and clarity, but occasionally the passive voice will be your best option. Take some time to choose the voice that fits best, and your writing will almost certainly grow stronger.

• Walden University
• Faculty Portal

Scholarly Voice: Active and Passive Voice

Active and passive voice.

Active voice and passive voice are grammatical constructions that communicate certain information about an action. Specifically, APA explains that voice shows relationships between the verb and the subject and/or object (see APA 7, Section 4.13). Writers need to be intentional about voice in order to ensure clarity. Using active voice often improves clarity, while passive voice can help avoid unnecessary repetition.  

Active voice can help ensure clarity by making it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence. In addition, the active voice stresses that the actor (or grammatical subject) precedes the verb, again, putting emphasis on the subject. Passive voice construction leaves out the actor (subject) and focuses on the relationship between the verb and object.

The order of words in a sentence with active voice is subject, verb, object.

• Active voice example : I conducted a study of elementary school teachers.
• This sentence structure puts the emphasis of the sentence on the subject, clarifying who conducted the study. 
• Passive voice example : A study was conducted of elementary school teachers.
• In this sentence, it is not clear who conducted this study. 

Generally, in scholarly writing, with its emphasis on precision and clarity, the active voice is preferred. However, the passive voice is acceptable in some instances, for example:

• if the reader is aware of who the actor is;
• in expository writing, where the goal of the discussion is to provide background, context, or an in-depth explanation;
• if the writer wants to focus on the object or the implications of the actor’s action; or
• to vary sentence structure.  

Also, much like for anthropomorphism , different writing styles have different preferences. So, though you may see the passive voice used heavily in articles that you read for your courses and study, it does not mean that APA style advocates the same usage.

Examples of Writing in the Active Voice

Here are some examples of scholarly writing in the active voice:

• This is active voice because the subject in the sentence precedes the verb, clearly indicating who (I) will take the action (present).

Example : Teachers conducted a pilot study addressing the validity of the TAKS exam.

• Similarly, teachers (subject) clearly took the action (conducted) in this sentence.

Recognizing the Passive Voice

According to APA, writers should select verb tenses and voice carefully. Consider these examples to help determine which form of the verb is most appropriate:

Example : A study was conducted of job satisfaction and turnover.

• Here, it is not clear who did the conducting. In this case, if the context of the paragraph does not clarify who did the action, the writer should revise this sentence to clarify who conducted the study. 

Example : I conducted a study of job satisfaction and turnover.

• This revised sentence clearly indicates the action taker. Using “I” to identify the writer’s role in the research process is often a solution to the passive voice and is encouraged by APA style (see APA 7, Section 4.16).

Using the past tense of the verb “to be” and the past participle of a verb together is often an indication of the passive voice. Here are some signs to look for in your paper:

• Example : This study was conducted.
• Example : Findings were distributed.

Another indication of passive voice is when the verb precedes the actor in the sentence. Even if the action taker is clearly identified in a passive voice construction, the sentence is usually wordier. Making the actor the grammatical subject that comes before the verb helps to streamline the sentence.

• Issue : Though the verb and the actor (action taker) are clearly identified here, to improve clarity and word economy, the writer could place that actor, Rogers, before the verb.
• More concise active voice revision : Rogers (2016) conducted a study on nursing and turnover.  
• Issue : Here, the actor follows the verb, which reduces emphasis and clarity.
• This revised sentence is in the active voice and makes the actor the subject of the sentence.

Intentional Use of the Passive Voice

Sometimes, even in scholarly writing, the passive voice may be used intentionally and strategically. A writer may intentionally include the subject later in the sentence so as to reduce the emphasis and/or importance of the subject in the sentence. See the following examples of intentional passive voice to indicate emphasis:

Example : Schools not meeting AYP for 2 consecutive years will be placed on a “needs improvement” list by the State’s Department of Education.

• Here, all actors taking actions are identified, but this is in the passive voice as the State’s Department of Education is the actor doing the placing, but this verb precedes the actor. This may be an intentional use of the passive voice, to highlight schools not meeting AYP.
• To write this in the active voice, it would be phrased: “The State’s Department of Education will place schools not meeting AYP for 2 consecutive years on a “needs improvement” list. This sentence places the focus on the State’s Department of Education, not the schools.

Example : Participants in the study were incentivized with a $5 coffee gift card, which I gave them upon completion of their interview.

• As the writer and researcher, I may want to vary my sentence structure in order to avoid beginning several sentences with “I provided…” This example is written in the passive voice, but the meaning is clear.

Using Passive Voice in Scholarly Writing

As noted before, passive voice is allowed in APA style and can be quite appropriate, especially when writing about methods and data collection. However, students often overuse the passive voice in their writing, which means their emphasis in the sentence is not on the action taker. Their writing is also at risk of being repetitive. Consider the following paragraph in which the passive voice is used in each sentence:

A survey was administered . Using a convenience sample, 68 teachers were invited to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. E-mail addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation were provided by the principal of the school . The teachers were e-mailed an information sheet and a consent form. Responses were collected from 45 teachers… As you can see, the reader has no idea who is performing these actions, which makes the research process unclear. This is at odds with the goal of the methods discussion, which is to be clear and succinct regarding the process of data collection and analysis.

However, if translated entirely to the active voice, clearly indicating the researcher’s role, “I” becomes redundant and repetitive, interrupting the flow of the paragraph:

In this study, I administered a survey. I created a convenience sample of 68 teachers. I invited them to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. I obtained e-mail addresses from the principal of the school… “I” is quite redundant here and repetitive for the reader.

The Walden Writing Center suggests that students use “I” in the first sentence of the paragraph . Then, as long as it is clear to the reader that the student (writer) is the actor in the remaining sentences, use the active and passive voices appropriately to achieve precision and clarity (where applicable):

In this study, I administered a survey using a convenience sample. Sixty-eight teachers were invited to participate in the survey. The principal of the school provided me with the e-mail addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation. I e-mailed the teachers an information sheet and a consent form. A total of 45 teachers responded …

The use of the passive voice is complicated and requires careful attention and skill. There are no hard-and-fast rules. Using these guidelines, however, should help writers be clearer and more engaging in their writing, as well as achieving the intended purposes.

Remember, use voice strategically. APA recommends the active voice for clarity. However, the passive voice may be used, with intention, to remove the emphasis on the subject and also as a method for varying sentence structure. So, generally write in the active voice, but consider some of the above examples and some uses of the passive voice that may be useful to implement in your writing. Just be sure that the reader is always aware of who is taking the action of the verb.

• For more practice, try our Clarifying the Actor module .

Related Resources

• Principles of Writing: Active and Passive Voice (blog post) APA Style Blog post.

Didn't find what you need? Email us at [email protected] .

• Previous Page: Avoiding Bias
• Next Page: Word Choice (Diction)
• Office of Student Disability Services

Walden Resources

Departments.

• Academic Residencies
• Academic Skills
• Career Planning and Development
• Customer Care Team
• Field Experience
• Military Services
• Student Success Advising
• Writing Skills

Centers and Offices

• Center for Social Change
• Office of Academic Support and Instructional Services
• Office of Degree Acceleration
• Office of Research and Doctoral Services
• Office of Student Affairs

Student Resources

• Doctoral Writing Assessment
• Form & Style Review
• Quick Answers
• ScholarWorks
• SKIL Courses and Workshops
• Walden Bookstore
• Walden Catalog & Student Handbook
• Student Safety/Title IX
• Legal & Consumer Information
• Website Terms and Conditions
• Cookie Policy
• Accessibility
• Accreditation
• State Authorization
• Net Price Calculator
• Contact Walden

Walden University is a member of Adtalem Global Education, Inc. www.adtalem.com Walden University is certified to operate by SCHEV © 2024 Walden University LLC. All rights reserved.

Use the active voice

Generally, try to use the active voice whenever possible. Passive voice sentences often use more words, can be vague, and can lead to a tangle of prepositional phrases.

Active vs. passive voice

In a sentence written in the active voice, the subject of sentence performs the action. In a sentence written in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.

Active: The candidate believes that Congress must place a ceiling on the budget. Passive: It is believed by the candidate that a ceiling must be placed on the budget by Congress. Active: Researchers earlier showed that high stress can cause heart attacks. Passive: It was earlier demonstrated that heart attacks can be caused by high stress. Active: The dog bit the man. Passive: The man was bitten by the dog.

Converting sentences to active voice

Here are some tips and strategies for converting sentences from the passive to the active voice.

• Look for a “by” phrase (e.g., “by the dog” in the last example above). If you find one, the sentence may be in the passive voice. Rewrite the sentence so that the subject buried in the “by” clause is closer to the beginning of the sentence.
• If the subject of the sentence is somewhat anonymous, see if you can use a general term, such as “researchers,” or “the study,” or “experts in this field.”

When to use passive voice

There are sometimes good reasons to use the passive voice.

To emphasize the action rather than the actor

After long debate, the proposal was endorsed by the long-range planning committee.

To keep the subject and focus consistent throughout a passage

The data processing department recently presented what proved to be a controversial proposal to expand its staff. After long debate, the proposal was endorsed by . . . .

To be tactful by not naming the actor

The procedures were somehow misinterpreted.

To describe a condition in which the actor is unknown or unimportant

Every year, thousands of people are diagnosed as having cancer.

To create an authoritative tone

Visitors are not allowed after 9:00 p.m.

Improving Your Writing Style

This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.

Clear, Concise Sentences

Put the action in the verb

Tidy up wordy phrases

Reduce wordy verbs

Reduce prepositional phrases

Reduce expletive constructions

Avoid using vague nouns

Avoid unneccessarily inflated words

Avoid noun strings

Transitional Words and Phrases

Connecting Ideas Through Transitions

Using Transitional Words and Phrases

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Active and Passive Voice

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Using Active Versus Passive Voice

In a sentence using active voice , the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb.

The arrow points from the subject performing the action (the dog) to the individual being acted upon (the boy). This is an example of a sentence using the active voice.

Sample active voice sentence with the subject performing the action described by the verb.

The active voice sentence subject (watching a framed, mobile world) performs the action of reminding the speaker of something.

Each example above includes a sentence subject performing the action expressed by the verb.

View examples of active verb tenses.

Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Earthquake — Earthquake and Its Devastating Effects

Earthquake and Its Devastating Effects

• Categories: Earthquake Natural Disasters

About this sample

Words: 2036 |

11 min read

Published: Jul 15, 2020

Words: 2036 | Pages: 4 | 11 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Environment

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1178 words

3 pages / 1325 words

4 pages / 1690 words

1 pages / 384 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Earthquake

The Haiti earthquake of 2010 stands as one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history. This essay delves into the events leading up to the earthquake, its immediate and long-term impacts, the resilience of the [...]

The Earth had formed over 4.5 billion years from now and since then, we are still seeing changes. We are seeing volcanoes erupting and earthquakes shaking the earth’s surface causing massive destruction, the causes is due to [...]

It was a typical day in my hometown, the sun was shining, and the birds were chirping. I was going about my daily routine when suddenly, the ground beneath my feet started to tremble. At first, I thought it was just a minor [...]

The Haiti earthquake caused many geomorphic changes to the city of Haiti. The earthquake itself caused many ruptures in the ground, produce a possible chance for future pothole to occur. Once the tsunami hit the land, it [...]

After the massive earthquake near Japan one wonders if it’s possible to build an earthquake-proof building? The answer is yes and no. There are of course, engineering techniques that can be used to create a very sound structure [...]

Evacuation planning is an essential element of emergency planning for companies and organizations. In general terms, people should make their way to a safe place during the evacuation. Situations such as earthquakes, fires, gas [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

Passive Voice

Active voice gives added strength to your statements by emphasizing the actor and allowing you to use more interesting verbs. It also reduces wordiness.

PASSIVE : The town was decimated by the earthquake.

In active voice, the sentence emphasizes the earthquake as the actor. Rephrasing also removes superfluous words.

ACTIVE: The earthquake decimated the town.

Passive voice can also make your statements vague, which causes them to have less impact:

PASSIVE: Mistakes were made.

Sentences like the one above make the writer seem either cowardly (doesn't want to admit who made the mistake) or ignorant (simply doesn't know who made the mistake), neither of which is a particularly good thing. Rephrase:

ACTIVE: We made mistakes.

This revised sentence is much clearer, and it will prevent readers from accusing the writer of being non-committal.

There are, of course, situations in which the use of passive voice is preferred:

• Certain types of science writing require passive voice because it is essential that the actor be entirely removed from the writing.
• When you need to emphasize the recipient of the action rather than the actor, passive voice is appropriate. For example, if in the following sentence you were writing to emphasize the widespread use of pesticides rather than the people who use them, you would use passive voice: Thousands of American fields are sprayed with harmful pesticides every day.

Additional Site Navigation

Social media links, additional navigation links.

• Alumni Resources & Events
• Athletics & Wellness
• Campus Calendar
• Parent & Family Resources

Helpful Information

Dining hall hours, next trains to philadelphia, next trico shuttles.

Swarthmore Traditions

How to Plan Your Classes

The Swarthmore Bucket List

Search the website

Passive Voice

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you understand what the passive voice is, why many professors and writing instructors frown upon it, and how you can revise your paper to achieve greater clarity. Some things here may surprise you. We hope this handout will help you to understand the passive voice and allow you to make more informed choices as you write.

So what is the passive voice? First, let’s be clear on what the passive voice isn’t. Below, we’ll list some common myths about the passive voice:

1. Myth: Use of the passive voice constitutes a grammatical error.

Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. It’s a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity—that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.

2. Myth: Any use of “to be” (in any form) constitutes the passive voice.

The passive voice entails more than just using a being verb. Using “to be” can weaken the impact of your writing, but it is occasionally necessary and does not by itself constitute the passive voice.

3. Myth: The passive voice always avoids the first person; if something is in first person (“I” or “we”) it’s also in the active voice.

On the contrary, you can very easily use the passive voice in the first person. Here’s an example: “I was hit by the dodgeball.”

4. Myth: You should never use the passive voice.

While the passive voice can weaken the clarity of your writing, there are times when the passive voice is OK and even preferable.

5. Myth: I can rely on my grammar checker to catch the passive voice.

See Myth #1. Since the passive voice isn’t a grammar error, it’s not always caught. Typically, grammar checkers catch only a fraction of passive voice usage.

Do any of these misunderstandings sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. That’s why we wrote this handout. It discusses how to recognize the passive voice, when you should avoid it, and when it’s OK.

Defining the passive voice

A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke:

Why was the road crossed by the chicken?

Who is doing the action in this sentence? The chicken is the one doing the action in this sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to be. Instead, the road is the grammatical subject. The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something—the chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object). We use active verbs to represent that “doing,” whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses (more on that shortly).

Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. Look for a form of “to be” (is, are, am, was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being) followed by a past participle. (The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not always, ends in “-ed.” Some exceptions to the “-ed” rule are words like “paid” (not “payed”) and “driven.” (not “drived”).

Here’s a sure-fire formula for identifying the passive voice:

form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice

For example:

The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon’s fiery breath.

When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

Not every sentence that contains a form of “have” or “be” is passive! Forms of the word “have” can do several different things in English. For example, in the sentence “John has to study all afternoon,” “has” is not part of a past-tense verb. It’s a modal verb, like “must,” “can,” or “may”—these verbs tell how necessary it is to do something (compare “I have to study” versus “I may study”). And forms of “be” are not always passive, either—”be” can be the main verb of a sentence that describes a state of being, rather than an action. For example, the sentence “John is a good student” is not passive; “is” is simply describing John’s state of being. The moral of the story: don’t assume that any time you see a form of “have” and a form of “to be” together, you are looking at a passive sentence.

Need more help deciding whether a sentence is passive? Ask yourself whether there is an action going on in the sentence. If so, what is at the front of the sentence? Is it the person or thing that does the action? Or is it the person or thing that has the action done to it? In a passive sentence, the object of the action will be in the subject position at the front of the sentence. As discussed above, the sentence will also contain a form of be and a past participle. If the subject appears at all, it will usually be at the end of the sentence, often in a phrase that starts with “by.” Take a look at this example:

The fish was caught by the seagull.

If we ask ourselves whether there’s an action, the answer is yes: a fish is being caught. If we ask what’s at the front of the sentence, the actor or the object of the action, it’s the object: the fish, unfortunately for it, got caught, and there it is at the front of the sentence. The thing that did the catching—the seagull—is at the end, after “by.” There’s a form of be (was) and a past participle (caught). This sentence is passive.

Let’s briefly look at how to change passive constructions into active ones. You can usually just switch the word order, making the actor and subject one by putting the actor up front:

The dragon has scorched the metropolis with his fiery breath.

After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

To repeat, the key to identifying the passive voice is to look for both a form of “to be” and a past participle, which usually, but not always, ends in “-ed.”

Clarity and meaning

The primary reason why your instructors frown on the passive voice is that they often have to guess what you mean. Sometimes, the confusion is minor. Let’s look again at that sentence from a student’s paper on Homer’s The Odyssey:

Like many passive constructions, this sentence lacks explicit reference to the actor—it doesn’t tell the reader who or what invaded Penelope’s house. The active voice clarifies things:

After suitors invaded Penelope’s house, she had to think of ways to fend them off.

Thus many instructors—the readers making sense of your writing—prefer that you use the active voice. They want you to specify who or what is doing the action. Compare the following two examples from an anthropology paper on a Laotian village to see if you agree.

(passive)  A new system of drug control laws was set up. (By whom?)

(active)  The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party set up a new system of drug control laws.

Here’s another example, from the same paper, that illustrates the lack of precision that can accompany the passive voice:

Gender training was conducted in six villages, thus affecting social relationships.

And a few pages later:

Plus, marketing links were being established.

In both paragraphs, the writer never specifies the actors for those two actions (Who did the gender training? Who established marketing links?). Thus the reader has trouble appreciating the dynamics of these social interactions, which depend upon the actors conducting and establishing these things.

The following example, once again from that paper on The Odyssey, typifies another instance where an instructor might desire more precision and clarity:

Although Penelope shares heroic characteristics with her husband, Odysseus, she is not considered a hero.

Who does not consider Penelope a hero? It’s difficult to tell, but the rest of that paragraph suggests that the student does not consider Penelope a hero (the topic of the paper). The reader might also conceivably think that the student is referring to critics, scholars, or modern readers of The Odyssey. One might argue that the meaning comes through here—the problem is merely stylistic. Yet style affects how your reader understands your argument and content. Awkward or unclear style prevents your reader from appreciating the ideas that are so clear to you when you write. Thus knowing how your reader might react enables you to make more effective choices when you revise. So after you identify instances of the passive, you should consider whether your use of the passive inhibits clear understanding of what you mean.

Summarizing history or literary plots with the passive voice: don’t be a lazy thinker or writer!

With the previous section in mind, you should also know that some instructors proclaim that the passive voice signals sloppy, lazy thinking. These instructors argue that writers who overuse the passive voice have not fully thought through what they are discussing and that this makes for imprecise arguments. Consider these sentences from papers on American history:

The working class was marginalized. African Americans were discriminated against. Women were not treated as equals.

Such sentences lack the precision and connection to context and causes that mark rigorous thinking. The reader learns little about the systems, conditions, human decisions, and contradictions that produced these groups’ experiences of oppression. And so the reader—the instructor—questions the writer’s understanding of these things.

It is especially important to be sure that your thesis statement is clear and precise, so think twice before using the passive voice in your thesis.

In papers where you discuss the work of an author—e.g., a historian or writer of literature—you can also strengthen your writing by not relying on the passive as a crutch when summarizing plots or arguments. Instead of writing:

It is argued that… or  Tom and Huck are portrayed as… or  And then the link between X and Y is made, showing that…

you can heighten the level of your analysis by explicitly connecting an author with these statements:

Anderson argues that… Twain portrays Tom and Huck as… Ishiguro draws a link between X and Y to show that…

By avoiding passive constructions in these situations, you can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of the material you discuss.

Scientific writing

All this advice works for papers in the humanities, you might note—but what about technical or scientific papers, including lab reports? Many instructors recommend or even require the passive voice in such writing. The rationale for using the passive voice in scientific writing is that it achieves “an objective tone”—for example, by avoiding the first person. To consider scientific writing, let’s break it up into two main types: lab reports and writing about a scientific topic or literature.

Lab reports

Although more and more scientific journals accept or even prefer first-person active voice (e.g., “then we sequenced the human genome”), some of your instructors may want you to remove yourself from your lab report by using the passive voice (e.g., “then the human genome was sequenced” rather than “then we sequenced the human genome”). Such advice particularly applies to the section on Materials and Methods, where a procedure “is followed.” (For a fuller discussion on writing lab reports, see our handout on writing lab reports .)

While you might employ the passive voice to retain objectivity, you can still use active constructions in some instances and retain your objective stance. Thus it’s useful to keep in mind the sort of active verbs you might use in lab reports. Examples include: support, indicate, suggest, correspond, challenge, yield, show.

Thus instead of writing:

A number of things are indicated by these results.

you could write:

These results indicate a number of things . or Further analysis showed/suggested/yielded…

Ultimately, you should find out your instructor’s preference regarding your use of the passive in lab reports.

Writing about scientific topics

In some assignments, rather than reporting the results of your own scientific work, you will be writing about the work of other scientists. Such assignments might include literature reviews and research reports on scientific topics. You have two main possible tasks in these assignments: reporting what other people have done (their research or experiments) or indicating general scientific knowledge (the body of knowledge coming out of others’ research). Often the two go together. In both instances, you can easily use active constructions even though you might be tempted by the passive—especially if you’re used to writing your own lab reports in the passive.

You decide: Which of these two examples is clearer?

(passive) Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death in the United States.

or (active)  Research points to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States.

Alternatively, you could write this sentence with human actors:

Researchers have concluded that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

The last two sentences illustrate a relationship that the first one lacks. The first example does not tell who or what leads us to accept this conclusion about heart disease.

Here’s one last example from a report that describes angioplasty. Which sounds better to you?

The balloon is positioned in an area of blockage and is inflated. or The surgeon positions the balloon in an area of blockage and inflates it.

You can improve your scientific writing by relying less on the passive. The advice we’ve given for papers on history or literature equally applies to papers in more “scientific” courses. No matter what field you’re writing in, when you use the passive voice, you risk conveying to your reader a sense of uncertainty and imprecision regarding your writing and thinking. The key is to know when your instructor wants you to use the passive voice. For a more general discussion of writing in the sciences , see our handout.

“Swindles and perversions”

Before we discuss a few instances when the passive might be preferable, we should mention one of the more political uses of the passive: to hide blame or obscure responsibility. You wouldn’t do this, but you can learn how to become a critic of those who exhibit what George Orwell included among the “swindles and perversions” of writing. For example:

Mistakes were made.

The Exxon Company accepts that a few gallons might have been spilled.

By becoming critically aware of how others use language to shape clarity and meaning, you can learn how better to revise your own work. Keep Orwell’s swindles and perversions in mind as you read other writers. Because it’s easy to leave the actor out of passive sentences, some people use the passive voice to avoid mentioning who is responsible for certain actions.

So when is it OK to use the passive?

Sometimes the passive voice is the best choice. Here are a few instances when the passive voice is quite useful:

1. To emphasize an object. Take a look at this example:

One hundred votes are required to pass the bill.

This passive sentence emphasizes the number of votes required. An active version of the sentence (“The bill requires 100 votes to pass”) would put the emphasis on the bill, which may be less dramatic.

2. To de-emphasize an unknown subject/actor. Consider this example:

Over 120 different contaminants have been dumped into the river.

If you don’t know who the actor is—in this case, if you don’t actually know who dumped all of those contaminants in the river—then you may need to write in the passive. But remember, if you do know the actor, and if the clarity and meaning of your writing would benefit from indicating him/her/it/them, then use an active construction. Yet consider the third case.

3. If your readers don’t need to know who’s responsible for the action.

Here’s where your choice can be difficult; some instances are less clear than others. Try to put yourself in your reader’s position to anticipate how they will react to the way you have phrased your thoughts. Here are two examples:

(passive)  Baby Sophia was delivered at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

and (active)  Dr. Susan Jones delivered baby Sophia at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

The first sentence might be more appropriate in a birth announcement sent to family and friends—they are not likely to know Dr. Jones and are much more interested in the “object”(the baby) than in the actor (the doctor). A hospital report of yesterday’s events might be more likely to focus on Dr. Jones’ role.

Summary of strategies

• Look for the passive voice: “to be” + a past participle (usually, but not always, ending in “-ed”)
• If you don’t see both components, move on.
• Does the sentence describe an action? If so, where is the actor? Is the he/she/they/it in the grammatical subject position (at the front of the sentence) or in the object position (at the end of the sentence, or missing entirely)?
• Does the sentence end with “by…”? Many passive sentences include the actor at the end of the sentence in a “by” phrase, like “The ball was hit by the player ” or “The shoe was chewed up by the dog .” “By” by itself isn’t a conclusive sign of the passive voice, but it can prompt you to take a closer look.
• Is the doer/actor indicated? Should you indicate him/her/them/it?
• Does it really matter who’s responsible for the action?
• Would your reader ask you to clarify a sentence because of an issue related to your use of the passive?
• Do you use a passive construction in your thesis statement?
• Do you use the passive as a crutch in summarizing a plot or history, or in describing something?
• Do you want to emphasize the object?
• If you decide that your sentence would be clearer in the active voice, switch the sentence around to make the subject and actor one. Put the actor (the one doing the action of the sentence) in front of the verb.

Towards active thinking and writing

We encourage you to keep these tips in mind as you revise. While you may be able to employ this advice as you write your first draft, that’s not necessarily always possible. In writing, clarity often comes when you revise, not on your first try. Don’t worry about the passive if that stress inhibits you in getting your ideas down on paper. But do look for it when you revise. Actively make choices about its proper place in your writing. There is nothing grammatically or otherwise “wrong” about using the passive voice. The key is to recognize when you should, when you shouldn’t, and when your instructor just doesn’t want you to. These choices are yours. We hope this handout helps you to make them.

Works consulted and suggested reading

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Baron, Dennis E. 1989. “The Passive Voice Can Be Your Friend.” In Declining Grammar and Other Essays on the English Vocabulary , 17-22. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers.

Hjortshoj, Keith. 2001. The Transition to College Writing . New York: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose , 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.

Orwell, George. 1968. “Politics and the English Language.” In The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell , edited by Ian Angus and Sonia Orwell, 4: 127-140. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2000. The Allyn and Bacon Handbook , 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Strunk, William, and E.B. White. 2000. The Elements of Style , 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Trimble, John R. 2000. Writing With Style , 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Williams, Joseph, and Joseph Bizup. 2017. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace , 12th ed. Boston: Pearson.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

Passive Voice

Flipped learning module.

Each Flipped Learning Module (FLM) is a set of short videos and online activities that can be used (in whole or in part) to free up class time from content delivery for greater student interaction. At the end of the module, students are asked to fill out a brief survey, in which we adopt the minute paper strategy . In this approach, students are asked to submit their response to two brief questions regarding their knowledge of the module.

In this FLM, students are asked to view three videos introducing the passive and active voices, their construction and usage.

transitive and intransitive verbs, direct object, passive construction, register

Module Overview Overview Introduction to Passive and Active Voice Definition of Voice Active Passive Construction of the Passive and Active Voice Transitive Verbs Intransitive Verbs Verbs that can act as either Formation of Passive Voice Alternative Passive constructions Usage General Preference for Active Voice Use of Passive Download Video Transcripts

Video 1: Overview

Passive voice online activity 1.

Ex. Who said “I Have a Dream”? Martin Luther King said “I Have a Dream.” (active – focuses on actor) Ex. What was measured? The chemicals were measured. (passive – focuses on action or direct object)

• Who proposed the Theory of Evolution? [Darwin]
• What was explained?
• What happened to the treaty?
• When did the speaker arrive?
• How were the miners rescued?

Video 2: Construction of the Passive and Active Voice

Passive voice online activity 2, video 3: usage, passive voice survey.

• What was the one most important thing you learned from this module?
• Do you have any unanswered questions for me?

Passive Voice In-Class Activity: Option 1

Below is a summary of an essay by the journalist Jeff Jacoby called “Watching Oprah from behind the Veil.” In pairs, have students analyze the uses of the active and passive in the following paragraphs. Do they agree with the writer’s choices? Why or why not?

In his essay “Watching Oprah from behind the Veil” Jeff Jacoby compares the life of the women of Saudi Arabia, who are oppressed by patriarchy, to the life of Oprah Winfrey, who is idolized by them. Jacoby talks about obstacles in the lives of both, first describing Saudi women and how they are treated unequally. Jacoby believes the lives of Saudi women are miserable as they are deprived of basic human rights and have no rights to make independent decisions.

In contrast, Oprah is a self-made and influential billionaire; her confidence, self-improvement, and spirituality uplift others. Yet, it does not mean that she did not encounter hardships in her life. She was born to an unwed housemaid in pre-civil rights Mississippi, faced poverty in childhood, was sexually harassed, and left home as a teen. However, as Jacoby points out, in spite of their obstacles, Saudi women’s lives differ from Oprah’s.

Oprah faced childhood struggles and had years of tough experiences, which she eventually overcame through her persistence and tenacity, but Arabian women are not allowed to take that move to improve their lives since they do not even have the fundamental rights. Nevertheless, according to Jacoby, Arabian women idolize Oprah because she provides new thinking to their confined and veiled existence, and Oprah’s encouragement makes Arabian women feel better in a gender-segregated society.

Download Worksheet 1

Download Digital Implementation of the Activity

Passive Voice In-Class Activity: Option 2

1a. The house was torn apart by a gas explosion. 1b. A gas explosion tore apart the house.

2a. The rebel opposition won the election. 2b. The election was won by the rebel opposition.

3a. The American White House was built by slaves. 3b. Slaves built the American White House.

4a. The Declaration of Independence was signed by 56 men. 4b. Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence.

5a. The Hippocratic Oath states that doctors must do no harm. 5b. The Hippocratic Oath states that no harm must be done by doctors.

Download Worksheet 2

Passive Voice In-Class Activity: Option 3

Below are two paragraphs describing use of the passive voice, the original from the Purdue OWL and the second a revision of it (created by the author of this module). Examine the use of the active and passive voices in each and discuss which you find most effective and why.

1a. Sometimes the use of passive voice can create awkward sentences. Also, overuse of passive voice throughout an essay can cause your prose to seem flat and uninteresting. In scientific writing, however, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences. This practice helps to create the appearance of an objective, fact-based discourse because writers can present research and conclusions without attributing them to particular agents. Instead, the writing appears to convey information that is not limited or biased by individual perspectives or personal interests. (https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/active_and_passive_voice/more_about_passive_voice.html)

1b. Sometimes awkward sentences can be created by the use of passive voice. Also, prose can seem flat and uninteresting through the overuse of the passive voice. In scientific writing, however, passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences. The appearance of an objective, fact-based discourse is helped by this practice because writers can present research and conclusions without attributing them to particular agents. Instead information that is not limited or biased by individual perspectives or personal interests appears to be conveyed by the writing.

Passive Voice In-Class Activity: Option 4

Choose something you have written and identify and analyze any use of the passive voice. Why have you used it? Would the active voice be more effective? Do you think you have used active voice when the passive might be more appropriate?

Passive Voice Additional Online Activities

Passive Voice potential additional on-line activities

• Romeo was banished.
• Juliet killed herself at the end of the play.
• Generals Grant and Lee signed the Treaty at Appomattox to end the Civil War.
• Rosa Parks sat in the front of the bus.
• Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.

Celce-Murcia, Marianne and Diane Larsen-Freeman. The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course. 2nd ed. Heinle and Heinle, 2005.

Ferris, Dana. Language Power: Tutorials for Writers. Bedford/St. Martins, 2014.

Hacker, Diane. Rules for Writers, 9th ed. Bedford/St. Martins, 2018.

Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage, 3rd. ed. Oxford, 2005.

Williams, Joseph M. and Gregory g. Colomb. Style: The Basics of Clarity and Grace. 4th ed. Longman, 2012

See all Writing Program Flipped Learning Modules

Language Log

• Comments policy

The passive in English

January 24, 2011 @ 7:00 am · Filed by Geoffrey K. Pullum under passives , Prescriptivist poppycock , Syntax , Usage advice

« Russian Loans in Northeast and Northwest Mandarin: The Power of Script to Influence Pronunciation | Kim Possible Taste »

« previous post | next post »

Numerous Language Log posts by me, Mark Liberman, and Arnold Zwicky among others have been devoted to mocking people who denigrate the passive without being able to identify it (see this comprehensive list of Language Log posts about the passive). It is clear that some people think The bus blew up is in the passive; that The case took on racial overtones is in the passive; that Dr. Reuben deeply regrets that this happened is in the passive; and so on.

Our grumbling about how these people don't know their passive from a hole in the ground has inspired many people to send us email asking for a clear and simple explanation of what a passive clause is. In this post I respond to those many requests. I'll make it as clear and simple as I can, but it will be a 2500-word essay; I can't make things simpler than they are. There is no hope of figuring out the meaning of grammatical terms from common sense, or by looking in a dictionary. Passive (like its opposite, active ) is a technical term. Its use in syntax has nothing to do with lacking energy or initiative, or assuming a receptive and non-directive role. And the dictionary definitions are often utterly inadequate ( Webster's , for example, is simply hopeless on the grammatical sense of the word). I will try to explain things accurately, and also simply (though this is not for kids; I am writing this for grownups). If I fail, then of course the whole of your money will be refunded.

I won't be talking about passive sentences or passive verbs : sentences are too big and verbs are too small. I'll talk in terms of passive clauses . A clause consists, very roughly, of a verb plus all the appropriate things that go with that verb to complete a unit that can express a proposition, including all its optional extra modifiers. Sentences can contain numerous clauses, some passive and some not, some embedded inside others, so talking about passive sentences doesn't make any sense. Nor does "passive construction" if you define it, as Webster's does, as a type of expression "containing a passive verb form". That would be far too vague even if English had passive verb forms (in reality, it doesn't).

This essay avoids using the term voice . That's the rather strange traditional name for the distinction between active and passive. It mainly confuses people: The active/passive "voice" contrast has nothing to do with finding your voice, or having a loud voice, or the authentic voice of the oppressed.

I'll need to use three abbreviations: a noun-phrase like a storm , or storms , or the roof , or City Hall , will be referred to as an NP . A verb-phrase like blew in , or damaged the roof , will be called a VP And a preposition-phrase like with the others , or by a bear , will be called a PP .

Fasten your seatbelt; here we go. Ten short sections follow. You can ignore the footnotes at the end of section 7 without much loss.

1. English has a contrast between kinds of clause in which one kind has the standard correspondence between grammatical subject and semantic roles (when a verb denotes an action, the subject standardly corresponds to the agent), and the other switches those roles around. In the kind of clause called passive some non-subject NP you would expect within the VP is missing, and that VP is understood with that NP as its subject . Take the verb damage as an example. Active uses of it involve a subject NP denoting a causer or initiator of damage — call that participant the wrecker . Since damage is a transitive verb, there is also a direct object NP. In this case it denotes something that suffers or undergoes damage; call that entity the victim . An active clause with the verb damage would be something like Storms damaged City Hall . Notice that the subject NP ( storms ) denotes the wrecker. In a passive use of damage (I won't give one just yet, but I will in a minute) you would see a form of the verb damage used in such a way that the subject of the clause does not denote the wrecker, but denotes the victim instead.

(What about the NP that denotes the wrecker, then? As we'll see, it doesn't have to be expressed at all in a passive clause. But if it is expressed, it is put into a PP inside the VP. That PP has the head preposition by . You would add by storms , for example, to make it explicit what the agent was in a passive clause using damaged .)

One more observation before we go on: given the meaning of the verb damage , we have an action that involves a doer (the wrecker) and an undergoer (the victim), but it is crucial that there isn't always a doer or an undergoer . John neglects the garden is an active clause with a transitive verb, but that doesn't mean it says that John does something, or that the garden has something done to it; the clause actually says exactly the opposite, that John does nothing to the garden!

2. Crucial to the form of passive clauses is the notion of a participle . Nearly all verbs in English (though not quite all) have two tenseless forms with special endings: the past participle , which typically ends in -ed (but for irregular verbs may end in -en or -t or have no ending or may have some yet more irregular form), and the gerund-participle , which always ends in -ing . Here are a few example forms for various verbs (I include for each verb the plain form that you would look up in the dictionary plus the 3rd singular present form ending in -s , and the preterite or simple past tense form, followed by both the participles in red):

Notice that for fully regular verbs like damage and nibble , and for some irregular verbs, the past participle is identical in written form and pronunciation to the preterite form. The relevance of participles is that a passive clause always has its verb in a participial form . (In the vast majority of cases it's the past participle, but there is an exception, to be considered later, in section  7 .)

3. Participles never have tense, yet virtually all kinds of English independent clauses are required to have tense. This means that a clause formed of a subject and a participial VP understood in the switched-around manner — what The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language calls a bare passive clause — can hardly ever stand on its own. But there are a couple of exceptions. One is newspaper headlines. Here is an imaginary headline that has the form of a passive clause and nothing else: City Hall damaged by storms Who or what is the wrecker here, semantically? The storms. And the victim? Obviously, City Hall , which is the subject of the clause that makes up this headline. The usual roles are reversed. Normally the wrecker would be denoted by the subject NP, placed before the verb, and the victim would be denoted by the object NP, after the verb. But in the headline above they are switched. Bare passive clauses are not only seen in headlines; one other place you see them is when they are used as modifiers. It's somewhat literary, but common enough. A couple of examples, with the bare passive clause modifier underlined: That said , we should keep in mind that things are more complex. The day's work done , they made their way back to the farmhouse.

4. The imaginary headline City Hall damaged by storms is not an ordinary independent clause in non-headline contexts. To make it into an ordinary independent clause, it needs a tense , either present or past. But since the verb of the passive VP has to be a participle, it can't have tense. So there has to be an extra verb .

One verb that very commonly accompanies passive VPs to make passive clauses is the item known as be . Its plain form is be , but it has many other forms for specific grammatical contexts: am , are , aren't , is , isn't , was , wasn't , were , weren't , been , being . English often makes passive VPs into tensed clauses by using some tensed form of be . The subject goes before be rather than before the participle in the passive clause, and the rest of the passive clause comes after be (it's an internal complement in the VP).

So to express in the preterite (simple past) tense the claim that storms damaged City Hall, we could employ the verb form was (that is, the simple past tense form of be is appropriate for a third-person singular subject), with City Hall as the grammatical subject, and following that the past participle damaged . To make the wrecker explicit, as I said above, we simply add the PP by storms . The result is the sentence on the right below:

The verb was doesn't really add any meaning, but it enables the whole thing to be put into the preterite tense so that the event can be asserted to have occurred in the past. Changing was to is would put the clause into the present tense, and replacing it by will be or is going to be would permit reference to future time; but the passive VP damaged by storms would stay the same in each case. (Notice, the participle damaged does not itself make any past time reference, despite the name "past participle".)

5. Using be is not the only way to make a passive clause that says storms have damaged City Hall. It is often true that a passive clause contains be , but not always . This is why it is so disastrous that ignorant writing tutors circle all forms of be that they notice, writing "Don't use the passive" in the margin (take a look at this terrible example ). They are picking up on an irrelevant feature that is only sometimes found near a passive clause. Many passives don't have be at all, and many uses of be are not associated with passives. The other verbs that sometimes accompany passive clauses include come , get , go , have , hear , make , need , see , and a few others (though there are all sorts of limitations on the constructions that different verbs require). Here are a few examples, with the main clause verb boldfaced and the passive VP underlined: Mary got arrested at the demonstration yesterday . Try not to get your private life discussed by the newspapers . I saw him attacked by a flock of birds . I had this made for me by a carpenter . Susan had her car stolen out of her driveway last week. The problems with the building went unnoticed by the owners for weeks. This software comes pre-installed by the manufacturers .

All of these examples will typically go unidentified as passives if you ask bad writing tutors or trust bad grammar-checking programs. (So will the foregoing sentence.)

6. In all of the examples so far, the NP unexpressed in the VP is a direct object . Transitive verbs like arrest , discuss , attack , make , notice , install , etc., just have one NP in the VP, and it's the direct object. In a passive, it is the NP that turns up as the subject. But this is one more thing that is not always true in passives, but only sometimes. First, the non-subject NP can be an indirect object. That's what we see here:

Second, more interestingly, the non-subject NP can be inside a PP : it can be the complement of a preposition in the active. This is what we see in the following active/passive pair, where the active has a PP (enclosed in brackets) and in the passive version there is a stranded preposition (I put the relevant PP in square brackets, and show by ‘__’ the gap in the passive where the missing NP would have been.):

This construction is the prepositional passive (some linguists have called it the pseudo-passive ). All the verbs that take passive clause complements can take prepositional passives. In the following examples the passive clause is underlined, but I don't bother to show the gap after the stranded preposition: Mary got picked on at the demonstration yesterday. Don't get your private life talked about by the newspapers . I saw him pecked at by a flock of birds . I had this worked on by a carpenter . If you've ever had your poetry laughed at by an audience you'll know how I feel. The problems with the building went unlooked at by the owners for a long time.

In English the prepositional passive is quite frequent, especially in relatively informal style. Most languages don't have anything like it (Norwegian is a rare example of a language that does).

There are some peculiar restrictions on prepositional passives in English. One is that there can be a difference in acceptability according to whether the subject denotes an entity that is tangibly altered in state: This bottom bunk has been slept in is dramatically more acceptable than ?? The bottom bunk has been slept above , apparently because sleeping in a bunk bed alters its state (the sheets are wrinkled and so on), while sleeping in the top bunk above it doesn't alter its state at all. Intuitively, you use a prepositional passive when the VP expresses a relevantly important property of the subject. That's a restriction on prepositional passives, because there is nothing peculiar about the active version Someone has slept above this bottom bunk . (Why would a language have a restriction like that? Who knows. I don't make or try to enforce any of the rules; I am merely trying to explain what the rules seem to be.)

7. The participle in a passive clause is nearly always a past participle, but not quite always: most dialects of English have a construction called the concealed passive in which the verb of the passive clause is in the gerund-participle form, the one that ends in -ing . Most commonly a concealed passive clause involves the verb need , as in these examples: It needed washing anyway . That rash needs looking at by a specialist . In these examples washing and looking are gerund-participles, but the sense is still clearly the one that indicates the passive — the subject of wash does not denote the person who does the washing, and the subject of look does not denote the specialist. Four footnotes: Note 1. For some speakers there are a few verbs other than need that allow this construction. Want may allow it, for example. Note 2. There are people (some of them Americans) who say It needs washed ; I think that is accounted for by simply saying that they allow need to take a subjectless passive clause complement just like get does. Note 3. In the 18th century there was another passive-like construction with a gerund-participle: the so-called passival , as in His tooth was pulling out by a dentist , where a gerund-participle is the complement of be . That is another matter, and a purely historical one; but see this post for recent Language Log discussion of the passival. Note 4. I am not dealing here with the case of those few transitive verbs that are sometimes used intransitively with the subject understood the way the object would have been understood: cases like His books sell quite well , which means something like "The enterprise of selling his books goes quite well" (notice that sell is not a participle). This construction is sometimes called the middle . It clearly differs from the passive: it can't take a by -phrase.

8. You can of course leave out all reference to the agent in a passive, precisely because the agent isn't the subject, and only the subject is fully and always obligatory in a tensed clause: The mayor had the building torn down . That doesn't express the identity of the destructive agent at all — though in this case the source of the authority is clear enough, so there's no evasiveness about responsibility. The context might be one in which we don't know which company did it, and any company could have, and it doesn't matter which one it was. But you don't have to leave the agent unexpressed in a passive. You could say this: The mayor had the building torn down by his brother's demolition company . The demolition agent is specified here, as you might want it to be if corrupt awarding of city contracts was suspected. So notice that the passive construction has absolutely nothing to do with the notion of being vague about agency : you can be as explicit as you want to be about who or what did the stuff that the clause talks about, and whether you use a by -phrase may not even matter. The passive is often better suited to being explicit about agency than the active is, because the end of the verb phrase is an ideal place to put something you want to emphasize: Don't you see? The patient was murdered by his own doctor! . There's no vagueness or evasiveness about whodunnit there: it whacks you in the face with the identity of the murderer. If you want to name names and point fingers, there's often no better way to do it than with a passive construction.

Let me now add a reminder about a point made earlier: we have been talking about actions like damaging, tearing down, murdering, and so on. These denote actions affecting physical objects. Not all verbs are like this. J is followed by K is a passive clause, but it doesn't talk about anybody doing anything to anything. It just has a passice VP with a past participle, and its subject is understood the way the object would be understood in the earlier example K follows J . Key point: The passive construction is not defined in terms of active agents doing things to affected entities! After all, sometimes nothing is doing anything to anything: consider It is believed to have been snowing at the time , where believed is the verb of a passive clause but it isn't by any stretch of the imagination a thing that someone believes. The passive is defined in terms of syntactic notions like subject and object and transitive verb and participle.

9. I still have not done full justice to this topic; in particular, I have not opened up the topic of the close relation between passives and predicative adjective constructions (phrases like uninhabited are rather clearly adjectival, since there is no verb * uninhabit , yet we can say Antarctica is mostly uninhabited by humans ). But although I have not been fully exhaustive, I hope I have made it clear that almost everything said about passives in standard books of writing advice (and most of what linguistics books say as well) is mistaken. Indeed, often wildly mistaken. The passive is not an undesirable feature limited to bad writing; it's a useful construction often needed for clear expression, and every good writer uses it. The passive does not always involve a use of be . The passive does not always involve masking the identity of the agent—it can be used to put the spotlight on the agent. The NP that is the subject in a passive is not always the one that would have been the direct object if the clause had been designed as an active one: it can be an NP that would have been the complement of a preposition, so some passive clauses have stranded prepositions.

10. One other thing. As mentioned on Language Log here and elsewhere, the people who criticize the passive the most tend to use it more than the rest of us. George Orwell warns against the passive in his dishonest and rhetorically overblown essay "Politics and the English language". E. B. White does likewise in the obnoxiously ignorant little book by Strunk that he revised and put his name on, The Elements of Style . Both of these authors have a remarkably high frequency of passives in their work: more than 20 percent of their clauses with transitive verbs are cast in the passive, a distinctly higher frequency than you find in most of the prose written by normal people who don't spend their time pontificating hypocritically about the alleged evil of the passive.

I modified this post a bit on 4 June 2012, and again on 15 September 2012, and again on 10 July 2014. I have tried to make it very clear that the passive is not defined in terms of semantic notions like doer and undergoer, even though that makes for a vivid source of initial examples. Comments on this post are closed, but comments and questions can be emailed to me at mail2languagelog gmail.com . All mail will be read, and ideas or suggestions may perhaps be taken up (in fact many have: thanks to all the readers who contributed suggestions for minor changes that I have made to the post above). A personal response, however, cannot be promised: I have no staff, and my Language Log time is limited.

Comments are closed.

Follow us on Twitter

Archives [+/–].

• August 2024
• February 2024
• January 2024
• December 2023
• November 2023
• October 2023
• September 2023
• August 2023
• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• October 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• February 2022
• January 2022
• December 2021
• November 2021
• October 2021
• September 2021
• August 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• August 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• November 2017
• October 2017
• September 2017
• August 2017
• February 2017
• January 2017
• December 2016
• November 2016
• October 2016
• September 2016
• August 2016
• February 2016
• January 2016
• December 2015
• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• December 2014
• November 2014
• October 2014
• September 2014
• August 2014
• February 2014
• January 2014
• December 2013
• November 2013
• October 2013
• September 2013
• August 2013
• February 2013
• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• September 2012
• August 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• [Posts before 4/8/2008 are here ] [Search old posts here ]

Blogroll [+/–]

• "Spoken language expert’s exuberant life of science"
• …And read all over
• A Linguist Goes to Law School
• A Roguish Chrestomathy
• A Walk in the WoRds
• A Way With Words
• Alex's phonetic thoughts
• All Things Linguistic
• Anggarrgoon
• Archival Sounds (British Library)
• Arrant Pedantry
• Ask the League of Nerds
• Babel's Dawn (Edmund Blair Bolles)
• Bad Language
• BadLinguistics (Pauline Foster)
• Between the Lines with Edwin Battistella
• Bradshaw of the Future
• Bremer sprachblog
• Building Rapport
• Career Linguist
• Child's Play
• Citizen sociolinguistics
• clinicallinguistics
• Coby Lubliner's Blog
• Cognition And Language Lab
• Colorless Green Ideas
• Conjugate Visits
• DCblog (David Crystal)
• Degelka af soomaaliga
• Descriptively Adequate
• dialect blog
• Dictionary Evangelist
• Dictionary Society of North America
• Double-Tongued Dictionary
• Ed Absurdum
• Eggcorn Database
• Endangered Languages and Cultures
• English, Jack
• Epea Pteroenta
• Eternally Stressed Semanticist
• Everything You Know About English Is Wrong
• Evolving English
• Far Outliers
• Found in Translation
• Freemorpheme
• Fully (sic)
• Good Reason
• Gordon P. Hemsley
• Greater Blogazonia
• Hanzi Smatter 一知半解
• Harmless Drudgery
• HeadsUp: The Blog
• https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/spoken-language-expert-s-exuberant-life-of-science-20220916-p5birk.html
• Isabella Massardo Copy & Translation
• Jabal al-Lughat
• John Wells's Phonetic Blog
• JoshMillard.com
• Langguj Gel
• Language Evolution
• Language Geek
• Language Hat
• Language Is The People's
• Language Jones
• Language Trainers Blog
• Language: A Feminist Guide
• Lathophobic Aphasia
• LAWnLinguistics
• LGSA Fledgelings
• Lingformant
• Lingua Franca
• Linguaphiles
• Linguistics Anonymous
• Linguistrix
• Literal-Minded
• Living Languages
• Logophilius
• Making Noise and Hearing Things
• Matjjin-nehen
• Mental Floss (language section)
• Metrolingua
• Michael Erard
• Motivated Grammar
• Naked Translations
• Natural Language Processing Blog
• Noncompositional
• NPR code switch
• Office Natural Language Team Blog
• Omniglot – The Blog
• Oxford Etymologist
• Ozarque's Journal
• Peter Harvey, Linguist
• phonoloblog
• Pinyin News
• Podictionary
• Polyglot Conspiracy
• Polyglot Vegetarian
• Polysyllabic (Karl Hagen)
• Popular Linguistics
• Proper Words in Proper Places
• Replicated Typo
• Ryan's linguistics blog
• Sauvage Noble
• Schnaufblog
• Sentence First
• Separated by a Common Language
• Sesquiotica (James Harbeck)
• Strong Language
• Stæfcræft & Vyākaraṇa
• Superlinguo
• Talk Wordy to Me
• Talking Brains
• Technologies du Langage
• Tenser, said the Tensor
• That Munanga Linguist
• ThatWhichMatter
• The Babbel Blog
• The Diacritics
• The Engine Room
• The Greenbelt
• The Ideophone
• The Language Guy
• The Lexicographer's Rules
• The Ling Space
• The Lingua FIle
• The Lousy Linguist
• The mashed radish
• The Ramblings of a Proto-linguist
• The Stone and the Shell
• The Virtual Linguist
• The Visual Linguist
• The Web of Language
• The Zero Morpheme
• Throw Grammar From the Train
• Transient Languages & Cultures
• Translate This!
• Val Systems
• Vocalized/Vocalised (Lauren Hall-Lew)
• Web-Translations
• Word Journal
• Word Routes
• Wordlustitude
• Wordnik blog
• Words Are Delicious
• Words from Sweden
• Words to the Wise
• You Don't Say

Powered By WordPress

• English Grammar
• Active and Passive Voice

Active and Passive Voice - Difference, Rules of Usage & Examples

Having learnt about the different parts of speech in the English language and the 12 different tenses , the next topic that you should focus on is the active voice and the passive voice. In this article, you will learn all about the active and passive voice, what it means, its definition and usage. Along with the difference between the two voices and examples given in the article, you will be able to understand and use the active voice and passive voice accurately and effectively.

Table of Contents

‘voice’ – what is it, what is the active voice – meaning and definition, what is the passive voice – meaning and definition, using the active voice and the passive voice – points to remember, difference between the active voice and the passive voice, rules to be followed when converting the active voice to the passive voice, examples of the active and passive voice, check your understanding of the active voice and the passive voice, frequently asked questions on the active voice and the passive voice.

The term ‘voice’ is a term that is used to denote the form of the verb which shows if the subject in a given sentence is the doer or receiver of the action. The voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action and the participants ( subject or object ) in a sentence.

The Two Voices in the English Language

There are two voices in the English language and they are as follows:

• Active Voice
• Passive Voice

Let us look into the two voices a little in detail with the help of the meaning and definition given below.

The active voice, in a sentence, denotes that the noun or pronoun that acts as the subject in the sentence is the doer of the action. In other words, the subject performs the action or acts upon the verb.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, the active voice is defined as “the form of a verb in which the subject is the person or thing that performs the action”, and according to the Collins Dictionary, the active voice is defined as “a voice of verbs used to indicate that the subject of a sentence is performing the action or causing the event or process described by the verb.”

The passive voice, on the other hand, represents that the subject is one acted upon by the action or verb in the sentence. It can also be said that the passive voice indicates that the subject in the sentence is no longer active but passive.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, the passive voice is defined as “the form of a verb used when the subject is affected by the action of the verb”, and according to the Collins Dictionary, the passive voice is “formed using ‘be’ and the past participle of a verb. The subject of a passive clause does not perform the action expressed by the verb but is affected by it.”

There are a few points that you have to bear in mind when using the active voice and the passive voice. In the English language, the active voice is used generally as they give the information in a direct and clear manner. Make sure you do not use the passive voice just because you think it sounds better. Use it only if it is necessary. Remember that the active voice has the subject doing the action and the passive voice has the subject receiving the action. If you want to communicate your thoughts and ideas clearly and effectively, especially in a professional setup, it would be best to use the active voice.

A pro tip for you to master the active voice and the passive voice is to know the structure and formula by which they work.

Active Voice – Subject + Verb + Object

Passive Voice – Object + Verb + Subject

Analysing the difference between the active voice and the passive voice is what will help you in a much better way to learn how to use the two voices effectively. Take a look at the following table to know how they differ.

When converting the active voice into the passive voice or vice versa, there are changes in the tenses and pronouns used in the sentences.

The table given below shows you how the tenses change when converting the active voice to the passive voice and vice versa.

There are a few other points that you have to know so that you can use the two voices effectively. They are as follows:

• When converting a sentence in the active voice to the passive voice, the first thing that you have to do is interchange the subject and the object.
• The next part of speech you have to focus on is the verb. When converting the active voice into the passive voice, you just have to convert the main verb into its past participle or its third form. The third form of the main verb is the past participle form of the verb.
• When you are changing the tense of the main verb, make sure you use an auxiliary verb which maintains the tense the sentence represents.
• Always use the preposition , ‘by’ before the subject in a passive sentence.
• If there are any adverbs used in the sentence with the active voice, be sure to include it in the passive voice as well. Do not just drop it when you convert a sentence in the active voice to the passive voice or vice-versa.

Given below are a few examples of how to convert the active voice into the passive voice.

• Active Voice – Twinkle likes adventure stories.

Passive Voice – Adventure stories are liked by Twinkle.

• Active Voice – Latha is learning French this year.

Passive Voice – French is being learnt by Latha this year.

• Active Voice – Kurt has brought macaroons.

Passive Voice – Macaroons have been brought by Kurt.

• Active Voice – Sidharth played cricket.

Passive Voice – Cricket was played by Sidharth.

• Active Voice – They were making invitation cards.

Passive Voice – Invitation cards were being made by them.

• Active Voice – Becky had packed the bags.

Passive Voice – The bags had been packed by Becky.

• Active Voice – Mira will buy the refreshments for the party.

Passive Voice – The refreshments for the party will be bought by Mira.

• Active Voice – Sanjay will have given the forms to all the participants.

Passive Voice – The forms will have been given to all the participants by Sanjay.

Now that you have seen a number of examples and learnt how the conversion is done, try converting the following sentences as directed.

1. Varun is helping Reshmi. (Change into passive voice)

2. A gift was given to Manassa by me. (Change into active voice)

3. Santana will sing All My Life at the Nationals. (Change into active voice)

4. A mouse was being chased by my cat. (Change into active voice)

5. Naveen loves Praveena. (Change into passive voice)

6. The decorations for the annual day will be done by Emma. (Change into active voice)

7. J. K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter novels. (Change into passive voice)

8. Ms. Holly will teach Spanish this year. (Change into passive voice)

9. Mike was hit by Nick. (Change into active voice)

10. Naslen is being scolded by his mom. (Change into active voice)

Check out if you did the conversion right from the answers given below.

1. Reshmi is being helped by Varun.

2. I gave Manassa a gift.

3. All My Life will be sung by Santana at the Nationals.

4. My cat was chasing a mouse.

5. Praveena is loved by Naveen.

6. Emma will do the decorations for the annual day.

7. The Harry Potter novels were written by J. K. Rowling.

8. Spanish will be taught by Ms. Holly this year.

9. Nick hit Mike.

10. Naslen’s mom is scolding him.

What is the active voice?

What is the passive voice.

The passive voice, on the other hand, denotes that the subject is acted upon by the action or verb in the sentence. It can also be said that the passive voice indicates that the subject in the sentence is no longer active but passive.

What is the definition of the active voice?

What is the definition of the passive voice.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, the passive voice is defined as “the form of a verb used when the subject is affected by the action of the verb”, and according to the Collins Dictionary, the passive voice is “formed using ‘be’ and the past participle of a verb. The subject of a passive clause does not perform the action expressed by the verb but is affected by it.”

Give some examples of active voice and passive voice.

Given below are some examples of active and passive voice for your reference. Active Voice – Twinkle likes adventure stories. Passive Voice – Adventure stories are liked by Twinkle. Active Voice – Sidharth played cricket. Passive Voice – Cricket was played by Sidharth. Active Voice – Mira will buy the refreshments for the party. Passive Voice – The refreshments for the party will be bought by Mira.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.