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What is Passive Voice? Definition, Examples of Passive Sentences in Writing

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Passive voice definition: The passive voice is a style of writing where what would be the object of a sentence becomes the subject of the sentence.

What is Passive Voice?

What does passive voice mean? The passive writing voice occurs when something that is ordinarily “done by” the subject of a sentence is “done by” the object of a sentence .

In the passive writing voice, whatever is doing the action of the sentence is not the grammatical subject of the sentence.

Passive Voice Examples:

• The work was completed by Jaime.

Even though “Jaime” completed the work, “Jaime” is not the grammatical subject of this sentence. The subject of this sentence is “work.”

• The ball was hit by Johnny.

Again, in this sentence, rather than say, “Johnny hit the ball.” the ball becomes the subject of the sentence.

How is the Passive Voice Formed?

Passive construction: The passive writing voice is formed when what should be the object of a sentence becomes the subject of a sentence.

Examples of Passive Voice:

• Austin bought clothes.
• “Austin” is subject; “clothes” is object
• The clothes
• The clothes were bought.
• The clothes were bought by Austin.

Passive vs. Active Voice: What’s the Difference?

What is a passive sentence? The passive writing voice occurs when the action is done by what seems like it should be the subject.

Active Voice Example:

• Shakespeare wrote the play.

In this sentence, Shakespeare is “doing” the action of the sentence.

Active vs. Passive Voice Examples:

• Shakespeare wrote the play. (active)
• The play was written by Shakespeare. (passive)

The subject is typically clearer in active voice whereas in passive voice it may seem like the object is the subject.

More Examples:

• President Barack Obama signed a rescue package on Thursday for financially strapped Puerto Rico, which is facing more than $70 billion in debt and a major payment due Friday. – ABC News (active)
• A bill designed to reclaim businesses that have left the state and better Missouri’s port infrastructure was signed into law by Gov. Jay Nixon Tuesday. – The Missouri Times (passive)

Should You Avoid Passive Voice in Writing?

The passive voice is used less frequently in writing. However, it should not be avoided altogether.

Some phrases in English are always stated in the passive voice (i.e. The book was written by Herman Melville).

Stylistically, passive voice can be used as well. The passive voice can add style when:

• the writer wants the “punch” to be at the end of a sentence;
• the agent is unknown or unimportant (i.e. The person doing the action is unknown.);
• the writer wants to hide the agent’s identity

Many will say that the passive voice is not permitted in good writing. This is untrue. Good writers know how to delicately blend the passive writing voice with active sentences. Like all writing techniques, passive voice should be used with intention and purpose.

Passive Voice vs. Active Voice Exercises

• This episode was brought to you by Coca-Cola.
• Children danced in the halls to celebrate the last day of school.
• The china was made in Japan.
• We bought a new entertainment unit.
• The fossil has been discovered.

See Answers Below.

Summary: What is a Passive Voice?

Define passive voice: The definition of passive voice is when the recipient of the verb’s action becomes the subject of a sentence .

The passive voice is not common in writing. However, it is a stylistic choice that writers will occasionally use for effect.

The passive writing voice occurs when what would be the object of a sentence becomes the subject.

For more information on English voice, see our full article on the active voice.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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When To Pass on Passive Voice

There’s a time and place for passive voice. We’ll explain what it is and when you should (or shouldn’t) use it.

What Is Passive Voice?

• The voice of a verb refers to the subject that is performing the verb , or the subject that is having the verb done to them.
• The passive voice structure is direct object-verb-subject.
• Unlike active voice, passive sentences emphasize the result of the action.

To know when you should or shouldn’t use passive voice , you must first understand what it is. Passive voice is when a sentence puts the direct object before the verb, and the subject after the verb. In other words, a passive sentence emphasizes the results (or the recipient) of the action, instead of the subject that committed the action.

Usually, the active voice is the safer bet and results in clearer, more direct writing. However, there are a few circumstances where passive voice is appropriate. If you’re scratching your head and still asking yourself what passive voice is, don’t panic. You will learn everything you need to know about passive voice after reading this article.

The school’s basketball team won the championship game.

In this sentence, the school’s basketball team is the subject (the person, place, or thing that performs the action). The verb (the word that refers to the action or state of being) is won. And the direct object (a noun or pronoun that follows an action verb) is the championship game.

The example sentence uses the active voice , meaning it has a subject-verb-direct object structure . In passive sentences , the direct object comes before the verb, and the subject after the verb. Here’s the example sentence in passive voice :

The championship game was won by the school’s basketball team.

Passive sentences are composed by using a form of to be followed by the past participle form of a verb. They also require a preposition .

The stove was turned on by the sous-chef.

The passive voice emphasizes the result of the action rather than who or what performed the action.

Remember that passive voice requires transitive verbs (verbs that demand an object).

Here are a few more examples of sentences in both active and passive voice :

What’s Wrong With Passive Voice?

Many writing guides advise avoiding passive voice. Why? What’s wrong with passive voice? It’s not that passive voice is grammatically incorrect (it’s not). But compared to active voice , it can be too wordy, unclear, and indirect.

Passive voice makes your readers work a little harder to decipher the message of your sentence. That’s why it’s best to use an active voice most of the time.

Active— My wife prepared lunch .

Passive— Lunch was prepared by my wife .

Notice how both sentences express the same thing, but the active sentence has four words, whereas the passive sentence has six. Because passive voice can make sentences unnecessarily long, it’s a good idea to avoid passive voice . There are some instances where the passive structure is appropriate, though.

The passive voice comes up a lot in written text (and speech). Many writers don’t even notice when they’re using it, or that an alternative active sentence is possible. That’s why using LanguageTool can significantly strengthen your writing.

This intelligent text editor can identify the use of passive voice in your writing so that you can rephrase it to active voice . It can also correct spelling and grammar mistakes, quickly provide synonyms, and recommend stylistic improvements. Keep in mind that users can turn off the passive voice rule whenever they want.

When Passive Voice is Okay To Use

When a sentence specifically mentions people, it’s best to use active voice . However, sometimes the subject is unknown or insignificant. In this situation, it’s best to use passive voice. Let’s consider the following sentences:

Active— Someone robbed The Shell Supermarket early yesterday morning.

Passive— The Shell Supermarket was robbed early yesterday morning.

Passive voice is appropriate in this example because the person who robbed the supermarket is unknown. It’s also suitable for emphasizing the recipient of the action rather than the subject who performed it.

Wordle was bought by The New York Times .

The structure of the above sentence brings attention to “Wordle.” However, if you think “The New York Times” is what needs to be accentuated, then switch it to active voice :

The New York Times bought Wordle .

To convert a sentence from passive voice to active , consider who or what is performing the action and shift them to the subject of the sentence.

Passive— The children were taken to the park by their parents .

Active— The parents took their children to the park.

Passive— The money was stolen by me .

Active— I stole the money

The active voice structure is subject-verb or subject-verb-direct object . On the other hand, the passive voice structure is direct object-verb-subject . Although there are a few circumstances where using passive voice is okay, it’s usually better to write in the active voice. Doing this can help you avoid wordiness and is one of the many well-known tips that improve your writing . Now you know when and why you should pass on passive voice .

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The Passive Voice: A Comprehensive Guide with Definitions, Examples, and Practical Exercises

Marcus Froland

March 28, 2024

Getting to grips with the passive voice in English might seem like a chore. You see it everywhere – in books, on the news, and even in your favorite songs. But what exactly is it? And more importantly, why does it matter? It’s all about who’s doing what to whom. Sounds simple, right?

But here’s the kicker: mastering the passive voice can transform your English . It’s not just about sounding smarter or writing better essays (though it certainly helps with those). It’s about understanding how language shapes our world. And guess what? We’re about to make sense of it all without making you yawn.

So, where do we start on this journey? Hang tight, because by the end of this, you’ll be wielding the passive voice like a pro.

The passive voice is a way of writing or speaking where the object of an action becomes the subject of the sentence. For example, instead of saying “The cat chased the mouse,” in passive voice, you would say “The mouse was chased by the cat.” This style often makes sentences longer and can make it unclear who is performing the action. However, it’s useful in formal writing or when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant. To form a passive sentence, you need the correct form of the verb “to be” and the past participle of the main verb.

Remember, using the passive voice can make your writing harder to understand if overused. It’s best to use it carefully and mix it with active voice sentences for clearer communication.

Understanding the Passive Voice in English Grammar

The passive voice is when the subject of a sentence is the recipient of the action, as opposed to performing the action itself, which is known as the active voice. Often perceived as formal or complex, the passive voice serves specific functions in English Grammar that prioritize the action or the object of the sentence over the actor.

To form a passive sentence, the verb “to be” is combined with the past participle of the main verb. The following table demonstrates this formation by contrasting active and passive sentences across different verb tenses :

As seen in the table, the subject and object positions are reversed in passive sentences when compared to their active counterparts. The passive sentence includes the verb “to be” and the past participle of the main verb, such as “is written” or “was painted”. Furthermore, the passive voice emphasizes the action, whereas the active voice emphasizes the subject performing the action.

“In passive sentences, the focus is on the receiver of the action, not the performer of the action. This allows for flexibility in our communication and lends itself to various writing styles and purposes.”

Passive voice can be found in a variety of writing genres, including academic papers, news reports, and official documents. Its usage differs from the active voice, as it shifts the emphasis from the doer of an action to the action being performed or the object being acted upon. In the next section of this article, we will discuss when and why to use the passive voice for effective communication.

Take note of the following key points when considering the use of passive voice in your writing:

• The passive voice presents the subject of a sentence as the recipient of the action.
• It is formed by combining the verb “to be” with the past participle of the main verb.
• Passive sentences may prioritize the action or the object of the sentence over the actor.
• The choice between active and passive voice depends on the desired emphasis and communication style.

Now that you have a better understanding of the passive voice in English grammar , continue reading to explore its various applications and functions in different writing contexts.

When and Why to Use the Passive Voice

Considering the significance of passive voice in English sentence construction , it becomes crucial to understand when and why this particular voice should be applied. The following scenarios demonstrate the utility and effectiveness of employing the passive voice in context:

The Subject is Unknown or Unimportant

The passive voice is most suitable when the subject performing the action is unknown or irrelevant. In such cases, emphasis is placed on the action itself or the recipient. This is common in situations where the perpetrator is unidentified, such as the theft of a bag or a break-in at a house.

Emphasizing the Action over the Actor

When the outcome of the action is more significant than who performed it, the passive voice serves to highlight the action. This can be seen in contexts like delay announcements or the reporting of events caused by natural disasters, where the result of such events is the focus, rather than the actor responsible for the action.

When the Subject is Obvious or Known to All

If the actor is apparent and requires no explicit mention, the passive voice can be appropriately used. Examples include routine actions carried out by recognized figures or entities, such as arrests made by police or services performed by specific personnel. In these cases, the passive sentence emphasizes the action without redundant identification of the subject.

Conveying a General Truth or Widely Accepted Idea

Passive voice effectively communicates general truths or widely accepted ideas, where the actor is the general public or the consensus, thereby eliminating the need to specify the subject. This usage underlines the action or idea itself, focusing on the main message without redundantly mentioning the commonly understood subject.

Forming the Passive Voice: A Step-by-Step Explanation

The process of forming passive voice in English sentences is inherently linked to the use of the verb “to be” and the past participle of the main verb. Understanding how to combine these elements is crucial for mastering passive voice sentence constructions. Let’s take a comprehensive look at the key steps involved in forming passive voice sentences.

• Identify the main verb : Determine the action verb in your sentence.
• Conjugate the verb “to be” : Choose the appropriate form of the verb “to be” depending on the tense required.
• Form the past participle : Create the past participle of the main verb.
• Reorder the sentence components : Organize the sentence with the subject receiving the action, followed by the conjugated “to be” and the past participle.

Now, it’s essential to explore how verb tense affects the formation of passive voice sentences. As the required tense changes, so does the form of the verb “to be” and, consequently, the passive sentence construction.

Aside from the standard verb tenses , passive voice constructions can also accommodate structures using infinitives and gerunds.

Examples : To be given (infinitive) Being told (gerund)

With these English grammar rules and the step-by-step explanation provided, you can now form passive voice sentences in various situations confidently. Practice is essential to develop fluency, so don’t hesitate to play with different verb tenses and sentence structures to hone your skills.

The Impact of Verb Tenses on the Passive Voice

The tense of the verb “to be” plays a crucial role in forming the passive voice, as it must align with the temporal context of the action. From the simple present to past perfect tenses, each verb tense modifies the structure of the passive sentence, reflecting the time-frame in which the action occurred, is occurring, or will occur.

Understanding how verb tenses influence the structure and meaning of passive voice sentences helps to improve clarity and conciseness in your writing. Here’s a breakdown of how verb conjugation impacts passive voice sentences across different English tenses:

As demonstrated in the table above, the verb tense greatly affects the construction of passive voice sentences. By mastering the use of appropriate verb conjugations, you can ensure your writing is not only grammatically accurate but also effectively conveys the intended information.

Passive Voice in Action: Real-World Examples

In this section, we will dive into the real-life application of passive voice constructions, shedding light on their widespread usage in academic writing , scientific reports , and news reporting. Engaging with these practical examples will allow you to grasp the importance of passive voice in professional writing more effectively.

Passive Voice in Academic and Scientific Writing

Academic and scientific writing adheres to a formal style that often favors the use of passive constructions . The passive voice is preferred because it establishes objectivity and emphasizes the process, results, or evidence, rather than the individual researchers. This allows the reader to focus solely on the informational content and methodology of a study or experiment. Below are some passive voice examples commonly encountered in academic and scientific writing:

• The samples were analyzed using a mass spectrometer.
• The temperature was maintained at 37°C throughout the experiment.
• Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups.

Utilization of Passive Voice in News Reporting

News reporting frequently employs passive voice constructions to prioritize the delivery of information. Reports often need to detail events or incidents where the full facts are not yet available, or the agent is intentionally omitted. By using passive constructions , the pertinent details can be conveyed effectively without engaging in unnecessary speculation about who carried out the action. The following examples demonstrate how the passive voice is utilized in news reporting:

• Major road closures were announced due to heavy snowfall in the area.
• A rare painting was stolen from a prestigious art gallery last night.
• Several homes were evacuated after a gas leak was detected in the neighborhood.

Passive voice in professional writing lends an air of objectivity, stylistic formality, and informational emphasis, making it an essential aspect of practical grammar .

Understanding and mastering the use of passive voice constructions is a crucial element of professional writing and practical grammar . Whether it’s for academic papers, scientific reports , or news articles, the passive voice allows writers to focus on the information and outcomes, while maintaining a formal and objective tone. Through the examples provided in this section, you can better comprehend the real-world application of passive voice in various contexts.

Exercises to Master the Passive Voice in Your Writing

Improving your grasp on passive voice requires consistent practice and a variety of exercises to fine-tune your grammar skills. In this section, we’ll focus on effective activities that will help you understand when and how to use the passive voice in your writing. By regularly engaging in these exercises, you can reinforce your knowledge and adapt it to various writing contexts.

To begin, experiment with converting active sentences to passive ones and vice versa. This will help you identify the differences between the two constructions and understand the situations in which they are most appropriate. Additionally, pay special attention to verb tenses, as this will aid in the accurate formation of passive sentences based on the action’s time-frame.

Next, put your passive voice skills to the test by engaging in exercises that mimic real-world scenarios. This can involve academic writing , news reporting, or other contexts where the passive voice plays a crucial role. Lastly, take advantage of resources like quizzes and online tools that provide further practice and support your ongoing development of passive voice mastery in different writing styles.

By actively participating in these grammar exercises and applying the passive voice knowledge acquired in this guide, you’ll effectively improve your writing skills and better understand how to deliver clear, concise, and impactful messages in various contexts.

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Passive Voice – Usage, Misuses

| 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.

To be a successful writer in any sense, it’s important to understand how to correctly use the different parts of speech. I’ve learned this first-hand as a writer and published author for over a decade. One of these parts is the passive voice, which can often be misused. I see it all the time. My guide will discuss passive voice and how to use it correctly. I’ve also included a worksheet for you to practice using the passive voice. Let’s get started!

The Use of Passive Voice

There is much debate surrounding the use of passive voice in writing. Some believe that using passive voice is inherently bad and can even negatively impact readers’ comprehension. Others, however, argue that there are certain instances where passive voice can effectively make writing more engaging or interesting.

What Is Passive Voice and When to Use It?

Passive voice is a grammatical construction in which the sentence’s subject performs an action that is not done directly by that subject. In passive-voice sentences, the object of the action becomes the sentence’s subject.

This can be used as a stylistic choice in writing to emphasize specific elements of a story or argument or to make a description more concise and avoid sounding repetitive.

However, it can sometimes mask the true actor initiating that action, so it should be used carefully and only when appropriate. When deciding whether to use passive voice in your writing, consider the function of each sentence and what you’re attempting to achieve with your style and content.

How Do You Identify a Passive Voice?

Passive voice is a grammatical construction in which the subject receives an action. In standard English, this is often indicated by using a form of “to be” plus a past participle. For example, in the sentence “The ball was hit by Mary,” the passive voice uses “was hit” instead of “hit.”

Because passive voice sentences often emphasize certain elements over others and may need to be clearer than active voice sentences, it can sometimes be difficult to identify them.

One reliable way to identify passive voice is to look for forms of “to be” that are not in their simple conjugation or infinitive forms (am, is, etc.).

Seeing the word “by” paired with a noun or pronoun could indicate passive voice construction. Finally, if the sentence feels unnatural or awkward and does not clearly name an agent performing the action (also known as a subject), it could be constructed using passive voice.

Recognizing when something is written in passive voice takes some practice, but paying attention to word choice, tense agreement, and structure can help you make accurate grammatical judgments. I’m guilty of slipping into the passive voice from time to time, but I know how to spot it now and fix it to flow better.

Why Is Passive Voice Used?

Passive voice is often used in writing for a variety of reasons.

Firstly, it can be used to place greater emphasis on the reader or listener. By shifting the focus from the subject to the object, passive voice can help to highlight important information and draw attention to specific details.

Passive voice effectively creates a detached tone, which can help convey an unbiased point of view in academic or formal writing.

Finally, passive voice can enable the writer or speaker to evade responsibility by obscuring the agent’s identity when making action happen.

Here are some specific situations that call for passive voice use:

• When reporting incidents and crimes with unknown authors
• When the emphasis falls on the action and the subject is not important
• In scientific papers and research

Here are correct passive voice usage examples:

• Two cars were stolen last night.
• Lady Gaga was awarded as the best singer in 2011.
• The cure for cancer was discovered.

What Are the Rules for Passive Voice?

When writing or speaking in passive voice, the clause’s subject is the one receiving the verb’s action. The correct passive voice formula is subject + “to be” verb form + transitive verb in past participle + prepositional phrase (optional).

Passive voice examples:

• The test was completed by everyone in the class.
• This essay wasn’t written by any of our students.

Now Let’s See Them in Active Sentences

• Everyone in the class completed the test.
• None of our students wrote the essay.

See how the active sentence structure is more concise and direct. 

The Difference Between Active and Passive Voice

There is a common misconception that the difference between active and passive voices is simply whether a sentence contains an action or not. However, this is only sometimes the case. Rather, active and passive voice refers to relationships between subjects and objects in a sentence.

With active voice, the subject acts on the object directly; passive voice is the other way around. In general, the active voice tends to be clearer and more concise than the passive voice, making it a better choice for most types of writing.

This is because, in sentences using passive voice, there is often an abundance of unnecessary words and phrases that take away from the original meaning of the sentence.

For example:

• Active voice: I kicked the ball.
• Passive voice: The ball was kicked (by me).

Creative Ways to Use the Passive Voice in Writing

There are many clever ways of using the passive voice in writing , and each method can bring unique benefits to your work. For example, one technique is to use passives as nominalizations or nouns created from verbs. Doing so can create concise, action-oriented phrases that pack a lot of punch.

In addition, you could also try drawing comparisons between two unrelated objects or ideas through passive construction. This approach can help to make complex ideas more accessible and understandable for your readers.

Passive Voice Misuse

Passive voice is often misused in writing, either due to a poor understanding of what this technique entails or simply because it sounds better. However, to get the most out of passive voice, you must use it appropriately and with caution.

In general, passive voice is best used to emphasize the receiver or result of an action instead of the agent performing that action. It can also help to make simple instructions sound more sophisticated, yet using passive voice can be tricky when it comes to complex actions or stating opinions.

When used correctly and sparingly, however, passive voice can add a level of nuance and complexity to your writing that will keep your readers engaged and interested.

When Should I Avoid Passive Voice?

It all comes down to one question: is passive voice bad?

If you ask my editor, she’ll say yes, but I don’t always agree. There are many situations where it is preferable to use active voice instead of passive voice. Generally, active voice is more efficient and immediate, as it involves focusing on the actor and making it clear who or what is responsible for creating a particular situation.

Additionally, the active voice tends to be more engaging and exciting, drawing the reader in with its immediacy.

Therefore, when writing about a process or action that you want to appear direct and efficient, it is best to refrain from using passive voice whenever possible.

Weeding Out Passive Sentences

When it comes to writing, the use of passive voice sentences can often leave your work feeling flat and uninteresting. Passive voice is characterized by a lack of agency, with the subject of the sentence appearing as though it is being acted upon rather than acting or taking an active role in the action.

While there are certain situations where passive voice may be appropriate, it should be avoided. Weeding out passive verbs and replacing them with more direct and engaging verbs can help you to give your sentences a more active and dynamic feel.

Whether you are writing an academic paper or a social media post, paying attention to your use of passive voice can help you craft more powerful and interesting content.

Final Words

While people consider passive voice incorrect, it’s a matter of style and knowing when to use it. Active voice makes everything sound more natural, whereas passive voice requires specific uses. Forming the passive voice is simple as long as you remember to use the verb “to be” and a past participle. Make sense?

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Active Voice vs Passive Voice in Essay Writing: What's the Difference?

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Every type of writing, spanning academic assignments, research proposals, movie or book reviews, newspaper articles, technical or scientific writing, and more, requires a verb in the sentence to express an action being taken.

Essentially, we know that there are two types of voices in writing – active voice vs. passive voice. Both voices have a different sentence structure, length, purpose, and tone of writing.

Now when you analyze your writing, you would be able to find specific sentences that pop out and leave a mark on the reader while some sentences remain bland and unengaging.

This will determine your active voice sentences and your passive voice sentences.

You think to yourself, “how do I choose the right voice for my writing?”

What is Active Voice in Essay Writing

In a sentence, the active voice is used when the subject or person in this specific sentence is the one who is carrying out an action that was represented by the verb. The subject is always a noun or a pronoun and this voice is used to express information in a stronger, more direct, clear, and easier-to-read way than passive voice sentences.

Active voice highlights a logical flow to your sentences and makes your writing feel alive and current – which is pivotal to use in your formal academic writing assignments to get top-scoring grades.

What is Passive Voice in Essay Writing

The passive voice, in a sentence, is used to emphasize the action taken place by the subject according to the verb. In this, the passive phrase always contains a conjugated form of ‘to be’ and the past participle of the main verb.

Due to this, passive sentences also include prepositions, which makes them longer and wordier than active voice sentences.

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

Now, let us understand the difference between active voice vs. passive voice in writing.

The choice between using active voice vs. passive voice in writing always comes down to the requirements that are suitable for the type of sentences you choose to write.

For most of the writing that you do, be it blogs, emails, different types of academic essays, and more, an active voice is ideal to use for communicating and expressing your thoughts, facts, and ideas more clearly and efficiently. This way, your essay papers or other academic assessments stand out amongst the rest.

Use your judgment to write in an active voice if accuracy is not an important aspect, and always keep your readers in mind. In this case, academic writing teachers - ranging from middle school to college/universities, prefer reading your assignments in an active voice as it makes your arguments, thoughts, and sentence structures confident, brief, and compelling.

However, there are a few exceptions to using passive voice

• If the reader is aware of the subject;
• In expository writing (where the primary goal is to provide an explanation or a context);
• Crime reports, data analysis;
• Scientific and technical writing.

Passive voice is majorly used while writing assignments that direct the reader's focus onto the specific action taking place rather than the subject. It is also used when you need an authoritative tone, like on a banner or a sign on a bulletin board.

Passive voice is ideally used when the person involved in the action is not known and/or is insignificant. Similarly, if you are writing something that requires you to be objective with its solution and analysis – like a research paper, lab report , or newspaper article – using passive voice should be your go-to choice. This allows you to avoid personal pronouns, which in turn, helps you present your analysis or information in an unbiased and coherent way.

However, if your writing is meant to engage your target audience, such as a novel, then writing your sentences with a passive voice will not only flatten your content and make your writing clumsy to read, but your paper would also inherit all the extra words that would make your write-ups vague and too wordy.

2. Examples of active and passive voice

Every active voice sentence contains a form of action that is taking place by the subject. An interesting fact is that they can be written in any tense – past tense, present tense, past perfect tense, future tense, and more.

An active voice always emits a sense of agency and strength in your writing.

Here are some examples of active voice sentence structuring

• Kaitlyn worked on her upcoming novel all day long.
• Our professor will reveal this week’s surprise assignment.
• The police know that the accused is a flight risk.
• A baby monkey bit Sasha on her leg.
• I presented my research thesis to the class.
• Malek proposed the methods & principles by which each product could be analyzed.
• We will ride a train to go to Switzerland.
• I conducted a study of criminal psychology.
• The gardener was planting the Hydrangeas.

Whereas passive voice sentence structures are lengthier in words and are used when the subject or person is the recipient of an action. Passive voice in writing often conveys subtlety, submissiveness, and lack of engagement.

Moreover, just like active sentences, passive sentence structures do not need to be dependent on the verb, as they can occur in the past tense, the future tense, the subjunctive, etc.

Here are some examples of passive-voice sentences

• Our professor drove us to Universal Studios.
• Clara was persuaded to move to Toronto.
• Jack was given two choices for the presentation topic.
• The jobs were given to two people who had no experience in writing.
• An old bike and a gun were found in the toolshed.
• The moon was walked by Neil Armstrong.
• The candy was eaten by the lady in yellow.
• Ballet dancing is a beloved activity in our class.
• The concert will be enjoyed by us tomorrow.
• Some new books were bought by me.

3. Changing passive voice to active voice

Unless you’re required to use passive voice, it is always beneficial to use active voice in your writing. That’s why overusing and misusing passive sentences can make your writing look sloppy, wordy and non-informative and you may even end up with more grammatical errors.

Here are a few ways to change your passive sentence into an active sentence

a. Identify the passive voice

In writing, the writer should choose their verb tenses, word choice, and tonality of the content very carefully.

As you finish your draft, re-read it to identify sentences that could have been more concise, or framed in a better way to improve its readability. Ask yourself what the action of the specific sentence, who is perpetrating this action is.

That is your passive voice.

Passive voice or tone consists of a past, past participle or future tense and generally the auxiliary word ‘to be’ is an indication of a passive sentence. It always refers to action not being addressed directly.

b. Remove the auxiliary verb

It's best to remove the auxiliary verb from your sentences to change it into active voice sentences by adjusting the tense of the main verb. Generally, the tense of the main verb is in the past tense.

So, determine the correct tense and use it in your verb to create an active sentence. This in turn delivers your writing in a more clear, strong, concise and urgent way.

Here’s an interesting video by mmmEnglish that explains what auxiliary verbs are.

c. Change the subject of the sentence

The main difference between active voice and passive voice is that one performs a verb and the other is a recipient of an action.

For example, in a passive sentence, “The novel was drafted by the writer”, the ‘novel’ is the subject which had been actioned by the writer.

To change it into an active voice, restructure the verb that is taking place (drafted by the writer) with the subject (novel), thus structuring “The writer drafted the novel”.

Once you have mastered the technique of identifying the voice and tonality, you will discover the ease with which your communication takes on different textures, depending upon the context at hand. While the active voice remains the direct form of communication and has more mass appeal, it is the passive voice that assumes a less biased and more objective tone.

Make sure to embellish your written expression with the right voice and give it the power and authority it deserves. We hope the tips and suggestions given above will go a long way in giving weightage to every sentence that you write and strike the right chord with readers.

When you work with Writers Per Hour, you’ll be happy to know that our professional team of writers knows when to use active and passive voice correctly, which works best for the type of paper.

If you’re running short of time or are not confident about your English writing skills, reach out to us, and we’ll ensure you receive nothing short of professionally written, high-quality papers.

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Why Passive Voice Isn't Helping Your Writing: Tips, Examples, and Solutions

Ashley Shaw

I have heard countless times from people who are getting marked off (whether it’s by a teacher or a grammar checker) for writing too passively, but they don’t know how to fix it. If this applies to you, then this guide is really going to help.

In this post, we’ll go through what passive voice is, how to recognize it, and ways to fix it to improve your writing. We’ll also talk about when to ignore that wavy line and just let the passive voice roll. After all, it isn’t always wrong to use it.

Let’s get started.

• What Is Passive Voice?

The Opposite of Passive Voice Is Active Voice

How can you spot passive voice in your writing, does prowritingaid detect passive voice, active and passive voice examples, how do you fix passive voice in your writing, times where passive voice works, what is passive voice .

Even if you really aren’t sure what passive voice is, you probably have an idea about what a passive person is like (or, worse, a passive-aggressive person). There is a reason that writing uses the same word: They are very similar.

What do you know about the word passive in general?

You may think of someone that just lets things go by them without reacting. Or perhaps you think about a person who never comes out and says what they really feel.

Sentences can do this too. In passive voice sentences, the main actor in the sentence doesn’t really do anything. It lets the action do all the work. It’s, well, passive.

Let’s talk about this in technical terms:

• Passive voice occurs when the subject of a sentence is acted upon instead of acting itself .

We’ll cover more examples later, but just in case you need to see one to understand, let’s start with an easy one:

• The ball was kicked.

Notice that there is a ball at the center of the action in this sentence. It’s the subject of the sentence. It’s what the sentence is all about. However, it isn’t doing anything. It’s just sitting there waiting for someone or something else to kick it. In other words, it is being acted upon . It’s very passive.

That is what passive voice is. And just like a person who is always passive, sometimes you just want to tell that sentence to do something already!

Don’t just sit there letting the writing pass you by. Be more active. This is why many people will say that passive voice is a little boring. If you want your writing to be more lively, then your subjects need to be more lively too.

So what is the opposite of passive, then?

If passive voice occurs when the object or subject of the sentence is being acted on, then it makes sense to learn that active voice occurs when the subject is doing the acting .

Let’s look at the sentence from above:

OK. So one of two things can happen here. For starters, we can ask what the ball, the subject, did. Did it soar through the air? If so, then we can make this sentence active by saying that:

• The ball soared through the air.

Notice that suddenly the ball is doing something. It isn’t just sitting around waiting to be kicked.

Of course, sometimes the problem with the sentence isn’t just that the subject isn’t acting; it’s more that the wrong subject is there to begin with.

If kicked is really the verb you want to use in that sentence, then instead of trying to get the ball to kick something, which wouldn’t work unless you were writing sci-fi, you can instead pick a subject that isn’t the object of the verb.

In other words, make an appropriate subject active.

• Someone kicked the ball.

Now, someone is the subject of the sentence, and they have kicked the ball. Very active.

This is a good start, but I’ll have some more tips on fixing passive voice a little later. First, though, let’s talk more about how to spot passive voice in your writing.

Once you know what passive voice is, it’s usually pretty easy to spot it. However, it’s also pretty reasonable to say you don’t want to go around every sentence asking what the subject is and how active it is being.

That’s why we have some easier and better ways to help you spot passive voice in your writing that take a lot less work.

Tip: The Passive Voice Zombie Test

The first tip I have is called the zombie test. This one is really helpful, and it works well.

If you want to check if a sentence is passive or not, just add the words “by zombies” after the verb. If the sentence makes sense, it is almost always because it is passive. If it doesn’t, that means it is likely active.

Here’s an example:

Let’s go back to that passive sentence from before:

You can go through all of the above steps.

What is the subject? The ball. Okay, what is the ball doing? Nothing. It is just sitting there being kicked. Okay. That’s passive.

It would be easier, though, to just do this:

• The ball was kicked by zombies .

Does that make sense? Yes. It’s passive.

Now let’s look at our active voice sentence to see the opposite.

Once again, you could do a lot of work here.

Who is the subject of the sentence? Someone. What is someone doing? Kicking the ball. Okay. It’s active.

Or you could do this:

• Someone kicked by zombies the ball.

This doesn’t make sense. It’s active.

Easy, right?

Caveats to the Zombie Test

Like most things in life, the zombie test isn’t 100% perfect. So let’s talk about some problems you might have with it.

Issue 1: It’s Scary.

Maybe the idea of thinking about zombies just terrifies you, and you’d rather write passively than deal with the nightmares of thinking about zombies all day. If that sounds like you, don’t worry. You don’t need to use zombies for this to work.

Zombies are standard in this test because they are the passive beasts of the monster world. However, there is no reason you couldn’t use “by unicorns,” “by Justin Bieber,” or even “by me” in your sentences. It all works exactly the same.

Issue 2: It’s Not Foolproof.

Let’s say you write the sentence, “She ran.” That is an active sentence (which you can tell because the subject, she, is doing the action, running.) Yet, “She ran by zombies” technically makes sense. So how does that affect the test?

Okay. You got me there, but there is an easy way around this: Does adding “by zombies” completely change the point of the sentence? In this case, the original sentence was all about her running. Now, suddenly it is about her passing zombies on the way. This is a lot different than just learning who kicked the ball, which is still the subject.

At any rate, this usually only happens in really short sentences that only have a noun and a verb. So maybe do some double-checking on these small sentences, but mostly feel free to trust the test on longer ones.

It’s really good to know the grammar rules and how to spot passive voice on your own (if only in case one day you have to hand-write something, your WiFi goes out, or you are taking an in-class test). However, let’s be real: There is another easy way to spot passive voice.

Just look out for the purple highlights in ProWritingAid. They mark the passive voice in your writing so that you can easily spot it without having to bring any zombies into your work. You'll even find ways to rephrase your sentence to the active voice with just a click. Easy!

Check your writing for passive voice with a free ProWritingAid account.

Now that you are perfectly clear about what passive voice is and how to spot it, let’s look at some examples.

Passive Voice Examples

Let’s start with some examples of passive voice:

• Something strange was seen.
• People were scared.
• A meal was eaten.
• The battle was lost.
• The girl is found.

Notice how all of these have a subject that is being acted upon and also how each of these would still make sense if you added “by zombies” after the verb. (Plus, you can’t see this on your end, but I assure you that each of these is being marked by my ProWritingAid extension .)

Active Voice Examples to Compare

I know this is an article on passive voice, but I honestly think it is easier to learn passive voice when you also know how to recognize the active. So, let’s also look at some examples here:

• She ran from the eerie creatures.
• He heard something in the distance.
• We learned about a safe town.
• The sirens rang in the distance.
• The world was quiet that night.

Notice once again that all of the subjects are doing something in these sentences (even the world is being quiet despite that tricky use of “was” that so many passive voice sentences use). Plus, if you add “by zombies” after the verbs, they don’t make sense.

Examples for You to Try on Your Own

Are you ready to test what you have learned? Let’s see which of these are passive and which are active. I’ll put the answers at the end of this post:

• The meal was prepared.
• He was bitten.
• She fought them off.
• They escaped.
• We were left behind.

I have spent a lot of time talking about what passive voice is and how to spot it, which means there isn’t much room left to talk about how to fix it. Don’t worry, though. The reason I wrote it this way is because when you know how to spot it, fixing it becomes so easy it doesn’t need a lot of explanation!

I talked a little bit at the beginning about the two ways to fix passive voice , but I’m going to expand on those here.

Passive Voice Fixer 1: Making the Subject More Active

The first way to make a sentence more active is to figure out what the current subject of the sentence is doing and focus on that action.

Let’s fix a couple of the example sentences from above using this method.

Passive: The battle was lost.

In this case, what action might the battle be doing? Perhaps ending. Therefore, all we’d need to do to fix this is change the sentence to focus on the end:

Active: The battle ended when one side lost.

What about another example?

Passive: The girl is found.

In this one, what is the girl doing? It sounds like she was just waiting around, so let’s make that the verb.

Active: The girl waited there to be found.

Passive Voice Fixer 2: Changing the Subject to Something More Active

The next way to fix passive voice, and perhaps the easier way, is just to figure out who is doing the current action, and rewrite the sentence to focus on that actor.

Let’s use the rest of the above examples to test this method.

Passive: Something strange was seen.

Something strange was seen by whom? By them. Okay, let’s start with them, then.

Active: They saw something strange.

Passive: People were scared.

People were scared by what? By the strange sight.

Active: The strange sight scared them.

That just leaves one more example.

Passive: A meal was eaten.

A meal was eaten by whom? By you.

Active: You ate the meal.

See how easy this all is?!

Even though you usually want people to be able to make decisions and actually do some work, sometimes it’s okay for people to just sit back and let others take control. In the same way, it is sometimes useful to let sentences be passive.

While you want to avoid doing this too much, I thought it was important to end this post with a few examples of situations in which passive voice may actually be your better option:

1. You don’t know who or what did the action. (e.g. The jewelry was stolen! But you don’t yet know by whom.)

2. The action itself matters more than the actor. (e.g. The robber was arrested. We all care more about the robber being arrested than who arrested them.)

3. The actor is really obvious and doesn’t need to be stated. (e.g. The robber was arrested. Sticking with this example, everyone knows the cops did the arresting, so there is no reason to say it.)

4. You want to be vague, evasive, or secretive. (e.g. Mistakes were made. By whom? I’m certainly not admitting it was by me! Companies do this a lot to admit a problem occurred without taking on liability.)

Finally, the moment you have been waiting for. The answers to the practice examples are as follows:

• Sentences 1, 2, and 5 are passive
• Sentences 3 and 4 are active

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Active and Passive Voice

Voice describes the relationship between a verb and the subject and object associated with it.

• Active voice: the subject of a sentence is followed by the verb and then the object of the verb (e.g., “the children ate the cookies”).
• Passive voic e: the object of the verb is followed by the verb (usually a form of “to be” + past participle + the word “by”) and then the subject (e.g., “the cookies were eaten by the children”). If the subject is omitted (e.g., “the cookies were eaten”), it may result in confusion about who performed the action (did the children eat the cookies, or was it the dog?).

Both the active and the passive voice are permitted in APA Style. However, writers often overuse the passive voice.

• Use the active voice as much as possible to create direct, clear, and concise sentences, especially when you are writing about the actions of people.
• Use the passive voice when it is more important to focus on the recipient of an action than on who performed the action, such as when describing an experimental setup.

Active and passive voice are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 4.13 and the Concise Guide Section 2.13

From the APA Style blog

How many U.S. college students use APA Style?

Data about college degrees awarded by field of study and what writing style is used in each.

Check your tone: Keeping it professional

When writing an APA Style paper, present ideas in a clear and straightforward manner. In this kind of scholarly writing, keep a professional tone.

The “no second-person” myth

Many writers believe the “no second-person” myth, which is that there is an APA Style guideline against using second-person pronouns such as “you” or “your.” On the contrary, you can use second-person pronouns in APA Style writing.

APA Style JARS for high school students

In this post, we provide an overview of APA Style JARS and resources that can be shared with high school students who want to learn more about effective communication in scholarly research.

Key takeaways from the Psi Chi webinar So You Need to Write a Literature Review

This blog post describes key tasks in writing an effective literature review and provides strategies for approaching those tasks.

The “no first-person” myth

Whether expressing your own views or actions or the views or actions of yourself and fellow authors, use the pronouns “I” and “we.”

The “outdated sources” myth

The “outdated sources” myth is that sources must have been published recently, such as the last 5 to 10 years. There is no timeliness requirement in APA Style.

APA Style JARS on the EQUATOR Network

The APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (APA Style JARS) have been added to the EQUATOR Network. The network aims to promote accuracy and quality in reporting of research.

APA Style JARS: Resources for instructors and students

APA Style Journal Article Reporting Standards (APA Style JARS) are a set of guidelines for papers reporting quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research that can be used by instructors, students, and all others reading and writing research papers.

Navigating the not-so-hidden treasures of the APA Style website

This post links directly to APA Style topics of interest that users may not even know exist on the website.

Welcome, singular “they”

This blog post provides insight into how this change came about and provides a forum for questions and feedback.

Module 4: Sentence Structure

Using the passive voice.

There are several different situations where the passive voice is more useful than the active voice. The passive is not “wrong”–you just have to be mindful of when you do or do not use it. Here are some common scenarios where the passive has a use:

• The active voice would be something like this: “Someone had moved the paper.” If you don’t know who the someone was and you want to avoid sounding like you’re blaming someone, the passive allows you to communicate the information about the paper without assigning responsibility or blame to anyone. You may or may not want the vague element of mystery this formulation entails (“ Should I care who moved the paper? Why don’t we know who moved the paper??”). A mood of mystery can be especially helpful in writing fiction, but this passive construction can also signal a more straightforward lack of knowledge.
• Presumably anybody would have gone through the standard procedure for sterilizing the dish in the same way and would also have followed the protocols for adding the bacteria. These cases where the methodology is prescribed and the expectation is that experimenters or researchers or students are following rules that are not individualized  (and that others in different times and places could replicate those actions to test the results) often occur in the natural and social sciences and are why those disciplines often (but not exclusively) employ the passive voice in formal writing.
• Three guesses as to who ripped the paper when the speaker uses this passive formulation! Using the passive puts the focus on the paper’s fate rather than on the person who ripped it, as the culprit is completely left out of the sentence.
• Because of the power of our narrative expectations, which lead us to anticipate that the grammatical subject of a sentence will also be the agent of the action (i.e., that we will be told a.s.a.p. in a sentence the answer to “who does what?”), we automatically focus on the subject of the sentence. Using passive to push someone who isn’t the agent into the subject position is particularly effective if your larger unit of writing (your whole paragraph, or your whole essay) focuses on that person. Here, for example, Clarissa is the heroine of an eponymous eighteenth-century novel; we can almost guarantee that an essay containing this sentence would be more about Clarissa than about the odious but minor character of Mr. Solmes, or even about Clarissa’s family’s mercenary motivations. If most sentences in this essay are active and have Clarissa as both the grammatical subject and the narrative agent, this passive construction will fit more coherently into that whole.
• While the trees hurt Caroline, they didn’t actually do anything. Thus, it makes more sense to have Caroline as the subject rather than saying, “The trees hurt Caroline when she fell into them.” You could say, “Falling into the trees hurt Caroline” (because it’s the action of falling into trees that hurts, not trees in and of themselves), but again, you can guarantee that Caroline was the primary agent (the person performing the action that caused this hurt), and we find narratives clearer when the “who” element of “who does what?” occupies the grammatical subject position in the sentence. Notice that this formulation— Caroline was hurt— essentially renders the past participle an adjective rather than a passive construction. Other examples would include exhausted, astonished , or inebriated – there are many past participles that function like adjectives and would seem strained if you re-worded them into active constructions. How often have you ever heard anyone say, “Alcohol inebriated us” versus “We were inebriated”?

Consider the following instances. In each case, determine why the writers might want to use active or passive voice. Write an example sentence based on their circumstances.

• Antonella made an error in her calculations that ruined an experiment. This error ended up costing both time and materials. She has to write a report to her boss. What might she say about the experiment?
• Isabel is writing a supernatural thriller. Her main character, Liam, notices that his keys aren’t where he left them. How might Isabel word this realization?
• Tiago is writing a cover letter to apply for a new job. He is listing out tasks that he does at his current job. How would he want to word these items?
• An error was made that ended up costing time and resources. The experiment will have to be repeated with new materials.
• Liam’s keys had been moved when he wasn’t looking.
• Something—or someone—had moved Liam’s keys when he wasn’t looking.
• I currently work as a teaching assistant for a linguistics professor. I organize her mail, flagging important items so she knows what needs immediate attention; I aid her in her research, finding interesting articles and studies; and I often help her students when her attention is needed elsewhere.

Using the Passive

Now that we know there are some instances where passive voice is the best choice, how do we use the passive voice to its fullest? The answer lies in writing direct sentences—in passive voice—that have simple subjects and verbs. This way, even if we are deviating from the usual narrative clarity of an agent in the grammatical subject position performing the action represented by the verb, we are still helping our readers to see quickly what our sentences are about. Compare the two sentences below:

• Photomicrographs were taken to facilitate easy comparison of the samples.
• Easy comparison of the samples was facilitated by the taking of photomicrographs.

Both sentences are written in the passive voice, but for most ears the first sentence is more direct and understandable, and therefore preferable. Depending on the context, it does a clearer job of telling us what was done and why it was done. Especially if this sentence appears in the “Experimental” section of a report (and thus readers already know that the authors of the report took the photomicrographs), the first sentence neatly represents what the authors actually did—took photomicrographs—and why they did it—to facilitate easy comparison. “Photomicrographs” is clearly a more useful noun to put in the subject position than “easy comparison of the samples,” which is longer and lacks any specific vocabulary, or “the taking of,” which is so awkward that we call it “turgid.”

Read the following sentences. Are they using the passive effectively? If there are any errors, rewrite the sentences accordingly.

• The machine needs to be reset at 10:23, 11:12, and 11:56 every night.
• The final steps, which need to be finished before the sun sets over the mountains, are going to be completed by Kajuana.
• The difficult task of measuring minute fluctuations in weight was made easier by the use of a new digital scale.
• Yes. In this case, it doesn’t matter who accomplishes the action; it simply needs to be done. If this sentence appears in an academic article, the passive may be even more appropriate, as that style often demands the actor be left out of the sentence.
• Kajuana is going to complete the final steps, which need to be finished before the sun sets over the mountains.
• A new digital scale made it easier to measure minute fluctuations in weight.

The passive voice can also be used following relative pronouns like  that and  which .

• I configured the production computer environment  that was provisioned  for me.
• Adrián’s lab rat loves the treats that are given  to him.
• Brihanna has an album  that was signed  by the Jonas Brothers.

In each of these sentences, it is grammatically sound to omit (or  elide ) the relative pronoun and  to be . Elision is used with a lot of different constructions in English; we use it shorten sentences when things are understood. However, we can only use elision in certain situations, so be careful when removing words! If you aren’t confident about whether you’re eliding or just cutting information, err on the side of caution and leave all the words in place (elisions that cause confusion are a common fault when students need to revise essays to a slightly shorter length and try to shave individual words rather than cut a whole section). You may find these elided sentences more natural:

• I configured the production computer environment  provisioned for me.
• Adrián’s lab rat loves the treats given  to him.
• Brihanna has an album signed by the Jonas Brothers.
• Revision and Adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Revision and Adaptation. Authored by : Gillian Paku. Provided by : SUNY Geneseo. License : CC BY: Attribution
• The Passive versus Active Voice Dilemma. Authored by : Joe Schall. Provided by : The Pennsylvania State University. Located at : https://www.e-education.psu.edu/styleforstudents/c1_p11.html . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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Capstone Form and Style

Scholarly voice: active vs. passive voice, active vs. passive voice.

APA style encourages use of the active voice over passive voice for clarity. Writing in the active voice means the subject of the sentence clearly performs the action that the verb expresses. 

APA stresses using the active voice to make it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence. The reason is that the use of passive voice often makes it difficult for the reader to determine who is taking the action of the verb. In addition, the active voice stresses that the actor (or grammatical subject) precedes the verb, again, putting emphasis on the subject.

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

• 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. 
• Example : A study was conducted of elementary school teachers.
• In this sentence, it is not clear to the reader 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, the writer should revise this sentence to clarify who is doing the conducting. 

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 (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. For example, even if the action taker is clearly identified, that actor should be the grammatical subject and come before the verb.

• Issue : Though the verb and the actor (action taker) are clearly identified here, to use the active voice , the writer should also place that actor, Rogers, before the verb. This improves clarity and word economy as well.
• Correct : 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 clearly identifies the action takers and the action being taken.

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. Email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation were provided by the principal of the school . The teachers were emailed 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 email 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 email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation. I emailed 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.

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Changing Passive to Active Voice

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If you want to change a passive-voice sentence to active voice, find the agent in a "by the..." phrase, or consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb. Make that agent the subject of the sentence, and change the verb accordingly. Sometimes you will need to infer the agent from the surrounding sentences which provide context.

If you want to change an active-voice sentence to passive voice, consider carefully who or what is performing the action expressed in the verb, and then make that agent the object of a by the... phrase. Make what is acted upon the subject of the sentence, and change the verb to a form of be + past participle. Including an explicit by the... phrase is optional.

This passive voice contains a by the... phrase. Removing the by the... phrase and reworking the sentence will give it the active voice.

Image Caption: Making "most of the class" the subject of the sentence moves the action of the sentence onto the class, and shifts the sentence from passive into active voice.

The agent is not explicitly stated, but it is most likely researchers. Making the agent the subject of the sentence will allow you to use the active voice.

This sentence now uses the active voice because the agent (the researchers) are now performing the action as the sentence subject.

The CIA director and his close advisors are the agent of change in this sentence, but they are not the subject. Making the agent the subject will transform the sentence into a more concise, active voice phrase.

This sentence now uses the active voice because the agent (the CIA director and his close advisors) is performing the action as the sentence subject.

The agent is not specified in this sentence.

This sentence now uses the active voice because the agent (we) is the subject of the sentence.

This active voice sentence's agent is the presiding officer, which is the subject.

Changing the sentence subject from the agent (the presiding officer) to the object of the verb (the committee's recommendation) and adding a by the...phrase transforms the sentence into the passive voice.

This sentence includes the agent (the leaders) as the subject performing the action of the verb.

This sentence now uses the passive voice because the subject has been changed from the agent (the leaders) to the object of the verb (a fair resolution).

The scientists are the agent performing the verb's action in this active voice sentence.

This passive voice sentence no longer specifies the agent (scientists) and now uses the passive voice because the verb's object (traces of ice) is now the subject.

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Writing > What is the Middle Voice?

What is the Middle Voice?

When learning English, students are instructed on two different voices—active and passive. In active voice, the subject directly performs an action on the object. In passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the object. As writers, we’re taught to use active voice, to write clearly and ensure that our message is easily understood by our audience. But did you know there is another voice we can use to construct sentences? Learn what the middle voice is and how it differs from active and passive voice.

What Is the Difference Between Active and Passive Voice?

Voice, a verb form, indicates the relationship between the subject and the action. In active voice, the subject performs the action on an object directly. This clarity makes active voice preferable for most writing, as exemplified in the sentence from the novel Parable of the Sower:

• Lauren Olamina leaves her walled community outside of Los Angeles.

Here, Lauren (the subject) performs the action (leaves) on the object (walled community), making the sentence easy to understand. If you’re reading a longer piece of writing, active voice makes it easy to continue reading with confidence. Passive voice , however, places the subject at the end, receiving the action, as seen in:

• The dog’s pain was being felt by Lauren.

In this sentence, the subject (Lauren) is at the end of the sentence, and the subject receives the action (felt) from the object (dog’s pain). Additionally, this passive sentence includes the auxiliary be-verb (being) and uses the preposition by indicating the agent. Keep these elements in mind as we discuss the middle voice.

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How Is the Middle Voice Used?

Middle voice occupies a unique space between active and passive voices. Unlike active voice, where the subject directly performs the action on the object, and passive voice, where the subject is acted upon by the object, middle voice indicates that the subject both performs and receives the action, often emphasizing the subject’s involvement or interest in the action. In Parable of the Sower, the protagonist Lauren Olamina navigates situations where the middle voice could be applied appropriately. For example, consider the following sentence:

• Amidst chaos, Lauren Olamina finds herself forging connections with fellow survivors.

Here, the subject is acted upon without the confusion of auxiliary verbs or prepositions. Think of the middle voice as an intermediate of passive and active voice. Grammatically, it’s active, with the subject at the beginning of the sentence, followed by the verb and the object. However, semantically, it’s passive: the action is being performed on the subject. Understanding and recognizing the middle voice can enhance your writing skills, providing another tool to convey meaning effectively.

The middle voice operates as a bridge between active and passive voice. It creates sentence that are clear and start with the subject, which is characteristic of active voice. However, the subject still receives the action, like passive voice. Incorporate middle voice effectively in your writing to write unique sentences that your audience still easily understands. For more ways to spice up your writing, learn more writing tips .

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Address the misspelling of ‘per se’ to effectively communicate the intrinsic quality of something. Learn why it is commonly misspelled and how to use it correctly in your writing.

Elicit vs. illicit: What’s the difference?

Learn the difference between illicit vs. elicit, two homophones that sound alike but mean different things, and write without confusion.

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