Lesson 3: Active vs. Passive Voice

Welcome back class! Ready for some more grammar? If not, I wouldn't blame you. Grammar is not the most exciting topic to learn, but it is certainly very important. It is something everyone has to learn in order to write well.

We are going to focus on the concept of active voice versus passive voice today. While passive voice can actually be desired in certain types of writing (like scientific writing) or in certain types of situations (when what is done is more important than who did it), most of the time, you will want to write all of your sentences in active voice.

So, what is active voice? It is when the agent performing the action is the subject of the sentence, when it is very clear who did what.

For example, the following sentence is written in active voice: I kicked the dog. I, the agent, am also the subject. I performed the action, kicked. This way of writing the sentence is clear and to the point. It is also shorter than its passive counterpart.

Now, the same sentence in passive voice: The dog was kicked by me. See how the dog is now in the subject? The fact that me kicked the dog has become secondary to the fact that the dog was kicked. Not only has the emphasis of the sentence changed, it is not as clear-cut, and is longer by two words. With a simple sentence like this, the length does not increase much and may not seem like a big deal; however, writing effectively means that you have to make every word count.

A worse way to write this sentence passively would be to omit the agent altogether: The dog was kicked. While this version of the sentence is just as short as the active one, now we don't know who, or even what, kicked the dog. Sometimes people use passive voice, and even omit the agent, to minimize their blame or eliminate it completely. This passive sentence might be how a little child might respond to a questioning mother about why the dog is yapping.

Now, this is just a simple, in a nutshell way of explaining the differences between passive and active voice, but it should suffice. If you would like more information, The OWL at Purdue is a great resource. And remember, make every word count!