Active vs. Passive Voice Introduction
If you’ve ever been involved in a team activity, such as playing a sport, you know the difference between being active and being passive.
An active player is involved in the game, responding and reacting.
A passive player goes unnoticed, letting the game take place around him.
In writing, voice is an author’s style or manner; therefore, choosing between the active voice and the passive voice is a matter of style, not correctness. Ask yourself, what am I trying to emphasize?
In active voice, the subject of a verb performs the action.  Example: Louie’s cousin stole the car! |
In passive voice, the subject of a verb receives the action. Example: The car was stolen (by Louie’s cousin)! |
In passive voice the verb phrase consists of a form of the verb be (such as was) and the past participle of the verb (such as stolen). Other helping verbs may also be included. Active voice makes your writing direct, forceful, and authoritative. Passive voice produces a weak and evasive effect, so if this is not your intention then you should use the active voice. For instance, in the above example, the speaker may use the passive voice because of the following reasons: he does not want to get Louie’s cousin in trouble; he does not know who stole the car; he wants to emphasize the fact that the car is gone. |
 |