Active Voice vs Passive Voice
Active Voice? Passive Voice? What is the Difference?
Your SEO plug in might tell you to use more sentences with active voice. But what exactly is an active voice or a passive voice? And should all sentences be active?
It might sound complicated, but it doesn't need to be confusing.
In active voice, the subject of the sentence acts upon its verb. The subject performs the action. These sentences use an action verb, rather than a linking verb. The active voice sentences show a strong, direct, and clear tone.
However, in the passive voice sentence, the subject receives the verb's action. They use some form of linking verb.
To show the difference, look at these examples of a sentences that use passive voice and then are converted to active voice.
Passive Voice: The ball was thrown to Timmy by Billy.
Active Voice: Billy threw the ball to Timmy.
Passive Voice: Running and playing are enjoyed by dogs.
Active Voice: Dogs like to run and play.
Passive Voice: The money was counted by the banker.
Active Voice: The banker counted the money.
Passive Voice: The fire was put out by the fire department.
Active Voice: The fire department put out the fire.
When should you use active voice or passive voice?
The active voice shows a strong, clear tone. It's bold.
The passive voice is considered more subtle and weaker. Sometimes the passive voice might sound fancier. But that is not a good reason to choose it. In fact, readers prefer more active voice and your SEO tools usually recommend a certain percentage of active voice sentences.
However, don't dismiss the passive voice altogether. There are times the passive voice is useful and actually preferred. For instance, in the sentence from the above example, "The money was counted by the banker." That sentence construction would be helpful if the focus of the article was on the money, rather than the banker.
Rule of Thumb
Most professional writers use the general rule of thumb for voice: Put the majority of sentences in the active voice. However, use passive voice if you truly can’t write your sentence in any other way.
Let's look at an example of a paragraph that shows more strength by changing from active voice to passive voice.
Passive: A mistake was made on your order. A credit will be issued to correct it.
That sentence is grammatically correct, but doesn't really convey a feeling of ownership of the mistake.
Changing that to the active voice
Active: We made a mistake on your order. We are issuing you a credit to correct the error.
In most cases, people find the active voice shows more empathy and concern. The passive voice in this example might seem cold and uncaring.
Just as we did in the above example, you can change a sentence from passive to active by simply identifying the subject. Instead of "a mistake was made" we used "We made a mistake."
As seen in the examples, active voice shows more strength and provides a better reader experience in most sentences. However, don't aliante your passive voice althogether. You need it for a few sentences within your writing.
I hope this helps with your writing experiences!
Recent Comments
59
Thanks for this. I have a problem because I use the passive voice predominantly.
I just published an article today and the SEO program flagged me for it. The same thing happened on all of the previous articles.
When I go back and really look, I am shocked by the proportion of passive voice that I use. I understand the difference for the most part, but I just think in passive voice.
I guess I am am going to have to put it top of mind whenever I am writing, if I don't want to go back and correct everything I write :-0
I like passive voice. If I am writing for an audience though, and it makes a big difference, I guess I'm just going to have to do it.
Add that to the list of things to do....along with learning to type!
Yes, it is easier to write in the active voice from the beginning, rather than needing to go back and change everything. But I understand that it might be challenging at first. It does become easier over time.
Typing is one of those skills that I am so thankful I learned as a teen. Even though our technology is changing, I still find it immensely useful!
Thanks. At the time and place that I was in school, you were considered effeminate or a "sissy" if you took typing as a male :-0
Therefore, I did not take it. I am a highly educated professional, who was in school until the age of 32. When I look back on all of my educational career, my biggest regret - by a mile (10 miles even) - was that I did not take typing!
I have tried to teach myself several times, but just did not have the motivation to follow through. I have resigned myself to do it this year though because every daily interaction requires typing or keyboarding as they now call it.
I think I have actually used a pen about a dozen times total in the last year! Haha!
Thanks again!
Yes, many thought the same when I was in school. However, one of the more respected male teenagers was in my class. He was a football player sort and refused to use the electric typewriters, preferring the manual one that none of the rest of us wanted. Interestingly, he was actually one of the fastest and most accurate typists in our entire school!
After graduation, he went back to work on his family's dairy farm and probably never used his typing skills again. But I still remember his incredible skills.
Keep working at it and you will succeed. My kids actually learned using a computer program. One was "Mavis Beacon" and the other was a typing game with a dolphin. I don't recall the name but it was quite popular with all my kids.
Diane, excellent post , I personally like it because I do not speak English properly nor write in a Active voice sometimes , but reading your post has now taught me that it's very easy to write in a active voice, excellent Educational post , which is very good for SEO
I will definitely stick this one into my
VAULT
keep it Diane , nice one
Thank you for your kind words, Hentley. I imagine it is difficult to keep track of all the grammar rules, especially for non-native speakers. I applaud you for giving it your best!
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I had some problems with that SEO plugin at first because it kept telling me to use more active voice. I finally asked in my Writer's Group, to try to figure out how to correct it. What I learned: Use any form of the verb "to be" rarely. I now go back through my posts, and decide if the sentences where I left a form of the verb "to be" or if they can handle a change to active voice.
That is good advice, Fran. The "to be" verb forms are considered linking verbs. When I was in school (many moons ago!) they were called "state of being" verbs as compared to the action verbs. I think that made it easier to remember, for me at least.
Thank you!