![]() Passive: A lot of unnecessary words have been used by the student. The passive voice will make a sentence longer and wordier.Īctive: The student uses many unnecessary words. The active voice generally makes a sentence shorter and to the point. Passive: 210 million gallons of oil were spilled in 2010.Īctive: Dr. On the other hand, in the passive voice, the action being performed is emphasized, and the doer may be omitted, e.g. For example, in the sentence The mice inhaled the tobacco-infused aerosol, the doer, i.e., the mice seem important. Passive: The challenging classes were passed by more than half of the athletes.Īctive: BP spilled 210 million gallons of oil in 2010. The active voice refers to a sentence format that emphasizes the doer of an action. Active voice sentences typically follow a subjectverbobject. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs an action, and the object of the sentence is affected by that action. The passive voice will shift the focus away from the actor if he/she does not want to be responsible or if it is not needed.Īctive: More than half of the athletes passed their challenging classes. In this post, we’ll discuss the definition of both voice types and discuss how and when to use them in your writing. The active voice assigns more responsibility to the actor. It is also used to de-emphasize the “who,” especially when the “who” is unclear or unimportant. Passive voice is often used in scientific writing because it emphasizes WHAT was done, not who did it. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence also receives the action. Personally in my science writing, I tend to favor the active voice unless it really is easier to write a sentence in passive, in which case I do. Here’s an example of active voice: subject verb direct object. ![]() If the topic is being acted upon, use passive voice. Use the active voice as much as possible to. However, writers often overuse the passive voice. If the topic is the actor, use active voice. Both the active and the passive voice are permitted in APA Style. ![]() Active voice helps to emphasize WHO did the action, rather than what the action was. The TLDR is: The simple rule is this: Topic and stress trump active and passive. Use active voice in concise, non-scientific writing, like newspapers or in the humanities. Helpful Tip: One popular trick for detecting whether or not your sentence is in passive voice is to add the phrase by zombies after the verb in your sentence. For example, ‘Pupils are not allowed in the dining hall after 1:45 p.m.The active and passive voices have appropriate uses and settings, and using them appropriately will make your writing more effective.
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