The alternative, in the active voice, would be ‘Someone broke into my house last night!’. The sentence structure also emphasises that the writer does not know who broke in. In this case, the writer may want to emphasise the fact that it was their house that was broken into, or the impact on them. You want to emphasise the recipient of the action.įor example, the sentence ‘My house was broken into last night!’ is in the passive voice. However, there are times when you may prefer to use the passive voice, and it may even be more correct.ġ. It is therefore often preferred in both speech and writing. Generally speaking, the active voice sounds more direct. It is also unnatural, because you are unlikely to want to emphasise the park, rather than you, in speech or writing. This is very ‘clunky’, because of the need to introduce ‘by’ to make it work. In the passive voice, the sentence would be: However, in some cases, the passive voice will simply sound wrong.Ĭonsider the sentence “ I walked to the park”. When the passive voice sounds ‘clunky’ or just plain ‘wrong’Īlmost every sentence can be put in either the passive or active voice. The active voice therefore looks more concise and direct.ģ. You may also need more prepositions in passive sentences. The active voice generally results in shorter sentences, because of the requirement to use ‘was’ or ‘were’ in passive sentences. You want a shorter, more concise sentence, or to sound more direct. The second one is much weaker, and sounds like the organisation may be trying to avoid taking responsibility.Ģ. The first one emphasises that the organisation is taking responsibility for the event, and taking action to address it. Action is being taken to find out, and more information will be provided when it is available.” “ A problem has occurred, but it is not clear how. As soon as we know more, we will be in touch to let you know.” “ We do not yet know what happened, but we are trying to find out. When you use the passive voice, this is less clear. Using the active voice makes clear that you (you personally, or the company) are actively trying to do something. The active voice may be particularly important in business communications when you are facing a crisis. The importance of voice in crisis communications Note that this is a bit more long-winded, and many people would therefore prefer the active voice in this example. However, if you wanted to emphasise the thief, and how they were punished for their actions, you might say ‘The thief was chased all the way down the road by the dog!’. You might, for example, wish to show the dog’s value in guarding your property. In this sentence, you are emphasising the dog’s actions. You want to emphasise the person or thing doing the verb action.įor example, you might write ‘The dog chased the thief all the way down the road’. Using the Active and Passive Voice You should use the active voice when:ġ. This is often the most obvious sign that you have used the passive voice. Looking at these sentences, you may also notice another distinguishing feature of the use of the passive voice: the inclusion of was or were, and the introduction of a preposition ( by). In these sentences, the subject is again the first noun (I, the ball, the questionnaires), but in this case, the subjects are having the action done to them (chasing, running over, sending out). The questionnaires were sent out between April and July.All these are doing the action set out by the verb (chasing, running over, sending out). In all these sentences, the subject is the first noun (a dog, a car, we). We sent out questionnaires between April and July.For more about the subject and object of a sentence, see our page Grammar: An Introduction.Īs so often with grammar, this is easiest to understand with examples. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence is the person or thing doing the verb action. The passive voice emphasises the recipient of the action. The active voice emphasises the person or thing doing the action. Understanding Active and Passive VoiceĪt its simplest the distinction between active and passive voice is: This page explains the two, and provides some examples to show when you might choose each one in writing and in speech. However, there is a time and a place for the passive voice. Many academic journals also encourage the use of the active voice, generally coupled with the first person (we or I). In school education, children are often taught that they should use the active voice in their writing, because it is ‘stronger’. The passive voice, by contrast, emphasises the recipient or the effect of the action. Using the active voice emphasises the person or thing that is doing the action of the verb. It can take two forms, either active or passive. Grammatical voice is a property of verbs in English.
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