Use active voice whenever possible. Active vs. Passive Voice.

Use active voice whenever possible.

Active vs. Passive Voice

I hit the ball.

The ball was hit by me.


I hit the ball. Active voice

The ball was hit by me. Passive voice


Voice refers to the relationship between the subject of a sentence and the verb of the sentence. In active voice, the subject does the action of the verb.In passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb.


In most cases, active voice is preferable to passive voice.


Put these sentences into active voice:•A plan was proposed by the director to cut costs.•Students were advised by their teachers to shape up.


Use passive voice when the receiver of the action is more important than the doer:

The young boy was hit by a bus.


Use passive voice when the doer of the action is unknown:

The jewels were stolen last night.


•It was decided to wait until next week.•An action committee was formed by outraged citizens.•The speech was highly praised by the editor.•The game was finally won by us.


Also try to use action verbs whenever possible.

John was angry.John looked angry.John’s face burned with anger.



The waves were so high the boat was nearly tipping.The waves towered over us, nearly tipping the boat.



John was sickened by the incident.John tormented himself about the incident


Avoid linking verbs whenever possible.

•All forms of to be: is, are, were, am, etc.

•Sense verbs: seemed, looked, felt, smelled, appeared, etc.



•Simone seemed sorry.•Simone apologized profusely.



•Freddy felt foolish.•Freddy’s face glowed red with

embarrassment.


Use active voice whenever possible. Active vs. Passive Voice.

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