What Is Passive Voice & How Do You Use It?
If you’ve ever had your writing critiqued, chances are someone has told you to ‘avoid passive voice’. English teachers and editors often discourage it because it can make sentences feel wordy, unclear, or detached.
So, what exactly is the passive voice, when should you use it, and how does it differ from the active voice? Let’s break down each topic!
What is Passive Voice?
In passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action rather than performing it. The focus shifts from the doer (the subject) to the receiver (the object) of the action.
In contrast, active voice places the subject as the doer of the action, making the sentence more direct and energetic.
Passive Voice Examples
Here are some examples sentences showing the difference between active and passive voice:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| The cat chased the mouse. | The mouse was chased by the cat. |
| The chef cooked the meal. | The meal was cooked by the chef. |
| The teacher praised the student. | The student was praised by the teacher. |
In the passive voice examples, the emphasis shifts from the subject (the doer) to the object (the receiver of the action).
In both active and passive sentences, the tense of the verb remains consistent. This means that whether you’re writing in past, present, or future tense, you can easily convert between active and passive forms by adjusting the auxiliary verb (a form of “to be”) and the main verb (past participle). For example:
By maintaining the correct tense, you ensure your sentence stays grammatically accurate while shifting the focus between the doer and the receiver of the action.
How to Identify Passive Voice
To spot passive voice, look for these clues:
1. The use of a form of the verb “to be” (e.g., is, are, was, were, has been) followed by a past participle (e.g., written, seen, chased).
2. The absence of the doer of the action (sometimes passive voice doesn’t explicitly state who performed the action).
• Passive sentence: The letter was written yesterday.
(Who wrote the letter? The doer is missing.)
• Active sentence: Sarah wrote the letter yesterday.
Think now know how to identify the passive voice? Test your knowledge with this passive voice quiz!
When to Use Passive Voice
Passive voice often gets a bad reputation, but it has its uses! Here are some scenarios where it works well:
1. When the Doer is Unknown or Irrelevant
Sometimes, who performed the action isn’t important or known.
• The window was broken during the storm.
(The storm broke the window, but the emphasis is on the result, not the doer.)
2. To Emphasise the Object
When the focus is on the receiver of the action, passive voice can help.
• The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
(The Mona Lisa is the focal point, not Leonardo da Vinci.)
3. To Create Formality or Impersonal Tone
In scientific or technical writing, passive voice is often preferred for its objective tone.
• The results were analysed using advanced software.
(This removes the researcher as the focus and places emphasis on the process.)
Use The Passive Voice Wisely
Understanding passive voice is a crucial part of mastering grammar and writing with intention.
Although it’s better to use the active voice for its clarity and directness, passive voice has its place when you want to shift the focus to the person or thing receiving the action. So using it isn’t by any means an English grammar error but rather a choice of style!
Now that you know the ins and outs of passive voice try experimenting with it in your own writing. Whether you’re writing an essay or drafting a report, your awareness of sentence structure will make all the difference.
