If you’ve never heard of “active voice” or “passive voice,” don’t worry, you’re not alone. However, while you might not know the official terminology, I’m willing to bet you can easily spot the difference between the two.
In the active voice, the subject of the sentence is doing the acting. For example:
In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is being acted on by the verb:
While active voice is strong and clear, passive voice is somewhat watered down…and a bit weak.
It’s fine to use passive voice now and again, but the problem with using it too often is that it can bore – and potentially frustrate – your audience. Passive voice can also leave readers with unanswered questions if certain information isn’t provided. For example:
Still confused? Here’s the first paragraph of this post again.
If you’ve never heard of “active voice” or “passive voice,” don’t worry, you’re not alone. However, while you might not know the official terminology, I’m willing to bet you can easily spot the difference between the two.
Now here it is rewritten in the passive voice:
If “active voice” or “passive voice” has never been heard of by you, don’t worry, you’re not alone. However, while the official terminology might not be known by you, I’m willing to bet that the difference between the two can easily be spotted by you.
See the difference? Think active = strong and passive = weak. Who doesn’t want to be strong?
-Maria
This blog post originally appeared on CreateSpace.com. Reprinted with permission. © 2015 CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.