As a teacher, I feel like I am going against the pack when I say it’s ok to write in passive voice. I know, I know. You probably had lessons, took notes, and were given comments about how active voice is the only voice to use in writing. But, that’s actually not the case, so I’m here to make the case for using both active AND passive voice.
One of the reasons that teachers encourage and teach their students to write in the active voice is to add clarity into their students’ writing. Having a clear subject allows readers to have a better understanding of what is happening. In active voice, there is an actor acting. Or, there is an agent who is performing an action. This style of writing is strong, and action oriented.
What happens when you don’t want to have clarity…or assign blame? And this is why I’m advocating for the use of passive voice (if it makes sense to use it).
Before I jump ahead too far, let’s go over what active and passive voices are.
Active: subject does the acting.
Passive: subject is acted upon.
Active voice is when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb. A verb is active when the subject acts. For example, They played games. (Who played? They played.)
Passive voice is when the subject doesn’t act, but is actually acted upon. For example, Games were played. (What was played? Games.) Here, games are being acted upon. Games were played by the players is still passive because games are still being enacted. (What was played? Games.) The subject (games) receives the action (played).
Let’s look at some examples. Can you spot the difference between active and passive? Remember, look for the subject (is it acting, or being acted upon?).
- Two kittens were found in the farmer’s field.
- The speeding train slowed down before the crossing.
- Beautiful roses were grown in the hotel’s garden.
- Several hundred dollars were spent to repair the neighbour’s fence.
- She ate the last of the birthday cake.
- The coat floated in the wind.
Don’t confuse passive voice for past tense.
NOTE: Passive and past-tense are often confused because both constructions use a past participle. Passive voice is not limited to past tense. (ACTIVE: She calls. PASSIVE: She is called. ACTIVE: She has called. PASSIVE: She has been called.)
How did you do? Where you able to tell if the sentences were active or passive? (If you’re still not sure, here is an excellent video to help you.)
- Two kittens were found in the farmer’s field. (Passive: We don’t know who found them…maybe they want to remain anonymous.)
- The speeding train slowed down before the crossing. (Active: The train is slowing down.)
- Beautiful roses were grown in the hotel’s garden. (Passive: No credit is given to a specific member of staff, just the hotel in general. Did Richard plant the roses? Gloria? It’s easier here to use the passive voice.)
- Several hundred dollars were spent to repair the neighbour’s fence. (Passive: Who paid to repair the fence? The person who drove their car into it? Maybe no one wants to take ownership here, or place blame on a specific person, so passive voice works.)
- She ate the last of the birthday cake. (Active: She ate it. It wasn’t eaten by her. She ate it.)
- The coat floated in the wind. (Active: The coat floated. The coat is doing the action.)
There are definitely reasons to use the passive voice.
Once you can see the difference between active and passive voice, you can see why it’s a valuable tool in your writing tool kit. Here are some reasons why you might want to write in a passive voice:
- When the subject isn’t know, use passive voice.
- If you don’t want to assign a specific person to an action (blame them), use the passive voice.
- When you want to emphasize the act over the agent (the act over the subject), use passive voice.
Experiment. Add in some passive voice into your writing. But be aware that too much of the passive voice can get exhausting for the reader. Writing in the passive is exhausting to read after a while. (ACTIVE: Readers find the passive voice exhausting to read after a while.) See if you can spot active and passive voice in your everyday reading (especially look at newspaper articles). If it seems like a company or writer is avoiding placing blame, they most likely know what they’re doing by using the passive voice. And now, you do too!
Happy writing!
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