Active Voice vs. Passive Voice: How to Choose

Active and passive voice describe how a sentence presents an action and the people or things involved in it. The choice affects emphasis: active voice commonly puts the doer up front, while passive voice brings the receiver or result into focus. Neither form is automatically correct or incorrect. Good writers choose according to what readers need to know and what the sentence is about.

How voice works

In an active clause, the subject performs the action: “The editor revised the introduction.” The subject is the editor, the action is revised, and the receiver is the introduction.

In a passive clause, the subject receives the action: “The introduction was revised by the editor.” The sentence still describes a revision, but now the introduction leads. A passive verb is commonly formed with a form of be plus a past participle, such as was revised, is being repaired, or will be delivered. The actor can follow in a by-phrase, or be left unstated. George Mason University Writing Center

Active	Passive
The technician tested the alarm.	The alarm was tested by the technician.
The storm damaged the footbridge.	The footbridge was damaged by the storm.
The team will publish the schedule.	The schedule will be published by the team.

These versions describe similar events, but they do not put the same information first. Active voice makes the actor prominent. Passive voice makes the receiver or result the grammatical subject. That shift can help a paragraph stay focused on one topic—for example, when the surrounding text is about the alarm, the bridge, or the schedule.

When active voice is direct

Use active voice when the actor matters, when responsibility should be clear, or when a sentence feels vague or cumbersome. Naming the doer often gives readers a concrete subject and a straightforward route through the action. For instance:

Before: The refund request was denied.

After: The billing manager denied the refund request.

The revision tells readers who made the decision. If the actor is known and relevant, hiding it can make the sentence evasive or leave an important question unanswered. A passive sentence is not necessarily deceptive, but it can obscure responsibility when the actor belongs in the account.

Active voice can also shorten a sentence:

Before: The final draft was reviewed by three volunteers.

After: Three volunteers reviewed the final draft.

The active version removes the by-phrase and places the reviewers before their action. But directness is not the same as brevity at any cost. If the reviewers have already been established as the topic, the passive version may connect more smoothly to what comes before it.

When passive voice is useful

Passive voice is a sound choice when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or less relevant than the receiver or process. It is also useful when the receiver is already the paragraph’s focus. Purdue OWL notes these as common rhetorical reasons to choose passive voice, rather than treating it as an error to remove in every case. Purdue OWL

Unknown actor: “The trail marker was moved overnight.” If nobody knows who moved it, inventing or guessing a subject would be misleading.

Actor not relevant: “All samples were stored below freezing.” In a procedure description, the handling condition may matter more than the identity of the person who stored them.

Receiver or process is the focus: “The application is reviewed in two stages.” This presents the review process itself. If the next sentences explain those stages, keeping the application or process in focus may make the passage easier to follow.

Established topic comes first: “The ceramic tiles were packed individually. They were then placed in padded crates.” The passive construction maintains attention on the tiles. Recasting the second sentence as “Workers then placed them…” would shift attention to workers, which might not be the paragraph’s purpose.

In research and technical writing, passive forms can foreground what was done or what happened to materials. Conventions differ by field and assignment, however, and many disciplines also use active subjects such as we or the researchers. Follow the relevant publication or instructor’s guidance rather than assuming scientific writing must always be passive. University of Toronto Writing Advice

Passive voice can also be used to avoid naming a responsible actor: “Several records were deleted.” That may be appropriate if the actor is genuinely unknown or irrelevant; if accountability matters, it is more informative to say who deleted them, if known. The form itself does not prove an intent to conceal.

Common misconceptions

“Passive voice is always wrong.” It is a grammatical option, not a grammatical mistake. The practical question is whether it serves the sentence’s purpose. Replacing every passive with an active clause can introduce an unnecessary actor or disrupt the paragraph’s focus.

“Any form of be signals passive voice.” Not so. In “The room is quiet,” is links the subject to a description; no action is being received. In “The room was painted yesterday,” was painted is passive because the room receives the painting action. Look at the whole verb phrase and the relationship between subject and action, not just for is or was.

“A verb ending in -ed is passive.” A past-tense active verb can end in -ed: “The committee approved the plan.” The committee performs the action, so the clause is active. Likewise, a past participle may appear in a passive phrase, but identifying voice requires checking who does or receives the action.

“Passive always means the actor is missing.” A passive sentence can name the actor: “The mural was painted by local students.” Conversely, active voice does not guarantee useful clarity if the subject is vague, as in “They changed the rules,” when readers do not know who they refers to.

“Passive is always longer and weaker.” Passive clauses often need extra words, especially a by-phrase, but not every sentence benefits from a shorter rewrite. “The device was found in the river” is concise and leaves the unknown finder unstated. Adding “Someone found the device…” changes the emphasis without adding useful information.

A quick editing test

When revising, first ask what your sentence needs to emphasize. If readers need the actor or a clear assignment of responsibility, name that actor and use an active construction where it fits. If the receiver, outcome, or procedure should remain the topic—or the actor is unknown—passive may be the more coherent choice.

Then check for missing information. A passive sentence can prompt the useful question “By whom?” If the answer matters and you know it, consider supplying it. If it does not matter, the missing actor may be exactly why the passive works. Read the sentence with its neighboring sentences: a locally direct rewrite can still make a paragraph less coherent if it changes the topic unexpectedly.

Grammar tools can flag possible passive forms, but a flag is a cue to review, not a command to rewrite. For more help with sentence clarity, explore WordWise Hub’s writing resources, grammar guides, and basic grammar checker.