Active vs Passive Voice: When to Use Each

Most writing advice says: "Always use active voice." But that's incomplete. Understanding active vs passive voice means knowing when each works best. This guide explains both, shows you how to spot them, and reveals when passive voice is actually the right choice.

Active vs Passive Voice: The Basics

Active Voice

In active voice, the subject performs the action. The verb structure is: subject + verb + object.

Structure: "She wrote the book."

• Subject: She
• Verb: wrote
• Object: the book
• Who did the action? She did.

Active voice is direct, clear, and strong. Most good writing defaults to active.

Passive Voice

In passive voice, the subject receives the action. The verb structure is: subject + form of "to be" + past participle (+ by + agent).

Structure: "The book was written by her."

• Subject: The book (receives the action)
• Verb: was written
• Agent: by her (who really did the action)

Passive voice flips the order. It often omits who did the action entirely.

How to Spot Passive Voice

The "By" Test

If you can add "by someone" after the verb, it's passive.

Example: "The report was completed." → "The report was completed by the team."

The phrase makes grammatical sense, so it's passive.

The Form of "To Be"

Look for variations of "to be" + past participle:

• is / was / are / were + verb ending in "-ed"
• has been / have been / had been + verb ending in "-ed"
• will be / is being + verb ending in "-ed"

Examples:

• "The data was analyzed" (passive)
• "The solution has been found" (passive)
• "The problem is being solved" (passive)

If you see this pattern, it's almost certainly passive.

Active vs Passive: Side-by-Side Examples

Passive	Active
"The decision was made by the team."	"The team decided."
"The report was completed by Friday."	"We completed the report by Friday."
"Mistakes were discovered in the analysis."	"We discovered mistakes in the analysis."
"The project will be funded by investors."	"Investors will fund the project."
"It is believed by experts that change is needed."	"Experts believe change is needed."

Notice how active voice is shorter, clearer, and stronger every time.

Why Active Voice Is Usually Better

1. Clarity

Active voice makes clear who's doing what. Readers understand immediately.

Passive: "The budget was cut due to declining revenue." Active: "We cut the budget because revenue declined."

The active version shows cause-and-effect clearly. Who decided to cut? We did. Why? Revenue declined.

2. Brevity

Active voice uses fewer words.

Passive: "The new policy was implemented by management in an effort to improve workplace safety." Active: "Management implemented the new policy to improve workplace safety."

Active version: 12 words. Passive: 15. Active wins.

3. Engagement

Active voice feels more authoritative and confident. Passive voice sounds uncertain or evasive.

Passive: "It is recommended that changes be made to the process." Active: "We recommend changing the process."

Which feels more decisive?

When Passive Voice Is Appropriate (And Even Preferable)

Situation 1: The Agent Is Unknown or Obvious

If you don't know who performed the action, passive voice is appropriate.

Example: "The artifact was discovered in 1987."

We don't know who discovered it, so passive is fine. (If we knew, we'd say: "Dr. Smith discovered the artifact in 1987.")

Situation 2: The Action Matters More Than the Agent

In scientific or formal writing, the result sometimes matters more than who did it.

Example: "The samples were treated with a 10% solution for 24 hours."

In scientific contexts, the procedure and results matter more than who conducted it. Passive voice is standard and expected here.

Situation 3: Emphasizing the Object

Sometimes you want to emphasize what happened to something, not who did it.

Example: "The city was rebuilt after the earthquake."

This emphasizes the city's transformation, not the builders. Passive voice works here.

Situation 4: Politeness or Tact

Passive voice can be tactful when blame or responsibility matters.

Instead of: "You made a mistake." Try: "A mistake was made." (Softer, less accusatory)

Professional contexts sometimes call for this diplomacy.

Common Passive Voice Mistakes

Mistake 1: Hiding the Agent

Weak: "It has been decided that layoffs will occur."

Who decided? The speaker is unclear, which makes it evasive.

Better: "Leadership decided to implement layoffs." (Now you know who decided.)

Mistake 2: Passive + Nominalization

Weak: "The implementation of the policy will result in an improvement in efficiency."

Strong: "The new policy will improve efficiency."

This combines passive patterns with nominalizations for maximum wordiness.

Mistake 3: Chain of Passives

Multiple passive sentences in a row create confusing, lifeless prose.

Weak paragraph: "The meeting was held on Tuesday. The agenda was set by the director. Several proposals were discussed. A decision was deferred."

Stronger paragraph: "We met on Tuesday. The director set the agenda. We discussed several proposals but deferred a decision."

Same content, but active voice creates momentum.

How to Convert Passive to Active

Step 1: Identify the Passive Sentence

Look for "to be" + past participle.

Example: "The report was written by Sarah."

Step 2: Find the Agent (Who Does the Action)

Agent: Sarah

Step 3: Make the Agent the Subject

Rewritten: "Sarah wrote the report."

Step 4: Remove "To Be" and Put the Verb in Active Form

You now have: subject (Sarah) + active verb (wrote) + object (the report).

Practice:

• "The cake was baked by mom." → "Mom baked the cake."
• "The letter was received yesterday." → "We received the letter yesterday." (Who received? We did.)
• "The problem has been solved by the team." → "The team solved the problem."

Using HumanMe to Check Your Voice

If you're unsure whether you're overusing passive voice, paste a paragraph into HumanMe and ask for an active-voice rewrite. Compare the two versions to see how passive sentences appeared in your writing. Over time, you'll spot passive constructions before you write them.

Make Your Writing More Concise by Favoring Active

Active voice is naturally more concise. When you make your writing more concise, eliminating passive constructions is often the fastest way to reduce word count while improving clarity.

Key Takeaways

• Active voice (subject performs action) is stronger and clearer than passive voice in most contexts
• Passive voice (subject receives action) is appropriate when the agent is unknown or when the action matters more than the doer
• Spot passive voice by looking for "to be" + past participle or the "by" test
• Convert passive to active by making the agent the subject
• Avoid chaining multiple passive sentences—they create lifeless prose
• Passive + nominalizations = maximum wordiness; avoid this combination

Frequently Asked Questions

Is passive voice always wrong?

No. Passive voice is appropriate when the agent is unknown ("The house was built in 1950") or when the action matters more than the doer (scientific writing). The problem is overuse. In narrative and business writing, active voice should dominate. Passive is the exception, not the rule.

How much passive voice is too much?

In most writing, passive constructions should be less than 10-15% of sentences. In your first draft, check: if more than one in five sentences is passive, you're overusing it. During editing, convert passive to active unless there's a specific reason not to.

Can I use passive voice in persuasive writing?

Generally, no. Persuasive writing needs active voice to sound confident and authoritative. "We believe this solution works" is stronger than "It is believed that this solution works." Passive voice sounds wishy-washy in persuasive contexts.