Last Updated on November 19, 2020
Writing in the active voice as opposed to the passive voice makes your writing more concise and readable. Your message will be more to the point. Writing in the active voice also uses less words than writing in the passive voice.
The active voice focuses on the subject or the ‘doer’ of an action. Whereas the passive voice focuses on the receiver of the action.
Active Voice
The subject (the Dog) performs an action (chewed) on an object (shoes).
Example: The dog chewed the shoes.
Passive Voice
With passive voice it is object (shoes), the action (chewed), subject (dog).
Example: The shoes were chewed by the dog.
Useful Links
- Plain Language Action & Information Network / American
- Plain English Campaign – / English
- Fight the Fog
