Active vs Passive Voice: When to Use Each

Active voice makes your writing stronger and clearer. But passive voice has its place too. Understanding the difference between them is one of the most impactful skills you can develop as a writer. This guide covers both — with practical examples, tools for identifying passive constructions, and strategies for deciding which voice fits your context.

The Difference

Active voice: The subject performs the action.

“The cat chased the mouse.”

Passive voice: The subject receives the action.

“The mouse was chased by the cat.”

In the active version, we know exactly who did what. The cat (subject) chased (verb) the mouse (object). In the passive version, the mouse becomes the subject but is not doing anything — it is having something done to it. The actor (the cat) is either relegated to the end of the sentence or omitted entirely.

Quick rule of thumb: If you can add “by zombies” after the verb and the sentence still makes sense, you have passive voice.

How to Identify Passive Voice

Look for a form of “to be” (is, was, were, are, am, been, being) followed by a past participle:

was written      were seen      is considered
are made         been told      being built

Common patterns to watch for:

• Present passive: “The report is reviewed by the manager.”
• Past passive: “The decision was made by the committee.”
• Future passive: “The results will be announced next week.”
• Continuous passive: “The house is being painted.”

Advanced tip: Not every use of “to be” indicates passive voice. “She is running” is active (present continuous). “She is seen” is passive. The difference is whether the verb is a past participle describing an action received, or a present participle describing an action performed.

Why Active Voice Is Usually Better

Active Is Shorter

Active voice eliminates unnecessary helper verbs and prepositions. In most forms of writing — business communication, journalism, blog posts, emails — brevity is a virtue. Every extra word dilutes your message.

Active Is Clearer

The reader knows who did what. In passive voice, the actor can disappear entirely:

• Passive: “Mistakes were made.” (By whom?)
• Active: “I made a mistake.” (Accountability)

In professional writing, clarity about responsibility matters. Passive voice can obscure accountability, which is sometimes intentional (as in political statements) but more often is just sloppy writing.

Active Is More Direct

Active voice creates a stronger impression. Compare:

• “The software was installed by the IT department.” (Passive, 9 words)
• “IT installed the software.” (Active, 4 words)

The active version feels confident and decisive. The passive version feels indirect and hesitant. This is especially important in resumes, cover letters, and proposals where projecting confidence matters.

When to Use Passive Voice

Despite the emphasis on active voice, passive constructions are sometimes the better choice. Here are five situations where passive voice is appropriate or even preferred.

1. The Doer Is Unknown

“My bike was stolen last night.”

You do not know who stole it. Using active voice (“Someone stole my bike”) works but adds an unnecessary word. The passive version gets straight to the point.

2. The Doer Is Obvious

“The suspect was arrested at 3 AM.”

We know police make arrests. Saying “Police arrested the suspect” adds unnecessary words. The focus is on the suspect and the time, not on who made the arrest.

3. The Action Matters More Than the Actor

“The patient was rushed to the emergency room.”

The patient is the focus, not who did the rushing. In medical writing, passive voice is standard because the procedure matters more than the practitioner.

4. Scientific and Academic Writing

“The samples were heated to 100°C.”

The process matters more than who heated them. This is the traditional convention, though active voice is increasingly accepted in scientific writing. Always check your target publication’s style guide.

5. Avoiding Blame

“Mistakes were made.”

Politicians use this to avoid responsibility. In most writing, this is a weakness rather than a valid use. However, in diplomatic or crisis communication, passive voice can be a strategic tool for de-escalation — it focuses on the problem rather than assigning fault.

Converting Passive to Active

The conversion formula: Find the actor (who is doing the action), move them to the subject position, change the verb to match, and remove the helper verbs.

Using Writing Tools to Detect Passive Voice

Most word processors include a passive voice checker. Microsoft Word’s grammar checker flags passive constructions with a blue underline. The Hemingway Editor highlights passive voice in green and gives a readability score. Grammarly suggests active alternatives in real time. ProWritingAid provides a dedicated passive voice report showing every instance in your document.

These tools are useful but imperfect. They flag all “to be” past-participle constructions, including ones that are correctly passive or not actually passive at all. Use them as a starting point, not an authority. Your judgment about whether a passive construction serves your purpose matters more than any tool’s recommendation.

False Positives to Watch For

The Hemingway Editor will flag “She was running” as passive — but it is not. It is past continuous active. Grammar checkers also flag constructions like “is based on” and “is composed of,” which are stative passives that function as adjectives. “The theory is based on decades of research” is not the same kind of construction as “The cake was eaten.” In most style guides, stative passives are acceptable because they describe a state rather than an action.

Voice Comparison by Genre

When to Break the Genre Convention

Genre conventions are guidelines, not rules. A thriller written entirely in active voice may feel relentless — inserting a passive sentence can slow the pace where the reader needs a breath. A scientific paper written entirely in passive voice feels bureaucratic — active voice in the discussion section makes the interpretation more forceful. Learn the convention, then break it deliberately for effect.

Passive Voice in Creative Writing

Fiction writers are often told to avoid passive voice entirely. This is too broad. Passive voice in creative writing works well when the narrator wants to emphasize the character’s helplessness or lack of agency:

He was taken from his home at night. He was pushed into a car. He was driven somewhere dark and cold.

The repeated passive construction mirrors the character’s powerlessness. Each sentence removes his agency further. An active version (“Men in masks took him from his home”) would be more efficient but would lose the emotional effect of helplessness.

Similarly, passive voice can create distance between the narrator and a traumatic event:

Things were said that could not be unsaid.

The passive voice here communicates that the narrator cannot bring themselves to take ownership of the words. The grammatical structure supports the psychological content.

Exercise: Fix These

1. “The meeting was attended by 20 people.”
2. “It was decided that the deadline would be extended.”
3. “The email was sent to all employees.”
4. “Mistakes were made in the calculation.”
5. “The new policy was implemented by management.”

Answers:

1. “Twenty people attended the meeting.”
2. “The team extended the deadline.”
3. “HR sent the email to all employees.”
4. “I miscalculated.” (if you made the mistake)
5. “Management implemented the new policy.”

When Editing Your Own Work

1. Search for “was,” “were,” “is,” “are”
2. Check if the verb is followed by a past participle
3. Ask: “Who is doing the action?”
4. If you can identify the doer, rewrite in active voice

Editing checklist:

• Underline every form of “to be” in your draft
• For each one, ask: could this be active?
• If yes, rewrite it
• Read the revised version aloud — it should sound more direct
• Keep passive only if you have a specific reason (unknown actor, scientific convention, strategic ambiguity)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Mistake 1: Thinking passive voice is grammatically wrong. It is not — it is a valid grammatical construction with specific uses. The problem is overuse, not use.

Mistake 2: Overcorrecting every “to be” verb. As noted above, not every “to be” creates passive voice. Focus on the structure, not the word.

Mistake 3: Losing the actor entirely. Even in passive constructions, try to include the actor when it matters. “The decision was made by the board” is clearer than “A decision was made.”

Mistake 4: Thinking passive voice and past tense are the same thing. Passive voice can appear in any tense: “is eaten” (present), “was eaten” (past), “will be eaten” (future). Tense and voice are independent grammatical categories.

FAQ

Q: Does my writing need to be 100% active? A: No. Even the most active-heavy writing benefits from occasional passive constructions. Aim for 90% active in most prose. The goal is not to eliminate passive voice but to ensure every passive construction serves a purpose.

Q: How do I explain passive voice to a beginner? A: Use the “by zombies” test. If you can add “by zombies” after the verb and the sentence still makes grammatical sense, it is passive. This test works because passive voice always allows an implied actor introduced by “by.”

Q: Is passive voice always bad in fiction? A: No. As discussed above, passive voice can be a deliberate stylistic choice to convey helplessness, distance, or formality. The key is intentionality — using passive because it serves the scene, not because you did not notice it.

Q: Why do grammar checkers flag some passive sentences I want to keep? A: Grammar checkers apply rules mechanically. They cannot assess rhetorical effect. If a passive sentence is intentionally chosen, ignore the flag. Use grammar checkers as a detection tool, then apply your own judgment.

Q: Is “the book was written by her” passive? A: Yes. The subject (“book”) receives the action of writing. The active version is “She wrote the book.”

Q: What about “I am convinced that…” — is that passive? A: It depends. “I am convinced” can be passive if “convinced” is a verb describing something done to the subject. But “convinced” often functions as an adjective describing a state of mind. In most usage, “I am convinced” is an adjective phrase, not a passive construction. The context determines the classification.

Q: Can passive voice help with sentence variety? A: Yes. An occasional passive sentence breaks the monotony of subject-verb-object structure. Used sparingly, passive voice adds rhythm and emphasis by shifting the reader’s attention to the object of the action rather than the actor.

Related: Learn story structure and practice show don’t tell.