Style Note: The Dreaded Passive Voice

You've probably heard of the passive voice, and you've probably heard you should avoid it, but unless you were really paying attention to that mean teacher in high school who obsessed over the passive voice, you might still be a little fuzzy on just what it is, and what's wrong with it.

The main thing to know is that the passive voice is not a grammatical error, but it does tend to dilute the energy of one's writing, and sometimes leads to unintentional ambiguity.

Let's start with an example:

Passive: The sentence was written.
Active: I wrote the sentence

The first sentence is in the passive voice because we don't know who performs the verb "was written." Even if you tell us who performs the verb by writing, "The sentence was written by me," it is still in the passive voice. Notice how the verb feels "passive," because it is disconnected from someone "doing" it.

The second sentence is in the active voice because we know exactly who performs the verb "wrote" without having to add "by me." Notice that the effect, even of this simple sentence, is more direct and powerful than the passive version.

Finding the Passive Voice

Look for a form of “to be” (is, are, am, was, were, has been, have been, had been) followed by a past participle.

The past participle is a form of the verb that often ends in “-ed” such as “worked” or “watched.” There are many exceptions to the “-ed” rule, like “written,” “told,” “seen,” “paid,” and “driven.”

Here’s a formula for identifying the passive voice:

form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice

The boy was eaten by a monster.
The woman had been warned.
They were smashed to bits.

Changing Passive Voice to Active

Go through your writing and CIRCLE all “to be” verbs (is, are, am, was, were, etc.). Many of these are likely to be parts of passive voice constructions. Change as many of them as you can. This sometimes involves rephrasing your whole sentence, but you can often just switch the order of your clauses, putting the subject who performs the verb closer to the beginning of the sentence. Adding "by _______" does not change the passive voice to active.

So the examples above can be revised to:

The monster ate the boy.
The police had warned the woman.
The asteroid smashed them to bits.

In fact, it is best to revise most “to be” verbs. Even when they are not part of a passive construction, a more precise and colorful verb is usually waiting for you to find it.

For example:

“To be” verb: The man was in his chair.
Precise and Colorful verb: The man slumped in his chair.

So when is it OK to use the passive?

Sometimes it’s better to use the passive. Good style depends on variety. The key is that you should be deliberate when choosing between the active and passive. Here are a few instances when the passive voice is useful:

• when you want to emphasize the passivity of the verb’s object
• when you don’t know who is the subject/actor of the verb
• when you want to emphasize the receiver of the action
  

Some instances are less clear than others. Try to put yourself in your reader’s position to anticipate how they will react to the way you have phrased your thoughts.