Writers get told to avoid the passive voice constantly. Teachers hand back essays bleeding red ink, marking every "was done" as a cardinal sin. Writing advice books insist that active verbs are the only path to strong prose. Yet, professional authors, journalists, and technical writers use the passive voice every day.
You don't need to banish the passive construction from your vocabulary. You just need to know when it actually serves your message instead of hiding your meaning. If you rely solely on active verbs, your writing can feel blunt or clumsy. Sometimes, shifting the focus away from the doer of an action creates better flow, higher objectivity, and superior emphasis.
What Is the Passive Voice and Why Does It Get a Bad Reputation?
Grammar terms often confuse people, so let's clear up the definition right away. In an active sentence, the subject performs the action. In a passive voice sentence, the subject receives the action.
Take a look at this comparison:
- Active: The dog chased the ball. (The subject, dog, does the chasing.)
- Passive: The ball was chased by the dog. (The subject, ball, receives the action.)
To spot a passive sentence, look for a form of the verb "to be" (is, was, were, been, being) paired with a past participle (a verb ending in -ed, -en, etc.), often accompanied by a "by" phrase.
So why do editors hate it? Because overusing it makes writing weak and vague. Consider a corporate memo that says, "Mistakes were made." Who made them? The passive structure hides accountability. When writers use it out of laziness, sentences bloat and lose their punch. Active sentences push the reader forward because a clear actor drives the narrative.
When to Actually Use the Passive Voice
Despite its reputation, the passive voice isn't a grammatical crime. Specific writing scenarios demand it for clarity, diplomacy, or proper emphasis.
1. The Actor is Unknown or Irrelevant
Sometimes, you genuinely don't know who performed an action, or the identity adds nothing to the sentence.
- Example: My bicycle was stolen last night.
- Why it works: You don't know who took the bike. Forcing an active construction like "Somebody stole my bicycle last night" doesn't add useful information.
2. The Receiver Matters More Than the Doer
Scientific writing, legal documents, and technical manuals often focus on the experiment or object rather than the person performing the task.
- Example: The solution was heated to one hundred degrees.
- Why it works: In a lab report, readers care about the solution reaching that temperature, not which specific researcher turned on the burner. Keeping the focus on the object maintains scientific objectivity.
3. Tactical Diplomacy and Tone Control
Good writers use grammar to manage tone. If you want to soften a critique or avoid pointing fingers, the passive voice helps you remain diplomatic.
- Active: You submitted the report with several calculation errors.
- Passive: Several calculation errors were found in the report.
- Why it works: The passive version addresses the problem without attacking the person directly, which prevents unnecessary defensiveness in professional settings.
How to Balance Active and Strong Passive Sentences
Mastering your prose style means moving past rigid rules. You don't need a strict percentage split between active and passive sentences. Instead, evaluate each sentence based on what you want your reader to notice first.
When you edit a draft, look at every passive sentence and ask yourself a simple question: Does this omission of the actor serve a purpose? If the sentence hides information that the reader needs to know, rewrite it to be active. If the sentence flows better by placing the most important word at the beginning, keep it passive.
For a deeper dive into grammar conventions and standard usage rules, check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab for comprehensive guides.
Common Mistakes Writers Make with Passive Construction
Writers often stumble when they try to fix their style or when they misunderstand the rules entirely. Watch out for these frequent pitfalls.
- Confusing past tense with passive voice: Many people think any sentence containing "was" or "were" is passive. That isn't true. "She was running down the street" is active because the subject (She) is performing the action.
- Using zombie nouns (nominalization): Writers often try to avoid passive verbs by turning action verbs into clunky nouns. Instead of saying "The decision was made" (passive), they write "The making of the decision occurred" (active, but terrible). Keep your verbs moving.
- Creating clunky "by zombie" phrases: If you write "The cake was baked by Mary," you've used the passive voice while keeping the actor. Unless you have a specific stylistic reason to emphasize the cake, just write "Mary baked the cake."
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the passive voice grammatically incorrect?
No. It is a completely legitimate grammatical structure in English. It only becomes a problem when overused or used to obscure meaning.
How can I easily find passive sentences in my writing?
Search your document for forms of the verb "to be" (is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been) followed closely by a verb ending in -ed or -en. Then check if the subject of that sentence is receiving the action.
Should scientific papers only use the passive voice?
Not anymore. Modern scientific style guides, including the American Psychological Association (APA), encourage researchers to use the active voice ("We observed that...") to make papers more engaging and direct.
Does the passive voice make writing longer?
Usually, yes. Passive constructions require extra helper words, which adds unnecessary length to your paragraphs. Cutting them out often tightens your word count and improves readability.
