Learn to Write Active Text


By Joanne K. McPortland

Keywords: active voice, passive voice

Successful writing features text that is engaging, concise and active. Use the following tips to help you recognize passive sentences and write active text.

Voice is a grammatical term that refers to the subject of the sentence. The subject is the noun (person, place or thing) with a starring role in the sentence. In the active voice, the subject does something (the verb). In the passive voice, the subject has something done to it.

Active Voice
"I write technology articles."
The subject (I) does something (write).

Passive Voice
"Technology articles are written by me."
The subject (technology articles) has something done to it (are written).

Many novice writers use passive voice with the belief that it makes their copy sound more formal. However, remember that all those extra words just lie there, cluttering the page, making readers impatient to finish the sentence and move on.

Now that you know the difference between active voice and passive voice, here's how you can reanimate those dull, passive voice sentences.

  1. Make the subject do something. Don't let your subject just lie there. Wake it up and get it active. Change "Children are taught by their parents," to "Children learn from their parents."
  2. Turn the sentence around. In a passive sentence, the subject becomes the object of the verb. Reverse the order to make your subject active. Change "The iPhone was released by Apple," to "Apple released the iPhone."
  3. Spot and eliminate passive verb forms. Passive voice sentences rely on the infinitive "to be" (be, is, are, were) combined with a past participle (a verb in the past tense accompanied by the word "by"; for example, "educated by," "repaired by,"). Change "Your passport will be checked by a customs agent," to "A customs agent will check your passport."
  4. Rewrite the sentence as an imperative. In other words, state the instruction as a command. In the imperative, the subject of the sentence is implied, but it is still active. For example, "Rewire the socket" is an active voice sentence in the imperative. The subject "You" is implied.

Keep these rules in mind

  1. Don't eliminate forms of "to be" indiscriminately. Verbs such as "be," "are," and "is" can serve as necessary identifiers that state a fact. "Salsa is a Latin dance."
  2. Be confident about using "be" in an imperative. Don't avoid the verb "be" out of fear of constructing a passive sentence. "Be aware of the hazards of biking at night."
  3. Don't confuse voice with tense. Remember that voice has to do with who is doing what, and tense has to do with when the action happens. You can write an active voice sentence in any tense.


    • Present Active: Nurseries sell many types of bulbs.
    • Present Passive: Many types of bulbs are sold by nurseries.
    • Past Active: Growers developed several species.
    • Past Passive: Several species were developed by growers.
    • Future Active: You will see blooms in spring.
    • Future Passive: The first blooms will be seen in spring.

 

Joanne K. McPortland has been an education and reference writer for 40 years. She's seen the publishing world from both sides -- client and contractor. She has written and edited (profitably) on every topic from culinary arts to medieval theology to the precarious joys of sex while rock-climbing, and she never met a fact she couldn't use.


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