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Writing Lab

Understand the difference between active and passive voice in writing. Learn when to use active voice for more effective communication. Spot and remove passive voice from your sentences.

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Writing Lab

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  1. Writing Lab Passive and Active Voice

  2. Voice • Voice isthe relationship of the subject to the verb • The relationship can be either active (the subject does the action) or passive the subject receives the action) • Active: the active voice walked into the bar. • Passive: the bar was walked into by the passive voice.

  3. Active or passive? • Active voice and passive voice are both technically correct, but active voice is usually more effective in academic and professional writing because it is direct. • Passive voice is useful on certain occasions in which the subject of the sentence is either unknown or irrelevant: • The cruise liner was hijacked.

  4. Spotting the passive voice • Passive voice places the original subject of the sentence after verb in a prepositional phrase beginning with “by.” • Often, passive sentences omit the actor of the sentence altogether: • Research has been done to discredit this theory • Who did the research? Since the sentence is missing the actor, the actor could be anyone: you, a reliable source, or even zombies! • If you can add by zombies, you’re in passive voice. • Research has been done by zombiesto discredit this theory.

  5. Removing the passive voice • To remove passive voice, locate the subject the zombies are standing in for and place it at the beginning of the sentence: • Original: Research has been done to discredit this theory. • Passive with zombies: Research has been done by zombies to discredit this theory. • Passive with subject: Research has been done by Smith et al. to discredit this theory. • Active: Smith et al. have done research to discredit this theory.

  6. That’s all, folks! • This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series • Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon • To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson

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