The recipient of the action is the main topicĮ.g., “We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.) 1. The performer is less important than the actionĮ.g., The honey bees were kept in a humidified chamber at room temperature overnight. Here are some general guidelines to help you decide when passive voice is appropriate:Į.g., The first edition of Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams was published in 1900. When to Choose Passive Voiceĭeciding whether or not you should use passive voice depends on a number of factors, including disciplinary conventions, the preferences of your instructor or supervisor, and whether or not the performer of the action or the action itself is more important. Not passive: e.g., Mandy taught the class. One popular trick for detecting whether or not your sentence is in passive voice is to add the phrase by zombies after the verb in your sentence if it make grammatical sense, your sentence is passive. The prepositional phrase by participants identifies the performers of the action, but it does so only after the action itself has been identified Passive voice does not highlight the performers of the action (the participants) instead, the action of completing the survey is highlighted In the above sentence, the people who performed the action (those who completed the survey) are not mentioned.Į.g., The survey was completed 1 by participants 2 and returned to the researcher. When using passive voice, the performer of the action may or may not be identified later in the sentence. Passive voice emphasizes the receiver of the action, and the subject of the sentence receives the action. Verb (the action completed by the subject) Generally, you should choose active voice unless you have a specific reason to choose passive voice (see below for those instances).Į.g., Participants 1 completed 2 the survey and returned it to the reader. When in doubt, consult academic publications in your field and talk to your instructor – doing these things should give you a good sense of what’s expected.Īctive voice emphasizes the performer of the action, and the performer holds the subject position in the sentence. However, these guidelines are fluid, and STEM writers are increasingly using active voice in their writing. In contrast, arts and humanities programs have stressed the importance of active voice. Traditionally, writers in STEM fields have used passive voice because the performer of an action in a scientific document is usually less important than the action itself. Recognizing the differences between active and passive voice, including when each is generally used, is a part of ensuring that your writing meets disciplinary conventions and audience expectations. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action.

In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action. However, there is a rhetorical choice to be made about whether you are going to highlight the subject that performs the action or the action itself. Strong, precise verbs are fundamental to clear and engaging academic writing.

Whats active voice