Module 7: Aspects of Voice - Lesson 7.6: Active vs. Passive Voice

Module 7: Aspects of Voice - Lesson 7.6: Active vs. Passive Voice - Choosing the Right Voice

Lesson 7.6: Active vs. Passive Voice - Choosing the Right Voice

Welcome to Lesson 7.6! Now that we've explored both active and passive voice in detail, including their formation and specific uses, we come to the crucial skill of choosing the right voice. In many situations, you will have a choice between active and passive voice. Understanding how to make this choice effectively is key to clear, impactful, and stylistically appropriate writing and speaking. This lesson will guide you on how to analyze sentences and contexts to determine whether active or passive voice is the better option.

Key Considerations for Choosing Between Active and Passive Voice:

When deciding whether to use active or passive voice, consider the following key factors:

Focus and Emphasis: What do you want to emphasize?
- Active Voice: Emphasizes the performer of the action (the agent). Use active voice when you want to highlight who or what is doing something.
- Passive Voice: Emphasizes the action itself or the receiver of the action. Use passive voice when you want to highlight what is being done or to whom/what it is being done, rather than who is doing it.
Ask yourself: "Is it more important to focus on *who is doing it* or *what is being done*?"

Examples:
- Focus on Agent (Active): "Shakespeare wrote Hamlet." (Emphasizes Shakespeare's role as the writer).
- Focus on Action/Receiver (Passive): "Hamlet was written by Shakespeare." (Emphasizes the play 'Hamlet' and the action of 'writing', agent is secondary, though mentioned).
- Focus purely on Action/Receiver (Passive, agent omitted): "Mistakes were made." (Emphasizes the fact that mistakes happened, avoids focusing on who made them).
Agent (Performer of Action): Is the agent known, important, or relevant?
- Active Voice (Agent Known/Important): Use active voice when the agent is known, important, and you want to mention it clearly as the subject.
- Passive Voice (Agent Unknown/Unimportant/Obvious): Use passive voice when the agent is unknown, unimportant, obvious from context, or you want to deliberately omit it.
Ask yourself: "Is it necessary or important to mention who or what is performing the action? Do I even know who/what it is?"

Examples:
- Agent Known/Important (Active): "The scientist conducted the experiment." (Important to know who conducted it).
- Agent Unknown (Passive): "My car was stolen." (Don't know who stole it, or it's not important).
- Agent Unimportant (Passive): "The streets are cleaned regularly." (Who cleans is less important than the fact streets are cleaned).
- Agent Obvious (Passive, can omit): "The suspect was arrested." (Implied agent is 'police', may not need to say 'by the police').
Formality and Tone: What level of formality or tone is appropriate?
- Active Voice: Generally considered more direct, informal, and conversational. Often preferred in everyday communication, stories, and direct instructions.
- Passive Voice: Often considered more formal, impersonal, and objective. Common in academic writing, scientific reports, official announcements, and news reporting.
Consider the audience and context: Is it a formal report, a casual conversation, a news article, a scientific paper, etc.?

Examples:
- Informal/Direct (Active): "You should check your ticket." (Direct advice).
- Formal/Impersonal (Passive): "Your ticket should be checked." (More like an instruction in a formal notice).
- News Reporting (Passive): "The Prime Minister was greeted by the President." (Formal, focus on event, agent contextually known).
- Personal Narrative (Active): "I saw a strange bird in my garden." (Direct, personal experience).
Sentence Variety and Flow: Does using passive voice improve sentence structure or flow?
- Mix of Active and Passive: Using a mix of both voices can improve sentence variety, rhythm, and readability. Sometimes passive voice helps to link ideas smoothly, especially when the receiver of an action in one sentence becomes the focus of the next.
- Avoid Monotony: Too many sentences in either active or passive voice can become monotonous. Varying voice can make writing more engaging.
Read your writing aloud: Does it sound repetitive or monotonous? Could varying voice improve the flow?

Example (Improving Flow with Passive):
- Less Flow (Active Repetition): "The company developed a new software. They marketed the software aggressively. Customers bought the software in large numbers." (Subject 'The company/They/Customers' changes focus abruptly).
- Better Flow (Passive for Connection): "The company developed a new software. The software was marketed aggressively. It was bought by customers in large numbers." (Passive in 2nd and 3rd sentence keeps 'software' as the subject, creating smoother flow).
Clarity and Directness: Which voice makes the sentence clearer and more direct?
- Active Voice (Usually Clearer): Active voice is generally more direct, concise, and easier to understand because the subject-verb-object structure is more natural in English.
- Passive Voice (Can be Vague/Wordy if Overused): Overuse of passive voice can sometimes make sentences vague, wordy, and less clear, especially if the agent is unnecessarily omitted or if the sentence becomes convoluted.
Ask yourself: "Which version is easier to understand immediately? Which is more direct and to the point?"

Example (Clarity - Active is often better):
- Passive (Vague and Wordy): "It is believed that mistakes were made." (Vague - who believes? Who made mistakes?).
- Active (Clearer and More Direct): "Many people believe that they made mistakes." (Clearer about who believes and who 'they' are). Or, if agent of mistakes is important: "The team made mistakes." (Even more direct and clear).

Decision-Making Process - Step-by-Step Guide:

Identify the Action and the Receiver of the Action: In your sentence, what is the verb (action)? Who or what is receiving the action (potential subject in passive)? Who or what is performing the action (potential subject in active/agent in passive)?
Determine Your Focus: What do you want to emphasize? The actor, the action, or the receiver?
Consider the Agent's Importance: Is it important to mention the agent? Is it known, relevant, or should it be omitted?
Think about Formality and Tone: Is the context formal or informal? What tone are you aiming for?
Check for Sentence Variety and Flow: Does using passive voice improve sentence flow or variety in your writing? Or would it make it monotonous?
Assess Clarity and Directness: Which voice will make the sentence clearer and more direct? Is active or passive voice easier to understand in this context?
Choose the Voice that Best Fits Your Purpose: Based on your answers to the above questions, select either active or passive voice to achieve your desired effect. In most cases, if none of the 'passive voice use' conditions strongly apply, active voice is likely the better default choice.

Practice - Analyzing and Choosing Voice:

(Practice examples would be included here in a full interactive lesson - exercises will come in the next stage of our interaction).

Key takeaway: Choosing between active and passive voice is about making strategic decisions based on focus, agent importance, formality, sentence flow, and clarity. Active voice is generally preferred for directness, but passive voice is valuable in specific contexts where it serves a clear purpose. Learn to analyze each situation and choose the voice that best achieves your communication goals. Next, we will explore Lesson 7.7: Avoiding Overuse of Passive Voice - When Active Voice is Better!