One of my editors recently wrote to me suggesting I refrain from using the passive voice. “You use passive too often,” she claimed. I hadn’t realized I was such a ‘passive’ writer, but, taking another look at the novel she had finished editing for me, I accepted her assessment. I really did write too much in the passive voice. Then I asked myself, why does it matter?

I delved into my grammar roots and studied the differences between active and passive voice. My conclusion? Well, appreciating both is a good start, but also realizing that both are functional in good writing was another bonus. In other words, I can be both active and passive in my writing. Just not too much of one without the other.

Consider the following two sentences:

F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby in 1925.

The Great Gatsby was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925.

Both sentences are telling the reader the same thing. Which sentence is better? Is it better to say it one way rather than the other?

The first example is written in the active voice; the second is in the passive voice. In English, every sentence is either active or passive. What’s the difference? And why does it matter?

An active sentence begins with the person or the thing responsible for the action. F. Scott Fitzgerald was responsible for writing The Great Gatsby. Since the first example uses the author’s name first, this example is an active sentence. A passive sentence, on the other hand, has the person or thing responsible for the action at the end, placing the person or thing acted upon, in this case, The Great Gatsby, at the beginning of the sentence.

Another defining difference is the use of the ‘to be’ verb in the passive voice. In other words, was written is in passive voice while wrote is in the active voice. Another point to consider is that the passive sentence often omits the main person or thing:

The Great Gatsby was written in 1925.

Understanding the difference between active and passive is the first step toward using both effectively. So, when should we use the passive voice?

1. If the person or thing is unknown.

Cave paintings were made in the Stone Age. (Since we don’t know who actually the artist of the cave paintings was, the main person or thing can’t be mentioned because it’s unknown.)

2. If the person or thing is irrelevant.

The pandemic began in Wuhan, China. (It’s both unknown and irrelevant as to who created and initiated the pandemic.)

3. Keeping the identity of the person or thing under wraps.

Mistakes will happen.

4. Revealing a general truth.

Rules were made to be broken.

5. To emphasize a person or thing being acted upon.

The first long-distance telephone call was made by Alexander Graham Bell, between Brantford and Paris, Ontario, in August 1876.

6. Scientific writing traditionally relies on the passive voice, often preferred in lab reports and research papers.

The sugar was dissolved in water.

Knowing when to use the passive voice is one thing, but when should you avoid using it? After all, passive sentences can be vague (making them particularly problematic in academic writing). Too many in a work of fiction can also leave the reader with only a vague idea of what’s happening, how it’s happening, why, and so on.

So, what can you do? Weed them out. How? When working through your first draft, look specifically for passive sentences. This can be easily done by using word search command in the word program to isolate all the uses of the verb to be. This can be narrowed down further by studying the to be sentences to assess if the person or thing is missing or introduced with the word by. Once you have isolated each passive sentence, re-write it as an active sentence.

This is an excellent exercise to improve writing skills. However, remember, you don’t have to eliminate all the passive sentences. However, you may find that your active re-writes are stronger and more precise than the passive ones.