Passive voice is to be avoided unless an author has a very specific effect in mind. Active voice should be used as much as possible. Distinguishing the two voices can sometimes be confusing, hence a little explanation is in order.

By using active voice, a writer tells the reader exactly who or what is causing an action. A sentence in active voice usually has a common pattern. In this sentence, a person or thing (noun) does something (verb) to another person or thing. Examples of sentences with active voice are: “The man kicked the can. It ricocheted off a parking meter and landed in the fountain, causing a splash that drenched a nearby pigeon.” The doers in these sentences are specific: the man, the can, and the splash.

Passive voice is quite different. The person or thing affected by the action is the subject of the verb. If included, the doer merely modifies the verb. The example above would look like this if it were in the passive voice: “The can was kicked by the man. A parking meter was ricocheted off of by the can. The fountain was landed on and a nearby pigeon was drenched by the splash.” The subjects in these sentences are: the can, the parking meter, the fountain, and the pigeon.

The difference between active and passive voice is usually the level of specificity. Active voice is more preferable because it is more specific. It gives readers a clearer understanding of what is happening in the story. What’s more, it also sounds better than passive voice. Although using passive voice is usually grammatically correct, it sounds very awkward. However, there are several exceptions where passive voice can be used effectively.

To conceal the doer’s identity

Sometimes people use passive voice to avoid admitting blame or to blame someone else. The following are two example sentences. The first uses active voice and the second uses passive voice.

1. “I broke your window.”

2. “It looks like your window was broken.”

In the second sentence, you can see that the speaker does not admit to breaking the window and he also doesn’t lay blame on another person. Spokespeople for companies, governments, and other organizations usually use passive voice to dodge issues that would make them culpable. Consider the following two sentences.

1. “Some safety protocols were made more flexible to maximize productivity.”

2. “The company’s CEO cut corners so that he could make more money.”

The first sentence could have been said by a spokesman who is trying to doge issues of culpability. The second might have been in a report made by a journalist who doesn’t mind incriminating the CEO.

Using unconscious doers

Passive voice can also be used in situations where the doer of an action is not a conscious entity. For example, the sentence: “…a nearby pigeon was drenched by the splash.” The author is not trying to avoid laying blame. In this case, the doer (splash) is an unconscious entity, hence it sounds better if a writer uses passive voice.