Active vs passive voice
The difference between active and passive voice is who sits in the subject's seat. In the active voice the subject does the action: *The adjuster denied the claim.* In the passive voice the subject receives it: *The claim was denied by the adjuster.* Same event, same tense, different emphasis — and the active version is two words shorter.
Side by side
| Active voice | Passive voice | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | does the action | receives the action |
| Verb | plain verb in any tense | be + past participle |
| Doer | the subject | after “by,” or missing |
| Length | shorter | two to three words longer |
| Example | The board approved the budget. | The budget was approved by the board. |
| Without the doer | — | The budget was approved. |
Examples in every tense
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | The clinic sees forty patients a day. | Forty patients a day are seen by the clinic. |
| Present progressive | The crew is repaving the road. | The road is being repaved. |
| Present perfect | Counsel has reviewed the contract. | The contract has been reviewed by counsel. |
| Simple past | Hail damaged the roof. | The roof was damaged by hail. |
| Past progressive | The auditors were examining the ledger. | The ledger was being examined. |
| Past perfect | Someone had already paid the invoice. | The invoice had already been paid. |
| Future | The carrier will issue the policy Monday. | The policy will be issued Monday. |
| Modal | You must sign both copies. | Both copies must be signed. |
| Get-passive (informal) | The company promoted her. | She got promoted. |
Three tests that separate them
- The be + participle test. Passive verbs always contain a form of be (or get) followed by a past participle. If there is no be verb, it cannot be passive: “He has written three books” is active. If be is followed by an -ing word, it is progressive and active: “She is writing.”
- The zombie test. Add “by zombies” after the verb. “The invoice was paid by zombies” works, so it is passive. “The clerk paid the invoice by zombies” does not, so it is active. (It will also wave through adjectives like “I was tired by zombies,” so follow it with the next test.)
- The “very” test for look-alikes. If you can put “very” in front of the participle, it is an adjective, not a passive: “very interested,” “very tired,” “very worried.” You cannot be “very written.”
Why active is the default
Shorter, clearer, accountable. The federal plain-language guidelines prefer active voice because it shows who should do what; the Office of the Federal Register’s principles of clear writing say the active voice forces you to name the actor, which makes clear who must perform a duty. For web copy, Yoast’s readability check sets a ceiling of 10% passive sentences, a figure its linguists chose to discourage passive voice while allowing for sentences that are awkward in the active.
Our Passive Voice Index shows what real documents do: modern presidential speeches run 10–20% passive, Jane Austen about 20%, and the U.S. Constitution 54%.
When passive wins
The APA Style guidance allows both voices and uses the passive when the recipient of the action is the point. The same logic applies everywhere:
- Unknown doer: “The window was broken overnight.”
- Obvious doer: “The defendant was found guilty.”
- Receiver is the topic: “The vaccine was approved in 2021 and is now given to adults over 50.”
- Tact: “Your request was not approved.”
- Procedure over person: “Samples were centrifuged for ten minutes.”
Changing one into the other
Passive to active: find the doer (in the “by” phrase, or supply one), put it first, and change be + participle to the plain verb in the same tense. Active to passive: move the object to the front, change the verb to be + participle, and put the old subject after “by” or drop it. The converter does the first automatically; the active to passive converter does the second.
Questions people ask
- What is the difference between active and passive voice?
In active voice the subject performs the action (“The cat chased the mouse”). In passive voice the subject receives the action (“The mouse was chased by the cat”). Passive verbs use a form of be plus a past participle.
- Which is better, active or passive voice?
Active, most of the time: it is shorter and says who did what. Passive is better when the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant, or when the receiver is the topic of the paragraph.
- How can I tell if a sentence is active or passive?
Find the verb. If it is a form of be plus a past participle and the subject is being acted on, it is passive. Shortcut: add “by zombies” after the verb; if it still makes sense, the sentence is passive.
- Can a sentence be both active and passive?
A sentence with two clauses can mix them: “The adjuster reviewed the file, and the claim was denied.” Style guides advise against shifting voice mid-sentence without a reason.
- Is passive voice bad for SEO?
Not directly. Google has no passive-voice ranking factor. Readability tools such as Yoast flag passive voice above 10% of sentences because it makes copy longer and harder to follow, which can affect how people engage with a page.
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