Active and Passive Voice From: Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson

Why use the Active Voice? Active voice can create cleaner, tighter writing.

Is Passive Voice Wrong? No, but . . . we should base our final decision of voice on the meaning we are trying to communicate. Having said that, let’s take a look at some sentences to compare active and passive voice .

Active voice puts the subject of a sentence near the front of the sentence. What do you notice about the following sentences? Which is stronger? Why? Example 1: “Fred, Sam, and I stood in front of strange trees and giant ferns.” (from Jon Scieszka’s Your Mother was a Neanderthal. Example 2: “Fred, Sam, and I were standing in front of strange trees and giant ferns.”

Example 1: He zipped up his flimsy nylon windbreaker. What do you notice about the following sentences? Which is stronger? Why? Example 1: He zipped up his flimsy nylon windbreaker. (from Lynne Rae Perkins” Criss Cross) Example 2: The flimsy nylon windbreaker was zipped by him.

Examples from The Giver by Lois Lowry: “Although he was exempted from the rules against rudeness, he was aware that this was a rude question.” (101) Determine if this sentence is written in the active or passive voice.

Example 2: “But when he was taken away, he stopped sleeping again, and cried all night.” (128) Determine if this sentence was written in the active or passive voice.

“Jonas glanced at the clock.” (146) Change this sentence (written in the active voice) to a sentence written in the passive voice. “Jonas glanced at the clock.” (146)

“He removed his tunic.” (91) Change this sentence (written in the active voice) to a sentence written in the passive voice. “He removed his tunic.” (91)

“But the mistake had been made.” (55) Change this sentence (written in the passive voice) to a sentence written in the active voice. Again, this is from The Giver. “But the mistake had been made.” (55)

Change this sentence (written in the passive voice) to a sentence written in the active voice. Again, this is from The Giver. “Fiona was called.” (56)

Review this passage: “But her father had already gone to the shelf and taken down the stuffed elephant which was kept there. Many of the comfort objects, like Lily’s were soft, stuffed, imaginary creatures. Jonas’s had been called a bear.” (18)

Quick Write! Write about your current or past comfort object (stuffed animal, football, doll, blanket, special pillow, etc.) that you slept with.

Invitation to Edit 1. Review your writing piece about your comfort object. 2. Focus on the verbs in each change. 3. Try changing any verbs between the active and passive voice. Which works better in your sentences. 4. Revise your verbs for meaning and crisp writing.