Good writers use active voice because active constructions are generally stronger , livelier and more efficient than passive constructions.
Journalists can write better with active voice because it
The Bible has the following simple but powerful sentence:
Jesus wept.
Note that it is in active voice. Try to convert it into passive voice:
Passive: Jesus was made to weep
Passive: Tears were wept by Jesus
Obviously, the active construction is far superior.
Definition: Voice refers to distinctions in verb form that show whether the subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice).
Active: Dille informed the senator
Passive: The senator was informed (by Dille)
Active: The instructor gave me the correct answers
Passive: The correct answers were given to me by the
instructor
In other words, in the active voice the subject performs the action. In the passive voice the subject receives the action.
Active: Professor Carter conducted the survey
Passive: The study was conducted by professor Carter.
Active: The Weather Bureau has issued a hurricane alert
Passive: A hurricane alert has been issued by the Weather
Bureau.
A verb is in the active or passive voice depending upon certain inflections. A form of the verb be followed by its past participle shows the passive inflection of a verb (e.g., is done , were helped , have been taken ).
Active: The spider spins an enormous web
Passive: An enormous web is spun by the spider
The writer can form passive voice constructions only with verbs that can take objects in the active voice. In the active voice sentence above, the object of spin is web . And web becomes the subject in the conversion to passive voice.
The difference between active and passive voice lies in the order and corresponding stress of the elements.
In the active version, the actor (e.g., Dille) precedes the action (e.g., informed).
In the passive version, the order is reversed. The receiver (e.g., the senator) of the action (was informed) comes before the actor and, therefore, becomes the element stressed.
Now assume that a journalist wrote the following paragraph:
It is believed by many people that all politicians are corrupt. This opinion was also held by the author of this piece, until there was provided an opportunity for him to work on a political campaign.
Can you detect how passive voice constructions have weakened the paragraph?
It has awkward phrases: was also held , until there was provided . It slows the reader down because it tells who the actor was indirectly. Compare it with the following revision:
Active: Many people believe that all politicians are corrupt. I also held this belief until I had an opportunity to work on a political campaign.
The journalist must strive to use the active voice as much as
possible. But there are occasions, though not many, when the journalist
may prefer to use the passive voice:
First-Person Account:
I found that many of Pope's ideas on criticism were drawn from
the works of John Dryden. In my research I discovered many similarities,
for example, between passages in Pope's "Essay on Criticism" and Dryden's
"Essay of Dramatic Poesy."
Passive Voice and Third Person:
Many of Pope's ideas on criticism were drawn from the
works of John Dryden. There are many similarities , for example,
between passages in Pope's "Essay on Criticism" and Dryden's "Essay of
Dramatic Poesy."
Active Voice and Third Person:
Pope drew many of his ideas on criticism from the works of John
Dryden. For example, several passages in the "Essay on Criticism"
bear a strong similarity to Dryden's "Essay of Dramatic Poesy."
Each successive rewriting of this passage expresses the writer's ideas more sharply and succinctly. The subject under discussion comes into focus with no loss of clarity or meaning. Note too that the elimination of the first-person subject does not weaken the writer's credibility as a critic -- indeed, it draws more attention to the perceptiveness of the analysis. The writer establishes credibility not through using the I subject but through providing specific examples to support a point.
Passive constructions and third-person forms do not , of course, prove objectivity . They merely establish the appearance of it. To avoid saying "I" in order to sound intellectual sometimes results only in sounding stuffy. This is particularly true when the writer's role in the subject is part of the meaning he wishes to convey:
Awkward: Attendance by this writer at the Community Theater production
of "Nutcracker" proved a disappointing experience.
Improved: I was disappointed by the Community Theater production
of "Nutcracker."
The writer's determination to avoid an "I" subject results in an awkward,
pretentious statement. The revised sentence is smoother and simpler --
and says what the writer means.
Exercise
Identify the voice of the underlined verbs in the following sentences.
Then rewrite each sentence in the opposite voice, keeping the same tense
as in the original sentence. Supply logical subjects when rewriting from
passive to active .
Example:
Active: Charles Dickens wrote "A Tale of Two Cities."
Passive: "A Tale of Two Cities " was written by Charles
Dickens.
1. A black-belt instructor is teaching us karate.
2. Coleen has to be driven everywhere by her sister.
3. Jamestown was founded by Capt. John Smith in 1607.
4. The Pirates defeated the Cubs two days in a row.
5. Mayor Morris Lanning and his staff attended the convention.
6. Every 10 years a population census is conducted by the federal government.
7. The Lutheran Church was organized during the Protestant Reformation by the followers of Martin Luther.
8. Christopher Columbus discovered America.
9. "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance by Congress in 1954.
10. Some of the people can be fooled some of the time.
Now rewrite the following leads, using active voice:
1. Victoria's oldest jacaranda tree will be cut down by County Roads Board workers next week to make way for the Kilcunda bypass.
2. Gundagai's water supply cannot be guaranteed for next summer, the City Council was told today by the city engineer.