A Presentation

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The Active Voice

• A Presentation
• For The Fayetteville Observer
• By John Rains

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What is the active voice?

• A sentence is in the active voice when the
  subject does the acting instead of being the
  recipient of the acting.
• Active Jim wrote a report on the study.
• Passive The study report was written by Jim.

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What is an active verb?

• A verb that conveys actionas opposed to a
  verb that merely links the subject to a thought.
• Active Jim tossed the report away.
• Linking Jim was tired of the report.

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Active verbs just naturally go with writing that
is in the active voice.

• When you put the subject front and center,
  doing something, you will probably find yourself
  using stronger, more interesting verbs.

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The active voice is generally stronger.

• Both kinds of verbs are useful in writing.
  Thats why we have both.
• But, unless youre a diplomat or bureaucrat
  or some other kind of weasel, you need to rely on
  the active voice more than the passive.

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Advantages of active voice

• Shorter, more direct
• More forceful
• Greater clarity (The reader knows immediately who
  is doing what.)
• Sharper imagery

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Compare passages in the active and passive
voices to see for yourself which is more
effective.

• Stay away from the hot wire. It can kill
  you.
• The hot wire should be avoided. You can be
  killed by it.

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Should you ever use passive voice? Yes.

• Jon Franklin says that if you try to write
  entirely in the active voice, you are likely to
  produce something unreadable.
• Hes right. The active voice is great, but
  you can have too much of a good thing.

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The passive voice is useful

• 1. When you want to change pace or
  emphasis. The active voice works well for
  dramatic scenes or for key actions. The passive
  voice may be better for other material. A series
  of sentences in the active voice may be relieved
  by one in the passive voice.

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• 2. When the actor is unknown or unimportant.
  (The knife was found beside the body.) Or when
  you want to focus on the receiver of the action
  more than on the actor. (The teacher was fired
  for his political activism.)

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• 3. When it is an economical way to highlight
  a key idea. (The mayor was killed Tuesday in a
  fall. You could put that sentence in the active
  voice, but at little if any gain.)

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• 4. When you want a gentler or more
  diplomatic approach. (A teenage girl was killed
  Tuesday by a gunshot wound that police said was
  self-inflicted.)
• 5. When you want to strengthen the
  impression of objectivityas, for example, in a
  research report.

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• 6. When you want to achieve a particular
  effectwhether it be wry, sardonic, sarcastic or
  comedic.

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Good writers use both voices.

• As a guideline, use the active voice is
  good advice most of the time. But as with the
  show, dont tell rule, dont follow it off a
  cliff.
• You need to know when to use one voice or
  the other, and when to use them together.

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• A Presentation
• By John Rains
• Writing Coach
• The Fayetteville Observer
• johnrains_at_hotmail.com