Many writers view the passive voice as a bad writing habit. Or, as bloggers across the English-speaking world might put it, they consider it a bad writing habit. Finding the right balance when using the passive voice depends heavily on the context. This guide will provide you with tips for using the passive voice effectively in your writing.

Tips for Writing in the Passive Voice

The passive voice is a grammatical construction that is best understood by comparing it to the active voice, which is the standard sentence structure in English. In its simplest form, an active voice sentence features an actor (subject) performing an action (verb) on a person, animal, or object (receiver).

This voice reverses the positions of the actor and the receiver, making the receiver the grammatical subject. Despite the change in word order, the sentence’s meaning remains the same.

In some passive constructions, the actor can be omitted entirely. For example, “I was hugged” is a grammatically sound passive sentence, even though it lacks the information about who did the hugging.

When to Avoid Passive Voice

Let’s be direct: using the passive voice often makes your writing sound distant and your message less clear. This is primarily due to two reasons.

Firstly, it’s wordier. Passive sentences tend to be longer than their active counterparts. Consider these two sentences: “The passive voice almost always makes your message unclear” and “When you use the passive voice, your message almost always becomes less clear”.

While conveying the same information, the passive voice sentence requires three extra words. Overusing the passive voice can lead to unnecessarily lengthy writing.

Structuring Sentences in the Passive Voice

Secondly, the sentence structure of the passive voice demands more cognitive effort from the reader, who ends up using precious working memory to decipher the sentence. This can ultimately decrease the chances of you getting your message across.

As mentioned earlier, the structure of basic active sentences in English is generally consistent and logical. However, the passive voice flips this structure around, only revealing the actor, or the entity responsible for the action, at the very end. This sequence deviates from how we typically process information.

Since we naturally expect the actor to be the subject, the reversed order can be slightly disorienting, making it take longer to grasp the meaning. Again, these small delays can add up if the passive voice is used excessively.

In the example sentence, there was no advantage to using the passive voice: the active sentence communicated the same message effectively. When considering the passive voice, always evaluate if a more effective active alternative exists.

Other Considerations

However, there are situations where the passive voice might be the only logical way to word for a sentence. This often occurs when the actor is unknown or irrelevant. Let’s revisit the example from the first paragraph: “In passive voice writing, the actor and receiver are reversed.”

In this case, there is no identifiable actor, nor is their identity important to the point being made. The sentence is discussing a general grammatical concept, not a specific instance. Here, the passive voice provides the clearest and most concise way to convey the information, making it the optimal choice.

Alternatively, passive sentences can be used to emphasize the recipient of the action. This approach is effective when the recipient holds more significance than the actor in the context of the sentence: “John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas in 1963.”

The key takeaway is not to avoid the passive voice entirely. When it surpasses active alternatives in clarity and effectiveness, don’t hesitate to use it. Remember that style guidelines are not absolute; prioritize what feels right and enhances the clarity of your words flow nicely. Generally, a maximum of 10% passive voice is considered acceptable. By following these recommendations, you should be able to maintain a lower percentage.

Final Thoughts on Mastering the Passive Voice

As an exercise, try converting passive sentences you encounter into active ones. Start your new sentence with the actor. You might find yourself needing to do some additional research or carefully consider who the actor should be. However, it’s highly likely that your revised sentence will be stronger, more concise, and clearer.

We trust that this guide on using the passive voice effectively has been beneficial. Please feel free to share your thoughts and feedback in the comments section below.