Active and Passive Voice

The active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb.
It follows a clear subject + verb + object construct that's easy to read. In fact, sentences
constructed in the active voice add impact to your writing.
With passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. It makes for a murky, roundabout
sentence; you can be more straightforward with active voice. As such, there are many ways
to change the passive voice to the active voice in your sentences.

Over time, writing in the active voice will become second nature. Let's explore several examples
of active and passive voice to reduce your use of the passive voice where the active voice is
preferred.

The Subject Changes in Each Voice

Before we explore a wealth of examples, let's review some active writing tips. You'll notice that,
in the passive voice examples below, there are a few key words. Examples include:
 is - is roamed; is viewed
 was - was changed; was run
 were - were eaten; were corroded

Pay special attention to the subject in each sentence. Is the subject performing the action
denoted by the verb? If so, chances are you have a nice, clear sentence, written in active voice.

In the passive voice, however, the subject is no longer performing the action of the verb. Rather,
it's being acted upon by the verb. Put another way, the subject of a sentence in the passive
voice is no longer the "doer" of the action, but the recipient of the action. Meanwhile, what was
the subject of a sentence in the active voice (the "doer") becomes the "agent" in the equivalent
passive voice sentence

Active and Passive Voice Comparison

As you read through the following example sentences, you'll start to become an active voice
expert.
 Active Voice
Harry ate six shrimp at dinner.
Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah.
Sue changed the flat tire.
We are going to watch a movie tonight.
I ran the obstacle course in record time.
The crew paved the entire stretch of
highway.
Mom read the novel in one day.
I will clean the house every Saturday.
The company requires staff to watch a safety The staff are required by the company to watch a
video every year.
Tom painted the entire house.
The teacher always answers the students'
questions.
The choir really enjoys that piece.
A forest fire destroyed the whole suburb.
The two kings are signing the treaty.
The cleaning crew vacuums and dusts the
office every night.
Larry generously donated money to the
homeless shelter.
The wedding planner is making all the
reservations.
Susan will bake two dozen cupcakes for the Two dozen cookies will be baked by Susan for the
bake sale.
Passive Voice
At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry.
The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes.
The flat tire was changed by Sue.
A movie is going to be watched by us tonight.
The obstacle course was run by me in record time.
The entire stretch of highway was paved by the
crew.
The novel was read by Mom in one day.
The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday.
safety video every year.
The entire house was painted by Tom.
The students' questions are always answered by
the teacher.
That piece is really enjoyed by the choir.
The whole suburb was destroyed by a forest fire.
The treaty is being signed by the two kings.
Every night, the office is vacuumed and dusted by
the cleaning crew.
Money was generously donated to the homeless
shelter by Larry.
All the reservations are being made by the wedding
planner.
bake sale.

Exercise: Change the sentences below into passive!

1. Mommy cleans the room every day. = every day, the room is cleaned by mommy
2. Joe has taken a Mandarin course = a mandarin course has been taken by joe
3. They translated some old documents last week = last week, some old documents were
translated
4. My secretary has sent the important email = the important email has been sent by my
secretary
5. We’ll be visiting our grandmother next week =next week, our grandmother will be visited/
grandmother will be visited by us
6. We can see many beautiful paintings in this exhibition = in this exhibition , many beautiful
paintings can be seen
7. They cancelled all flights because of fog = because of fog, all flghts were cancelled
8. A well-known architect is designing our new office = our new office is being designed by a
well-known architect
9. Someone knocked the door of her house yesterday= yesterday, the door of her house
was knocked
10. My friends were fixing my bicycle in my house.= in my house, my bicycle was being fixed
by my friends