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Ever get stuck staring at a sentence and thinking, “Wait… is this active or passive?” Yeah, me too. It’s not always obvious at first—especially when the sentence is long, the tense shifts, or the writer quietly hides the “doer.”
In this post, I’ll show you how I spot active vs passive voice fast, what patterns to watch for (without overthinking it), and how to revise real sentences so they read cleanly. I’ll also include some before/after examples from drafts I’ve worked on and a few cases where passive voice actually makes sense.
By the end, you’ll have a simple checklist you can run on your own writing—emails, reports, blog posts, even grant proposals—and you’ll know when to switch voices (and when not to).
Key Takeaways
- Active voice puts the subject in charge of the action (clear, direct). Passive voice puts the subject on the receiving end (sometimes useful, often wordier). Example: Active: “The designer approved the layout.” vs Passive: “The layout was approved by the designer.”
- When you’re scanning a sentence, check for the “doer” and look for to be (is/was/were/been/being) + a past participle. Example: “The package was delivered” (passive) vs “The courier delivered the package” (active).
- Active voice usually reads faster and feels more confident because the subject and verb sit together. Micro-example: “I reviewed the contract” beats “The contract was reviewed by me.”
- Passive voice is often the best choice when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or intentionally omitted (policy, safety, incident reports). Example: “The account was accessed at 2:14 a.m.” (who accessed it isn’t the point).
- To change passive to active, I use a quick workflow: find the past participle → identify the doer (or decide to omit it) → make the doer the subject → re-check tense and meaning. Example: “The meeting was canceled by the manager” → “The manager canceled the meeting.”
- Don’t force a switch just because you see “was.” Sometimes passive is the cleaner sentence—especially when the recipient is already the topic. Example: “The results were confirmed in the next test” keeps the focus on results.
- Passive isn’t “wrong.” It’s a tool. The real goal is intentional emphasis: active for clarity and momentum, passive when you need focus on the outcome, procedure, or recipient.
1. What Is Active Voice and What Is Passive Voice?
Definition of Active Voice
Active voice is when the subject of the sentence is the one doing the action. It’s usually the easiest voice to read because the “doer” and the action are right next to each other.
Example: “The teacher explains the lesson.” Here, the teacher is performing explains.
What I notice when I edit: active voice tends to sound more confident. It also helps readers track the point without stopping to figure out who’s responsible.
Definition of Passive Voice
Passive voice happens when the subject receives the action instead of performing it. Often, you’ll see a form of to be plus a past participle.
Example: “The lesson is explained by the teacher.” Now, the lesson is the focus, and the teacher shows up later (often optional).
Passive voice isn’t automatically bad. It’s useful when the doer is unknown, irrelevant, or you want the recipient or result to be the headline.
2. How to Recognize Active and Passive Voice in Sentences
Identifying the Subject (the “doer” test)
Here’s the simplest way I check: ask yourself, Who is doing the action?
If the answer becomes the subject of the sentence, you’re probably looking at active voice.
Active example: “The dog chased the ball.” (the dog did the chasing)
Passive example: “The ball was chased by the dog.” (the ball is receiving the chasing)
One thing that trips people up: passive voice doesn’t always include a “by” phrase. You might see “The ball was chased.” In that case, the doer is just missing.
Verb Forms as Clues (and the common traps)
Passive voice often includes:
- a form of to be (is, was, were, being, been)
- plus a past participle (the -ed form, or irregular past participles like broken, written, taken)
Example: “The cake was baked by Sarah.”
Active voice, on the other hand, usually has the main verb doing the work directly: “Sarah baked the cake.”
Quick trap to watch for: “to be” doesn’t automatically mean passive. Sometimes it’s just part of a different structure (like “is going,” “is feeling,” or “is tall”). So I always pair the “to be” check with the past participle check.
3. Side-by-Side Examples of Active and Passive Sentences
- Simple past
Active: The cat caught the mouse.
Passive: The mouse was caught by the cat. - Present tense
Active: Someone reviews the applications every Friday.
Passive: The applications are reviewed every Friday. - Future tense
Active: We will send the invoice tomorrow.
Passive: The invoice will be sent tomorrow. - Perfect tense
Active: They have recorded the results.
Passive: The results have been recorded. - Questions
Active: Did the team approve the proposal?
Passive: Was the proposal approved by the team? - Negatives
Active: They didn’t update the spreadsheet.
Passive: The spreadsheet wasn’t updated. - Multi-clause (where passive can get wordy)
Active: I reviewed the draft and fixed the citation errors.
Passive: The draft was reviewed by me, and the citation errors were fixed. - When passive is actually better
Active: Someone stole the laptop, and they took the charger too.
Passive: The laptop was stolen, and the charger was taken too. - In a safety report, the “what happened” often matters more than “who did it.” That’s when passive earns its spot.
If you want a quick rule of thumb: if the sentence starts with the thing that’s being acted on (the recipient/object) and the verb looks like to be + participle, you’re almost certainly in passive territory.
4. Benefits of Using Active Voice
- More clarity—readers don’t have to hunt for the doer.
Micro-example: “The manager approved the refund” vs “The refund was approved.” - Better flow—active voice usually keeps the sentence moving.
Micro-example: “I finished the report yesterday” sounds smoother than “The report was finished yesterday.” - Stronger engagement—active sentences often feel more energetic.
Micro-example: “We tested the new landing page” beats “The new landing page was tested.” - Fewer filler words—passive often drags in “by X” or extra phrasing.
Micro-example: “The team delivered the results” is tighter than “The results were delivered by the team.”
One more thing: the “data was collected” style that you see in academic writing can be useful sometimes, but in everyday content it often creates a foggy feeling. When I revise blog drafts or client emails, switching a handful of passive constructions usually makes the whole piece feel more direct—like the writer is actually talking to the reader.
5. When to Use Passive Voice
- You don’t know the doer.
Example: “The package was delivered to the wrong address.” - The doer isn’t important (or would distract).
Example: “The policy was updated on March 3rd.” - You want to emphasize the result or the process.
Example: “The results were confirmed using three independent methods.” - Style or formality calls for it.
In legal/technical contexts, passive can sound more neutral and procedural. - You’re describing procedures.
Example: “The mixture is heated to 80°C, then cooled.”
But here’s my honest take: if passive is doing all the work in your writing, your reader might feel like they’re watching events without a narrator. That’s when active voice usually helps.
6. Common Problems with Passive Voice and How to Fix Them
Passive voice can sneak in and make sentences feel vague. The biggest issue I see? The doer disappears, and readers start guessing.
Problem #1: Missing actor (the “who did it?” problem)
Bad: “The order was processed incorrectly.”
Fix (if you know the actor): “We processed the order incorrectly.”
Fix (if you don’t): “The order was processed incorrectly by the system.” (or omit entirely if that’s the truth)
Problem #2: Passive piled on passive (wordy, slow sentences)
Bad: “The report was written by the team and was reviewed by the manager.”
Fix: “The team wrote the report, and the manager reviewed it.”
Problem #3: “To be” + participle when active would be cleaner
Bad: “A decision was made to postpone the launch.”
Fix: “The team decided to postpone the launch.”
If you truly can’t name the decision-maker, passive is fine—but if you can, active is usually better.
Problem #4: Passive that breaks tense consistency
Bad: “The bug was found yesterday, and it is fixed today.” (tense mismatch feels off)
Fix: “The bug was found yesterday, and we fixed it today.”
What I do in my own editing: I scan for was/were/is/been/being and then check the next word. If I see a past participle, I highlight it and ask: “Do I know the doer? Does the sentence sound clearer with active?” If the answer is yes, I switch it.
Quick test I recommend: read the sentence aloud. Passive sentences often sound clunky when spoken because they delay the action. Active voice usually lands with less friction.
7. Simple Steps to Change Passive Sentences into Active
Here’s the exact workflow I use. It’s fast, and it keeps meaning intact.
- Spot the passive structure.
Look for to be + past participle. Example: “The email was sent.” - Identify the doer (or decide to omit it).
Ask: Who sent the email? If you can name them, great. If you can’t, you may need to keep passive or rewrite differently. - Choose the new subject.
If the doer exists, make them the subject: “Jordan sent the email.” - Rewrite the verb phrase to match the tense.
Don’t just “remove was.” You need the correct tense and form.
Example: “The invoice will be sent tomorrow” → “We will send the invoice tomorrow.” - Handle the “by” phrase correctly.
- If there’s a “by the team” phrase, you can usually delete it once the doer becomes the subject.
Example: “The form was approved by the committee” → “The committee approved the form.” - Preserve meaning (especially with negatives and qualifiers).
Example: “The request was not approved” → “They did not approve the request.” (keep the not and tense) - Check the sentence emphasis.
Sometimes active changes what feels important. If the recipient/result is the real focus, you might need a different active structure rather than forcing a straight swap.
Example: Passive: “The results were confirmed…”
Active alternative: “We confirmed the results…” (good) or “The team confirmed the results using…” (even clearer) - Do a quick readability pass.
I ask: does the sentence sound smoother now? If it’s still awkward, tweak word order or split it into two sentences.
Before/after examples from real drafts I’ve seen (typical “passive creep”):
- Client email draft
Before: “Your request was received and will be reviewed within 48 hours.”
After: “We received your request and will review it within 48 hours.” - Internal status update
Before: “The bug was discovered during testing, and the fix was implemented yesterday.”
After: “We discovered the bug during testing, and we implemented the fix yesterday.” - Blog-style paragraph
Before: “It is recommended that users be updated to the latest version.”
After: “We recommend that users update to the latest version.”
These aren’t just “grammar correct.” They’re clearer about who’s doing what—and they usually cut the sentence length.
Also, tools can help. If you use Grammarly or similar editors, they often flag passive constructions and suggest alternatives. I still do the final decision myself, though—because sometimes passive is exactly what the document needs.
8. How to Choose Between Active and Passive Voice
Here’s how I decide between active and passive without getting stuck in “rules mode.”
Use active voice when:
- You want clarity fast (most blog posts, emails, instructions).
- The doer matters to the reader (“We shipped the update.”)
- You want momentum and a more conversational tone.
Use passive voice when:
- The doer is unknown (“The device was found…”).
- The doer is irrelevant or would clutter the sentence.
- You’re emphasizing the outcome, result, or procedure.
- You’re writing in a style where neutrality matters (some legal, safety, compliance writing).
One nuance I’ve learned the hard way: sometimes active voice can sound awkward if the doer is “we” but you don’t actually want to highlight responsibility. In those cases, passive can be a better fit.
If you want a deeper look at choosing the right voice for different contexts, check out this article on choosing the right voice.
Note on scientific/academic writing claims: you’ll often hear that scientific writing is moving more toward active voice. That’s true in some areas, but it’s not one-size-fits-all. Different journals and disciplines use different conventions (and many still rely on passive for methods/results). If you want, I can help you adjust voice for a specific target journal or audience.
FAQs
Active voice has the subject performing the action (for example, “The teacher explains the lesson”). Passive voice has the subject receiving the action (for example, “The lesson is explained by the teacher”).
Ask who is doing the action. If the subject does it, it’s active. If the subject receives it, it’s passive. Also watch for to be (is/was/were/been) + a past participle like “was delivered” or “has been recorded.”
Use active voice when you want clarity and directness—especially in instructions, storytelling, and everyday communication. Choose passive when you need to emphasize the outcome or when the doer is unknown or not important.
A single sentence is either active or passive. That said, different sentences (or clauses inside a paragraph) can use different voices depending on what you want to emphasize.
