This handout is also available for download in PDF format. We refer to a sentence as being in the "active voice" when the subject is performing the action of the sentence (the verb). A sentence is in ...

In active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb. For example: “I wrote the personal statement.” In passive voice, the original subject moves to the position of the direct object, so the ...

To choose between active and passive voice, consider above all what you are discussing (your topic) and place it in the subject position. For example, should you write "The preprocessor sorts the ...

However, in each pair one sentence uses the active voice and one uses the passive ... is closer to the beginning of the sentence. For example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would change ...

Here is an appropriate example: "In the past three decades ... If only for the sake of using fewer words, then, the active voice is ordinarily preferable to the passive voice.

However, in each pair one sentence uses the active voice and one uses the passive ... is closer to the beginning of the sentence. For example:‘The exam was passed by the pupil’ would change ...