What Is Active and Passive Voice?

When we write sentences, voice determines who's performing the action. Every complete sentence needs two key parts: a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a predicate (what the subject is doing or being).

In active voice, the subject performs the action of the verb. This creates more direct, engaging writing that clearly shows who's responsible for the action. For example: "The student wrote the essay" - here, the student is actively doing something.

In passive voice, the subject receives the action instead of performing it. The actual doer might be mentioned later or left out completely. For instance: "The essay was written (by the student)" - here, the essay is the focus, not who wrote it.

💡 Think of it this way: Active voice follows the pattern "Someone does something," while passive voice follows "Something is done (by someone)."

Active and passive voice give you different ways to present information depending on what you want to emphasize in your writing. Active voice generally creates clearer, more direct writing, but passive voice has its uses too!