Passive Voice vs Active Voice — Full Guide With Examples (2026)

Passive voice gets a bad reputation in writing guides. "Avoid passive voice." "Use active voice always." "Passive voice weakens writing."

Most of this advice is oversimplified. Passive voice is not always wrong. Active voice is not always better. Understanding when each works — and when each fails — makes you a significantly better writer.

Here is everything you need to know about passive voice versus active voice with real examples.

What is Active Voice?

In active voice the subject of the sentence performs the action. The structure is:

Subject → Verb → Object

The subject acts. The verb is what they do. The object receives the action.

Active voice examples:

• "The editor rejected the manuscript."
• "Google updated its algorithm."
• "She caught the error in the first draft."
• "The team finished the project early."

In each example the subject comes first and performs the action directly. The sentence is clear, direct, and energetic.

What is Passive Voice?

In passive voice the object of the action becomes the subject of the sentence. The structure is:

Object → to be + Past Participle → (by Subject)

The subject may be omitted entirely.

Passive voice examples:

• "The manuscript was rejected by the editor."
• "The algorithm was updated."
• "The error was caught in the first draft."
• "The project was finished early."

Notice that the passive voice versions are longer and the agent — who performed the action — is either moved to the end or removed entirely.

How to Identify Passive Voice

The quickest way to identify passive voice:

Look for: A form of "to be" (is, was, were, has been, had been, will be) followed by a past participle (a verb ending in -ed or an irregular past form).

"The report was written by the intern." → Passive (was + written)

"The intern wrote the report." → Active (simple past, no "to be")

The zombie test: If you can add "by zombies" after the verb and it makes grammatical sense, it is passive.

"The report was written by zombies." ✓ Passive "The intern wrote by zombies." ✗ Active

This sounds absurd but it works reliably.

Why Active Voice is Usually Better

Active voice is recommended for most writing for good reasons:

Clarity. Active voice makes it immediately clear who is doing what. Readers do not have to work backwards through the sentence to find the agent.

Brevity. Active sentences are almost always shorter. "She made a mistake" versus "A mistake was made." Six words versus four words. Across an entire document this adds up significantly.

Energy. Active voice creates momentum. The sentence moves forward. Passive voice creates a static quality — things happen to subjects rather than subjects making things happen.

Accountability. Active voice assigns responsibility clearly. "The government increased taxes" is more direct than "Taxes were increased." This matters in professional, academic, and journalistic writing.

When Passive Voice is Correct and Better

Here is what most writing guides miss: passive voice exists for good reasons and is often the better choice.

When the agent is unknown: "The window was broken during the night." We do not know who broke it. Active voice would require inventing an agent that does not exist.

When the agent is irrelevant: "The data was collected over six months." In a research paper the identity of the data collectors may be irrelevant to the point being made.

When the object is more important than the subject: "The vaccine was administered to 2.3 million people in the first week." The focus is on the vaccine and the number of people — not on who administered it.

In scientific and academic writing: "The samples were stored at -20°C." Scientific writing traditionally uses passive voice to focus on procedures rather than researchers. This is convention, not error.

When you want to avoid assigning blame: "Mistakes were made in the initial assessment." In diplomatic or corporate communication passive voice is sometimes chosen deliberately to acknowledge error without assigning blame.

For sentence variety: A paragraph of nothing but active voice can feel monotonous. Strategic passive sentences provide rhythm and variation.

How to Convert Passive Voice

to Active Voice

The conversion process is straightforward:

Step 1: Find the agent — who or what is performing the action? This may be in a "by" phrase or you may need to supply it from context.

Step 2: Make the agent the subject of the new sentence.

Step 3: Use the active verb form.

Examples:

"The report was written by the intern." → Agent: the intern → Active: "The intern wrote the report."

"The meeting has been cancelled." → Agent: unknown/management → Active: "Management cancelled the meeting." (if you know) or keep passive (if you don't)

"Errors were found in the calculation." → Agent: the reviewer / auditor / system → Active: "The auditor found errors in the calculation."

Common Passive Voice Mistakes

Mistake 1: Dangling passive. "Having been revised three times, the editor finally accepted the manuscript."

Who revised it three times? The sentence implies the editor revised it, which is probably not what was meant.

Better: "Having revised it three times, the author finally received acceptance from the editor."

Mistake 2: Passive with active intention. "The ball was kicked by him."

If you mean to describe an active event with a known agent use active voice.

Better: "He kicked the ball."

Mistake 3: Overusing passive to sound formal. New writers sometimes use passive voice thinking it sounds more academic or professional. It usually sounds awkward instead.

"It is suggested by the data that improvements could be made."

Better: "The data suggests room for improvement."

Using a Free Tool to Convert Passive

to Active

Identifying all passive constructions in a long document manually is time-consuming. Textora's free passive to active voice converter identifies passive constructions and suggests active alternatives.

It works on essays, reports, emails, and any professional text. Free with no sign up or word limits.

Try Free Passive to Active Converter →

This is particularly useful for students who know their writing has passive voice issues but find it difficult to identify every instance manually.

Passive vs Active in Different

Writing Contexts

Academic writing: More passive voice is acceptable — particularly in methodology sections. "Participants were recruited from..." is standard academic phrasing. However argument and analysis sections should lean toward active voice for clarity.

Business writing: Lean heavily toward active voice. "We will deliver the project by Friday" is clearer and more accountable than "The project will be delivered by Friday."

Journalism: Active voice as a rule. Journalism values clarity and speed. "The minister resigned" not "The resignation was tendered by the minister."

Creative writing: Use both deliberately. Passive voice creates specific effects — distance, mystery, a sense of things happening beyond characters' control. Active voice creates immediacy and agency.

Email writing: Active voice almost always. Emails should be direct and clear. "I reviewed your proposal" not "Your proposal has been reviewed."

Frequently Asked Questions

Is passive voice always wrong? No. Passive voice is correct and often preferable when the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or when the object is more important than the subject. The advice to "always use active voice" is an oversimplification.

Does passive voice lower your essay grade? Excessive passive voice can be flagged by professors as weak writing. In most academic contexts using active voice for arguments and analysis while using passive appropriately for methodology is the right balance.

How much passive voice is acceptable? There is no universal rule. Most style guides suggest aiming for predominantly active voice while using passive where it genuinely serves the sentence. Grammarly and similar tools flag passive as a style issue rather than a grammar error for this reason.

Does passive voice affect SEO? Indirectly. Passive voice reduces readability scores and can make content harder to read. Lower readability correlates with higher bounce rates which can negatively affect rankings.

How do I fix passive voice in my writing? Identify the agent, make it the subject, use the active verb form. For large documents use Textora's free passive to active converter to identify all passive constructions efficiently.

Conclusion

Passive voice is not a grammatical error and active voice is not always correct. Understanding when each serves the sentence is what separates good writers from those blindly following "always use active voice" advice.

As a general principle: default to active voice for clarity, brevity, and directness. Use passive voice deliberately when it genuinely serves the sentence — when the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or when you want to emphasize the object over the subject.

Use Textora's free converter to identify and fix passive voice in any document.

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