English Active Voice Vs. Passive Voice

Summary

The active and passive voice are two different ways to structure sentences, affecting the emphasis on the subject and the object. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed by the verb. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action expressed by the verb.

In-depth Explanation

You are probably already familiar with the active voice, where the subject performs the action. For example:

The cat chased the mouse.

In this example, the subject (the cat) performs the action of chasing the mouse (the object). Here is the same example in the passive voice:

The mouse was chased by the cat.

In this sentence, the receiver of the action (the mouse) becomes the subject and goes before the verb, while the doer of the action (the cat) becomes the object and goes after the verb.

Also, take note of the different verb forms: “chased” in the active voice and “was chased” in the passive voice.

Key Differences Between the Active and Passive Voice

	Active Voice	Passive Voice
Focus	The focus is on the doer of the action	The focus is on the receiver of the action
Usage	More often used in casual and spoken language Generally clearer and more direct, making it the preferred choice in most cases	More often used in academic and scientific writing, news reports and other formal situations Often used when the focus is on the action or when the doer of the action is unknown or less important
Conjugation	Uses a conjugated verb directly tied to the subject	Uses a form of the verb “to be” followed by the past participle of the main verb
Examples	She is writing the report. They built the bridge in record time. He fixed the broken window. The team won the championship. The volunteers clean up the park.	A new product was launched in 2010. The assignment was completed on time. A new species was discovered. The documents were stolen last night. The meal will be prepared by an award-winning chef.

Examples of the Active and Passive Voice

To see the difference between the formation of the active and passive voices, let’s look at another example in various tenses.

Tense	Active Voice	Passive Voice
Present simple	They clean the house.	The house is cleaned.
Present continuous	They are cleaning the house.	The house is being cleaned.
Past simple	They cleaned the house.	The house was cleaned.
Past continuous	They were cleaning the house.	The house was being cleaned.
Present perfect	They have cleaned the house.	The house has been cleaned.
Past perfect	They had cleaned the house.	The house had been cleaned.
Future simple	They will clean the house.	The house will be cleaned.
Future perfect	They will have cleaned the house.	The house will have been cleaned.

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Verb

English Active Voice Vs. Passive Voice

Summary

In-depth Explanation

Key Differences Between the Active and Passive Voice

Examples of the Active and Passive Voice