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Active Voice vs. Passive Voice
What’s the difference, and why is it important in business and technical writing?
Many aspiring technical and non-fiction writers struggle with the use of active voice vs. passive voice.
When we communicate orally with our friends and family, we use passive voice all the time without even realizing. Passive voice works in oral communication, because we’re engaged enough in the conversation or subject matter for our brains to process it immediately.
But when it comes to written communication, active voice is the preferred method. The simplicity of active voice keeps the reader engaged and is less likely to cause confusion.
First, a review of sentence structure.
Basic English sentence structure is a subject noun and a verb, where the subject noun performs the action indicated by the verb.
When you look at a sentence, find the active verb. Then, ask yourself who or what is performing the action. That is the subject noun.
“He reads.”
Read is the active verb. Who or what reads? He is the subject doing the reading.
