This is called a “helping” or “auxiliary” verb because it helps to complete the sentence (you can't say “My car was stolen on Sunday night”). You'll notice something about the passive examples above: Both use a form of the verb “to be” – in this case, the past form “was” (“was used,” “was approved”). Thus, the passive voice sentence is acceptable and appropriate.
#Active vs. passive voice software
Again, as in Example 1, the authors of this article are emphasizing aspects of their methodology, one of which is their software choice. (Learn more about which person to use when writing.) Choosing the passive voice is an easy way to avoid having to make a decision about using the sometimes-questionable word “we.”Īctive option 2, which uses the third person (“the researchers”), is grammatically correct but sounds a bit awkward. The first option is grammatically correct, but some researchers/writers and journals prefer to avoid the use of the first person. In this case, the active options may be problematic for different reasons. Active option 2: The researchers used Atlas.ti software for qualitative data analysis.Active option 1: We used Atlas.ti software for qualitative data analysis.Passive: Atlas.ti software was used for qualitative data analysis.This is an important piece of information, arguably more important than the entity that did the approving. Active: The ethics committee of the Institute of Gerontology approved this research.Īgain, in this case, the authors are emphasizing that their research was approved.Passive: This research was approved by the ethics committee of the Institute of Gerontology.Therefore, the passive voice is an appropriate choice, although the active voice would not be incorrect. In this case, the authors want to emphasize the interviews – and how they were conducted – as an element of their research methodology. īoth sentences are portraying the same idea.
Active: Two people who had no relationship with New York City conducted the interviews.Passive: The interviews were conducted by two people who had no relationship with New York City.
When to use passive voice Emphasizing the object Example 1
Now that we've clarified the basic distinction between active and passive voice, let's look at some more realistic, complex examples from academic writing. The passive voice emphasizes the recipient of the action or sometimes the action itself. The basic difference ActiveĪt the most basic level, the active voice emphasizes the person or agent who performs an action, the “actor.” In other words, the subject performs the action. The following guidelines and examples should help choose between using active and passive voice in a sentence. You may use both in the same article depending on the context and content of your sentences and the section of the paper you are writing. Nevertheless, the active voice is sometimes a far better choice. Growing up in American schools, students are often taught that they should avoid the passive voice because it is “weak.” However, the choice between active and passive is actually quite nuanced.ĭepending on the ideas you are trying to express and the conventions of the discipline/journal in which you are writing, a sentence in the passive voice can be an appropriate, sophisticated, and even preferable choice over the active voice. The use of active or passive voice is a fundamental distinction in English - and one that causes trouble for many writers, including native English speakers.
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