Active vs. passive voice: which to use? Forget any advice.

How you write is part of the impression you leave on others and you want people to be impressed.  For this reason, it is important to be clear in your writing, otherwise, what is the point of writing?  When it comes to active and passive voice, be knowledgeable on what I describe below.  There should never be a hard and fast rule to use either the active or passive voice.  There should only be an good understanding of what a subject is.

What is the active and passive voice?

Here are the examples:

Active: John contacted Jane. (John comes before the thing he did, which makes it an active sentence.  In this case, John is the subject of the sentence.)

Passive: Jane was contacted by John. (John comes after the thing he did, which makes it a passive sentence.  In this case, Jane is the subject of the sentence.)

Go to Wikipedia: voice (grammar) if you need a deeper explanation.

The problems

Active voice advice

Some people recommend others to use the active voice because they have heard that it is clearer.  When the sentence stands alone, separate from everything else, it is often true.  But in many times, it recognized as being clearer because in the passive voice the actor is optional, which can lead to a confusing message.  For example:

Passive: Jane was contacted. (By whom? the actor John is missing.)

Passive voice advice

Some scientific journals recommend the use of the passive voice to create a tone of detachment and impersonality.  Like in the example above, when the actor is absent from a passive sentence, the sentence does becomes detached and impersonal because it is detached and impersonal.

The problems of the two recommendations above

Like the title of this post says, forget any advice you receive to use the active or passive voice.  They are based on a misunderstanding of the English language.  Instead, focus on the subject and everything will be clear and concise.

Here are examples of a correct use of the subject, using both the active and passive voice:

Active: “John called Jane.  That is why he missed the bus.”

Passive: “Jane was called by John.  That is why she missed the bus.”

The following is an example of a correct use of the subject, though the actor is absent.

Passive: “Jane was called.  That is why she missed the bus.”

Since it is a simple message, we can understand it without knowing that the actor is John.  However, the sentences that surround this simple message might be discussing a few people (like John and Joe) and the reader might need to know who made the call, which means the absence of the actor can make this message confusing.

Here are examples of a subject mistake, using both the active and passive voice.

Active: “John called Jane.  That is why she missed the bus.”

Passive: “Jane was called by John.  That is why he missed the bus.”

Since the messages are simple, our subconscious stumbles a little though we understand what is being discussed.  However, if either message were to be replaced with something that takes a large number of words to explain, something like 30 words, then the reader is more likely to become confused.

The following is an example of a subject mistake and it is confusing because the actor is absent.

Passive: “Jane was called.  That is why he missed the bus.”

You are unlikely to make this mistake in short sentences, however, the odds increase the longer the sentence is.  The result of this error would be confusion.

Where to go from here

You should now be convinced that advice to use either active or passive voice should be ignored.  Your next easy step is to write your ideas without a care in the world for proper spelling and grammar.  Just write clearly by focusing on the subject.  When you’re finished your masterpiece, have your grammar checker identify passive voice sentences and give them consideration (I don’t know of any that highlight the active voice, so this gives you about 50% of the sentences).  Now give your masterpiece to a friend to read and have them highlight where they get lost, confused or bored.  This is enough to help you develop your writing for years to come.  If you want more than this, take grammar courses or hire an editor.