Active vs. Passive Voice in English

What is Voice in Grammar?

Voice shows whether the subject of a sentence does the action (active) or receives the action (passive).

1. Active Voice

The subject performs the action.
→ Stronger, clearer, and more direct.
Structure:
Subject + Verb + Object
Examples:

• She writes a letter. (Subject = She, Action = writes)
• The chef cooked the meal.
• They will repair the car.

✔ Best for: Most sentences (especially in speaking & informal writing).

2. Passive Voice

The subject receives the action.
→ Used when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious.
Structure:
Object + (be) + Past Participle + (by + Agent)
Examples:

• A letter is written (by her). (Focus on letter, not her)
• The meal was cooked (by the chef).
• The car will be repaired (by them).

✔ When to use Passive Voice?

• The doer is unknown:
  • My phone was stolen. (We don’t know who stole it.)
• The doer is obvious/unimportant:
  • The laws were passed. (We don’t need to say "by the government.")
• Formal or scientific writing:
  • The experiment was conducted in a lab.

3. Key Differences

Active Voice	Passive Voice
The teacher graded the exams.	The exams were graded (by the teacher).
Someone stole my bike!	My bike was stolen!
They built this house in 1990.	This house was built in 1990.

4. How to Change Active → Passive?

• Move the object → subject.
  • Active: She paints the picture.
  • Passive: The picture is painted (by her).
• Add the correct form of be + past participle.
  • Present: is/are + painted
  • Past: was/were + painted
  • Future: will be + painted
• (Optional) Add by + agent if needed.

Final Tip:

Use active voice most of the time—it’s clearer! But passive voice is useful in formal writing or when the action is more important than the doer.
Need help? Try PROMT.One Conjugator to check verb forms in both voices!