Unit 1 Chapter 3
ACTIVE/PASSIVE VOICE
AND TONE
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BEFORE WE BEGIN…
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!
One of the most important things to remember in
writing style is to know and understand your audience.
Different countries, languages, and cultures have different
rules and preferences. Understanding these is key to showing
respect and being taken seriously.
The slides that follow all pertain specifically to
American English, but often also apply to British English*. No
matter where you are, do your research, especially if you are
writing to someone in a language or culture not your own.
* British English is spoken in the UK, by English speakers in India, and in many other countries. Know your audience!
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SECTION 1:
Writing Style
This section will cover:
• Active and Passive Voice
• Tone
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ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE
In an active voice, the subject performs the
action expressed by the verb.
For example:
Bob wrote a letter.
“Bob” is the subject of the sentence; the verb
is “wrote,” and Bob (the subject) is the one
who did the writing.
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ACTIVE VS. PASSIVE VOICE
In a passive voice, the action of the verb is
done to the subject.
For example:
A letter was written.
In this sentence, “letter” is the subject, “was
written” is the verb, and the act of writing
was done to the letter (the subject).
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More examples of active and passive voice:
Active: The doctor treated the patient.
Passive: The patient was treated.
Active: Alex visited the girls.
Passive: The girls were visited.
Notice that in the passive voice examples,
the name of who it is that does the action
is often omitted.
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Active Voice Considerations
An active voice is more engaging to your reader and will make content more interesting and
immediate. It is often easier to understand than passive voice, more specific and direct, and
also helpful when you want to clarify points. Use active voice most of the time, unless you
are specifically required to use a passive voice, such as in some technical and scientific
writing. The straightforward sentence structure of active voice—subject, verb, object—is
easier to read quickly.
For example:
Instead of writing “The meeting will be led by Tom.” (passive voice),
write: “Tom will lead the meeting.”
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Passive Voice Considerations
People often use passive voice because it can seem more diplomatic or neutral. Passive voice
takes the blame out of the sentence.
For example:
Active: You are past due on your cell phone payment.
Passive: Your cell phone payment is past due.
Passive voice has three basic characteristics:
1. A form of the verb “to be” such as: is, am, are, was, were, be, been, or being.
2. A past participle (which is a verb that ends in -ed or –en, except for
irregular verbs like “kept”).
3. A prepositional phrase beginning with “by.”
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Passive Voice examples:
“The problem is being looked into by the committee.”
“You have been given an extension on your project.”
Sometimes it is important to write this way, but be
careful. The passive voice is often overused in
writing, and too much passive voice can be
confusing, hard to read, and may even make your
reader feel as though you are hiding something.
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Use the passive voice when:
1. You don’t know who did something, e.g., “The window was left open.” (An activevoice way to say this is, “Someone left the window open.”)
2. Who did or is doing the thing is unimportant to the point you’re making, e.g.,
“The office will be open next week.” (An active voice way to say this is, “We will be
leaving the office open next week.”)
3. The emphasis is not on the person, but on the act, e.g., “It was found that all levels
remained constant.” (An active voice way to say this is, “We found that all levels
remained constant.”)
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Tone
“Tone” refers to the author’s attitude or emotion
toward the subject of the writing or person they
are addressing. Some examples of tone are:
formal, friendly, cold, warm, sincere, irritated.
Tone is dependent on your audience. An email to
a coworker might have a substantially different
tone from an email to a boss.
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Tips for a good tone:
1. Write in a positive tone. “When you complete
this job” instead of “If you complete
this job.”
2. Avoid negative words that begin with “un,”
“non,” or “ex,” such as non-existent,
ex-employee, or undecided.
3. Avoid negative words that end with “less,”
such as useless or careless.
4. Save emojis, winks, and other graphic symbols
for when you have a personal relationship with
someone, not a professional one.
5. Use contractions (don’t, won’t, can’t) instead of
writing it out (do not, will not, cannot).
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