Active Voice

What Is It?

In an active sentence, the subject acts:

subject → verb → object.

Example: “The editor revised the article.”

Why Use Active Voice?

• Clarity & Brevity: Fewer helping verbs = tighter prose.
• Energy: Reads faster, feels dynamic.
• Accountability: Names who did what.

When to Choose Active

• Blog posts, marketing copy, UI text, documentation “how-to” steps
• Most storytelling, journalism, and everyday speech
• Any time you want unmistakable ownership of actions

Forming Active Sentences

(pp = past participle)

Tips for Writing Actively

1. Identify the doer. Start sentences with people or things taking action.
2. Use strong verbs. Swap weak verb-noun pairs (“make an improvement”) for single verbs (“improve”).
3. Limit helper verbs. Over-using be/have/get weakens impact.

Exceptions & Nuances

• Intransitive verbs (no object) are already active (“Data arrived”).
• Serial actions can bury actors: watch out for long opening clauses that hide the subject.
• Deliberate passives: Sometimes you really do need them (science writing, blame-avoidance). Use them purposefully.