Active v. Passive Voice

EXPLANATION AND EXAMPLE

The active voice means that the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed in the verb. Or, more simply, the subject precedes the verb in the sentence, like this:

The student completed the final term paper a week before the due date.

The passive voice means the subject is no longer active, but instead is acted upon by the verb, like this:

The term paper was completed by the student a week before the due date.

Although not incorrect, over use of the passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences and can make the sentence wordier than it needs to be. The active voice keeps sentences clearer and more concise. Consider these examples:

Passive voice:

The consent form was completed.

Here, the passive voice leaves the reader wondering who completed the consent form. The active voice adds this clarity

The client completed the consent form.

You can add clarity with the passive voice, like this:

The consent form was completed by the client.

However, using the active voice helps you make the sentence more concise, like this:

The client completed the consent form.

So, long story short, the APA manual places preference on the active voice because it allows you to harness verbs and write in a clear, direct, concise manner.

That said, the passive voice can be appropriate when you want to focus on the object or recipient of the action, not who initiated it. For example, use of the passive voice is common in a research paper’s methods section. Consider these examples:

The trials were conducted simultaneously.

Here, it makes sense that the focus is on the trials, not on who completed them (assuming this sentence appears in a Methods section, the audience assumes the initiator of the action is the researcher).

Another example, provided by APA, of when you might select the passive voice is when the recipient of the action is more important than the doer of the action. For example: