Choose the sentence (s) that do (es) not use passive voice.

a. The corner restaurant makes fresh tacos daily.

b. Fewer novels are being read by teenagers these days.

c. At the corner restaurant, all of the tacos are freshly made each day.

d. The coroner pronounced the victim dead on the scene.

e. The director was convicted of embezzling funds and using the money for himself.

f. The victim was pronounced dead on arrival by the coroner.

g. The doctor was advised to get malpractice insurance by his lawyer.

h. Teenagers read fewer novels these days.

i. The lawyer advised the doctor to get malpractice insurance.

j. The director embezzeled funds and used the money for himself.

What Is Active Voice?

An author may write a sentence in one of two "voices"-active or passive.

The active voice emphasizes the performer (or agent) of the action:

Wind disperses plant seeds.

Smith et al. investigated the relationship.

We have analyzed the results.

The active voice is direct (performer-verb-receiver), vigorous, clear, and concise. The readerknows who is responsible for the action.

What Is Passive Voice?

The passive voice, in contrast, emphasizes the receiver (or product) of the action:

Plant seeds are dispersed [by wind].

The relationship was investigated [by Smith et al].

The results have been analyzed [by us].

The passive voice is indirect (receiver-verb-performer) and can be weak, awkward, and wordy. Passive voice uses a form of the verb to be followed by a past participle (e. g., dispersed, investigated) and a by phrase. If the by phrase is omitted (the truncated passive), the reader will not directly know who or what performed the action.

A particularly awkward and ambiguous form of the passive voice occurs when an author uses itas the receiver rather than the first-person pronouns I or we:

It is concluded that the treatment is effective.

These types of passive-voice sentences are a form of hedging.