“Verbs are the most important of all your tools. They push the sentence forward and give it momentum. Active verbs push hard; passive verbs tug fitfully.”

- William Zinsser

In the world of copywriting and content production, it’s likely that you’ve heard the phrase active voice. If you have, then you’ve probably also heard the phrase passive voice.

But between active voice and passive voice - which one is better? Which one should you be using? And how do you know the best way to apply each style?

Well, let’s jump right in.

Now - I will start by saying this: if you want your writing to be more engaging, more interesting, and more punchy - you should generally be using active voice.

So what is active voice? Well, it's when the subject of your sentence performs an action, expressed through a verb: “I threw the ball.”

The opposite of active voice is passive voice. This is when the subject undergoes the action of the verb: “The ball was thrown by me.”

Both sentences are saying the same thing, and they’re both describing an event in the past tense.

But active voice is more direct, more energetic - and engages the reader with the action:

“I threw the ball.” sounds like it just happened. And it’s easy to picture it in your mind.

Passive voice is less direct and sounds much more ambiguous:

“The ball was thrown by me.” When? Just now? Yesterday? Two weeks ago? It might have just happened - but it doesn’t really sound like it.

Want more direct examples? Check these out.

Active: The rookie won the game!

Passive: The game was won by the rookie.

Active: The shaking bank manager pointed his gun at the robber.

Passive: A gun was pointed at the robber by the shaking bank manager

Active: The whole team threw her a surprise party!

Passive: A surprise party was thrown for her by the whole team.

I like to think of active voice as putting your writing “on the front foot.” It adds more energy, it’s easier to understand, and it generally uses fewer words. Plus - it brings your readers along for the ride.

Take a look at Nike's world-famous slogan written in passive voice:

Image sourced from Business 2 Community (Check it out - it’s a great blog post!)

Not quite as effective is it? The oomph is gone, and it sounds deflated. Plus it’s WAY too wordy.

Let’s be honest - it’s downright awful.

If you’re writing slogans or advertising copy aiming to encourage energy and action - active voice is the best way to go.

Is there a place for passive voice?

Of course. Apologetic celebrities and politicians have been using it forever.

Precisely because passive voice is less direct, it can be an effective way to deflect blame in an ambiguous way.

“I made a mistake.”
“Mistakes were made.”

Sound familiar? One statement is accepting responsibility - the other is not.

Also, passive voice can be handy if the subject and the action are more important than the person doing it - or you’re trying to emphasise a fact.

Active: We throw away 30% of all food cooked in restaurants.

Passive: 30% of all food cooked in restaurants is thrown away.

Active: An unknown gunman has killed three people in a restaurant.

Passive: Three people were killed in a restaurant by an unknown gunman.

Active: Someone stole my brand-new car yesterday.

Passive: My brand-new car was stolen yesterday.

In my opinion, using passive voice is far more effective here. It makes the action or fact the immediate focus of each sentence, not the (unknown) people doing it. If you’re writing a news story and the main thrust is that three people have been killed - lead with that.

How can you check your writing for active voice?

Luckily, there’s a foolproof way to assess your writing and sharpen your skills. And it’s free.

Using the Hemingway Editor, you can copy and paste your text and it’ll highlight all uses of passive voice in green. You can see what I mean using the examples from this very blog post:

So, in summary…

Active voice is a great way to make your writing more focussed and energetic. It’s also one of the best ways to say the most from the smallest amount of words.

Passive voice can be an effective way to leverage ambiguity or prioritize facts over people. In the right situations - it can be highly effective.

And naturally, once you master both styles - you can combine them to great effect.

Overall: if you want to get your readers more engaged with your writing - try to use active voice as often as you can.

Conversely, if you’re in the public eye and busted doing something naughty - hire a PR manager who knows how to use passive voice really well.

Active Voice Vs. Passive Voice - What's the Difference?

“Verbs are the most important of all your tools. They push the sentence forward and give it momentum. Active verbs push hard; passive verbs tug fitfully.”

In the world of copywriting and content production, it’s likely that you’ve heard the phrase active voice. If you have, then you’ve probably also heard the phrase passive voice.

But between active voice and passive voice - which one is better? Which one should you be using? And how do you know the best way to apply each style?

Well, let’s jump right in.

Now - I will start by saying this: if you want your writing to be more engaging, more interesting, and more punchy - you should generally be using active voice.

So what is active voice? Well, it's when the subject of your sentence performs an action, expressed through a verb: “I threw the ball.”

The opposite of active voice is passive voice. This is when the subject undergoes the action of the verb: “The ball was thrown by me.”

Both sentences are saying the same thing, and they’re both describing an event in the past tense.

But active voice is more direct, more energetic - and engages the reader with the action:

“I threw the ball.” sounds like it just happened. And it’s easy to picture it in your mind.

Passive voice is less direct and sounds much more ambiguous:

“The ball was thrown by me.” When? Just now? Yesterday? Two weeks ago? It might have just happened - but it doesn’t really sound like it.

Want more direct examples? Check these out.

Active: The rookie won the game!

Passive: The game was won by the rookie.

Active: The shaking bank manager pointed his gun at the robber.

Passive: A gun was pointed at the robber by the shaking bank manager

Active: The whole team threw her a surprise party!

Passive: A surprise party was thrown for her by the whole team.

I like to think of active voice as putting your writing “on the front foot.” It adds more energy, it’s easier to understand, and it generally uses fewer words. Plus - it brings your readers along for the ride.

Take a look at Nike's world-famous slogan written in passive voice:

Not quite as effective is it? The oomph is gone, and it sounds deflated. Plus it’s WAY too wordy.

Let’s be honest - it’s downright awful.

If you’re writing slogans or advertising copy aiming to encourage energy and action - active voice is the best way to go.

Is there a place for passive voice?

Of course. Apologetic celebrities and politicians have been using it forever.

Precisely because passive voice is less direct, it can be an effective way to deflect blame in an ambiguous way.

“I made a mistake.”

“Mistakes were made.”

Sound familiar? One statement is accepting responsibility - the other is not.

Also, passive voice can be handy if the subject and the action are more important than the person doing it - or you’re trying to emphasise a fact.

Active: We throw away 30% of all food cooked in restaurants.

Passive: 30% of all food cooked in restaurants is thrown away.

Active: An unknown gunman has killed three people in a restaurant.

Passive: Three people were killed in a restaurant by an unknown gunman.

Active: Someone stole my brand-new car yesterday.

Passive: My brand-new car was stolen yesterday.

In my opinion, using passive voice is far more effective here. It makes the action or fact the immediate focus of each sentence, not the (unknown) people doing it. If you’re writing a news story and the main thrust is that three people have been killed - lead with that.

How can you check your writing for active voice?

Luckily, there’s a foolproof way to assess your writing and sharpen your skills. And it’s free.

Using the Hemingway Editor, you can copy and paste your text and it’ll highlight all uses of passive voice in green. You can see what I mean using the examples from this very blog post:

So, in summary…

Active voice is a great way to make your writing more focussed and energetic. It’s also one of the best ways to say the most from the smallest amount of words.

Passive voice can be an effective way to leverage ambiguity or prioritize facts over people. In the right situations - it can be highly effective.

And naturally, once you master both styles - you can combine them to great effect.

Overall: if you want to get your readers more engaged with your writing - try to use active voice as often as you can.

Conversely, if you’re in the public eye and busted doing something naughty - hire a PR manager who knows how to use passive voice really well.