Active Voice

Grammatical voice refers to the different grammar terms used to understand the relationship between the action done by the verb and the subjects, or objects, it affects. This explanation is all about the active voice.

Active voice definition

The active voice is used to show that the subject of the sentence is active and is performing an action on an object. In active voice sentences, the subject is the 'doer' of the verb. For example, in the sentence 'The man ate the burger' the subject (the man) is doing the action (eating).

We form the active voice through word order and the use of verbs. The word order in an active voice sentence looks like this: subject + verb + object. E.g. 'The mouse ate the cheese'. The mouse (the subject) ate (the verb) the cheese (the object).

Active voice sentences also contain active verbs. These are verbs in the past, present, or future tense that follow a subject. E.g. 'The woman painted her nails'. Active verbs are opposite to passive verbs, which are past participles that follow the words was/were. E.g. 'The nails were painted by the woman'.

Active voice examples

The active voice occurs in sentences where the subject acts. This means that the subject will come first in the sentence, followed by the verb and finally the object. Let's look at some examples of this.

The active voice tends to follow a linguistic pattern that is referred to as subject-verb-object, this is sometimes shortened to SVO. This is a helpful way to spot the active voice within a text.

Fig 1. The early bird catches the worm

Difference between active voice vs passive voice

Grammatical voice doesn't only include the active voice. The opposite of the active voice is the passive voice. This is very different to the active voice as here the subject is acted on by the verb. This means that instead of actively 'doing' the verb, the subject is instead passive. Below are three examples of passive voice:

As we can see, these sentences are constructed very differently from the ones we saw in the previous example. Let's look at how these sentences would be formed in the active voice:

There is a noticeable difference between how these sentences are constructed. The active voice is far stronger than the passive voice in these examples. This is because of the placement of the subject in the statements. In the active voice, the subject takes on the primary position in the sentence and so is active and dominant in how the sentence is constructed. However, in the passive voice, the subject is placed last and so the sentence becomes less authoritative.

There is also a difference between the verbs in the active and passive voice. Whereas the active voice contains an active verb, the passive voice must contain the following;

• A conjugated form of the verb 'to be', e.g. is, was

• The main verb in its past participle form, e.g. eaten, written, read.

Here is a handy chart summarising the key differences between the active and passive voice:

In general, the active voice is used more commonly in everyday speech and writing. The active voice is then very important in how we make sentences every day!

Importance of the active voice

The active voice is the grammatical voice that we use the most in everyday speech. You will find that most of the sentences you write are in the active voice. There are many reasons that the active voice is important to your writing.

The reader will feel present in the work

The active voice is most commonly used in the present and future tense. This puts the reader in the moment. Take this example from Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven' (1845):

Fig 2. The Raven

Through the use of the active voice, the scene becomes more vivid than if the writer used the passive voice. The active voice helps to create a stronger connection to the action/scene for the reader. This is because sentences use both present and past tense verbs. When we consider this alongside the placement of the subject in the sentence, we can see that the imagery evoked becomes a lot clearer.

The active voice places the subject at the forefront of the sentence. The active role it takes means that the action of the sentence is more clearly and strongly depicted.

Active voice makes commands clearer

Easy to understand

The active voice follows the simple subject-verb-object (SVO) sentence formula. This makes it easier to understand as the structure is simple. As the active voice allows for clear and simple sentences, it means that concepts can be broken down into their simplest forms. This means that the active voice is especially useful for teaching.

The Active Voice in Literature

The active voice is an important component of how sentences are constructed in Literature. This is because the active voice allows the writer to tell a story in a clear and direct manner. Have a look at the example below from The Great Gatsby (1925)

Can you see the active voice in this extract? We can see that there are four examples of the active voice here. Let's use the table below to better understand this:

We can see that the active voice is frequently used in this extract. This makes the paragraph direct and easy for the reader to understand. It is also used to create short bursts of information that provide readers with a clear view of the scene depicted. From this example, we can see how important the active voice is when used in literature.