From Passive to Active

Greetings again. I hope you’re doing well.

At the end of a recent post, I wrote, “Have language questions arisen in your writing? If so, feel free to ask them. You can post a comment below or email me at bgastel@inasp.info.”

In response, a reader emailed me the following: “These days most of the editors ask to write in active voice. Could you please suggest how to make transition?”

I agree that most journal editors now want authors to use largely active voice. One reason: Sentences in active voice generally are shorter and more readable than those in passive voice. Another reason: Using active voice helps make clear whom you are talking about.

Especially if you’ve usually written largely in passive voice, writing in active voice might not come naturally. My advice: Don’t worry about passive voice when writing rough drafts. Then, when revising the writing, try to convert some sentences from passive to active.

Some examples:

     #1

     Original: These online courses are taken by many researchers.

     Revised: Many researchers take these online courses.

     #2

     Original: It is commonly believed that . . .

     Revised: (Depending on what is meant, something like one of the following)

                Most scientists believe that . . .

                Much of the public believes that . . .

                Many farmers believe that . . .

     #3

     Original: The participants were divided into three groups.

     Revised: We divided the participants into three groups.

     #4

     Original: The students’ performance will be monitored.

     Revised: We will monitor the students’ performance.

     #5

     Original: It was found that . . .

     Revised: We found that . . .

I hope this reply has been helpful. Do you have language questions? If so, feel free to contact me as noted early in this post.

Until the next post—

Barbara