The Voice Beckons….

A sentence is in Active Voice if the subject performs the action represented by the Verb.

EXAMPLE:

The System Administrator installed the software.

In this sentence, System Administrator is the subject, installed is the Verb denoting that the subject performed the action, and software is the Object. When the subject performs the action, it is sometimes referred to as the Agent.

A sentence is in Passive Voice if the subject receives the action denoted by the Verb.

EXAMPLE:

The software was installed by the System Administrator.

In this sentence, software is the subject, and was installed is the Verb denoting that the action was performed on the subject, and System Administrator is the Object.

Now, consider the following sentence:

The editor reviewed the document.

This sentence is in Active Voice, as the Verb (reviewed) indicates that the Subject (editor) performed the action. The word document is the Object. We can rewrite the sentence in Passive Voice by using the Verb to indicate that the Subject receives the action:

The document was reviewed by the editor.

In this sentence, document is the Subject, and was reviewed is the Verb; editor is the Object.

Notice that when we changed the Voice from Active to Passive, the Subject of the sentence in Active Voice (editor) becomes the Object, and the Object of the sentence in Active Voice (document) becomes the Subject. Simply put, you can change the Voice by swapping the subject and the object in a sentence.

Now, which Voice should we use while writing documents?

Did you say “Active”? Why?

1. My manager asked me to.

2. I read it in an article.

3. Passive Voice causes cancer.

4. None of the above.

Well, the answer is d}.

Consider the following sentences:

Active: The Developer fixed the bug.

Passive: The bug was fixed by the Developer.

Although both the sentences convey the same information, the sentence in the Passive form takes two extra words. If you were to create a 100-page document and use Passive Voice throughout, you would end up adding 4-5 pages of redundant words or phrases. This sure is disheartening to freelance writers being paid on a per-page basis. :-)

The objective of prescribing Active Voice is to avoid redundancy; however, we’re not suggesting that you must use Active Voice all the time; there are instances where you may want to use Passive Voice:

• When the subject is unknown, or for some reason, need not be specified.

Consider the following sentence:

The System Administrator installed the software.

If you do not want to mention the Subject (System Administrator), or if you do not know who installed the software, you can rewrite the sentence in Passive Voice and drop the Object:

The software was installed.

• To avoid gender bias.

Here’s an example of gender bias:

After the user installs the application, he must configure the run-time settings.

The independent clause in the complex sentence refers to a specific gender. You can eliminate the gender-specific pronoun by rewriting the independent clause in Passive Voice and dropping the Object:

After the user installs the application, the run-time settings must be configured.

• To highlight the Object

In the following sentence, System Administrator is the Subject, and software is the Object.

The System Administrator installed the software.

If you are writing about the software, you may want to make it the subject of the sentence:

The software was installed by the System Administrator.

Please send your questions and suggestions to Gururaj B.S. and Prabhat N.R.