Making Verbs Work

Passive versus Active Voice

Use strong verbs.

• Verbs provide the

momentum of writing.
• Proper verb choice
makes the difference
between crisp, clear
writing and bloated,
clumsy writing.
What is the difference?
A sentence is in the active voice when the
subject does the acting instead of being
the recipient of the acting.

Active: Lowell depicts a grim view of

marriage.

Passive: Marriage is depicted as grim by

Lowell.
What is the difference?

A verb that conveys action—as

opposed to a verb that merely links
the subject to a thought.

Active: Jim tossed the report away.

Linking: Jim was tired of the report.

Active verbs

• just naturally go with writing that is

in the active voice.
• When you put the subject front and
center, doing something, you will
probably find yourself using
stronger, more interesting verbs.
Active voice is generally stronger

• Both kinds of verbs are useful in

writing. That’s why we have both.
• But, unless you’re a diplomat or
bureaucrat or some other kind of
weasel, you need to rely on the active
voice more than the passive.
Active Voice
• Uses direct action verbs
• Has a clearly defined actor
and action
Passive Voice
• Uses “to be” verb forms
• Emphasizes what was
found, not who did the
finding
• Can be pedantic and wordy
in the hands of amateurs
Which verb form to use

• Largely a matter of what you want to

emphasize
– Active Voice emphasizes an action
taken by a subject.
– Passive Voice
• emphasizes what was found, the end result.

• hides who was responsible for the action.

Replace wimpy verb phrases

Weak verb phrases Strong verbs

• Make a determination • Determine
• Perform a
measurement • Measure
• Carry out an analysis
• analyze
Transform into active voice

• Change nouns ending in –tion,

-ment, and –ance back into verbs.

Indication  indicate
Contamination  contaminate
Measurement  measure
Variation  vary
Use “is” verbs sparingly

• Is beginning  begins
• Is used to detect  detects
When to use “is”

• If sentence defines or equates

Lowell’s poem is a sonnet.

When not to use “is”

• In sentences that do not present a

definition or equality
• To analyze
Verb tenses

• Using active voice eliminates

awkward tense shifts
Parallel Construction

• Verbs must be in the same form

Parallel vs. Non-parallel
faulty parallelism:
She revels in chocolate, walking under the
moonlight, and songs from the 1930s jazz
period.

good parallelism:
She revels in sweet chocolate eclairs, long
moonlit walks, and classic jazz music.

good parallelism:
She loves eating chocolate eclairs, taking
moonlit walks, and singing classic jazz.
Advantages of active voice:

• Shorter, more direct

• More forceful
• Greater clarity (The reader
knows immediately who is
doing what.)
• Sharper imagery
Which is more effective?

• Stay away from the hot wire. It

can kill you.

• The hot wire should be avoided.

You can be killed by it.
Should you ever use passive voice? Yes.

• Jon Franklin says that if you try to write entirely

in the active voice, you are likely to produce
something unreadable.
• He’s right. The active voice is great, but you
can have too much of a good thing.
Use passive voice

• When the actor is unknown or

unimportant.
The knife was found beside the body.

• Or when you want to focus on the

receiver of the action more than on
the actor.
The teacher was fired for his political
activism.
Use passive voice

• When you want a gentler or more

diplomatic approach.
A teenage girl was killed Tuesday by a
gunshot wound that police said was self-
inflicted.

• When you want to strengthen the

impression of objectivity—as, for
example, in a research report.
Use passive voice

• When you want to achieve a

particular effect—whether it be wry,
sardonic, sarcastic or comedic.
Good writers use both voices.

• Use active voice whenever possible.

• You need to know when to use one

voice or the other, and when to use
them together.
Credits
• Celia M. Elliott, University of Illinois,
cmelliot@uiuc.edu

• John Rains, Writing Coach, The Fayetteville

Observer, johnrains@hotmail.com

• Dr. L. Kip Wheeler, Carson Newman College,

http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/gram_parallelism.htm
l

• Patricia Burgey, UWG