Active and Passive Voice in Writing

Study Notes

In active voice, the subject performs the verb's action, e.g., "Mary fed the kitten." Mary is the subject, and she is doing the feeding.
In passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb, e.g., "The kitten was fed by Mary." The kitten is the subject, and it is being acted upon by the verb "fed."
To change a sentence from active to passive voice, it needs to contain a direct object, which is a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun that receives the action of a transitive verb.

When a sentence has two or more verbs, both verbs should stay in the same voice to avoid confusing the reader.
Inappropriate shifts in verb voice can occur when switching from active to passive voice or vice versa, e.g., "When Jim turned on the microwave, a crackling sound was heard." To fix this, rewrite the sentence to maintain a consistent voice, e.g., "When Jim turned on the microwave, he heard a crackling sound."

Active voice tends to flow more smoothly and is easier to understand.
Passive voice may be used when the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or not needed in the sentence, e.g., "The exams have been graded." or "Sometimes our efforts go unnoticed."

The indicative mood indicates something by making a statement, asking a question, or exclaiming something, e.g., "Isabella leaves tomorrow."
The imperative mood gives a command or makes a request, e.g., "Eat whatever your grandmother makes for dinner."
The subjunctive mood is used to express a hypothetical situation or a wish, e.g., "I wouldn't go there if I were you" or "The lawyer requested that her client be treated fairly."

Shifts in mood can disrupt the feel of the writing and confuse the reader.
To avoid shifts, ensure that verbs in a sentence or paragraph stay in the same mood, e.g., "If Josh were more experienced, he would be able to help us."