Consider the following acceptable uses of passive voice. The point is to only use passive voice when you consciously decide to do so. Sometimes passive voice actually is the best option. Then look at how each sentence can be revised using an action verb. In your head, think of a way to reword the sentence to make it more interesting by using an action verb. You might have developed a tendency to use another rather dull and unimaginative form of passive voice, by starting sentences with “there is,” “there are,” “there were,” “it is,” or “it was.” Read each of the following examples of this kind of passive voice construction. Revision: In one day, an elephant slurps down eighty gallons of water and grinds away one thousand pounds of vegetation. Original: An elephant is able to drink eighty gallons of water and is likely to eat one thousand pounds of vegetation in a day.

Revision: A giraffe’s neck wanders far above its body and often weighs as much as five hundred pounds. Original: A giraffe’s neck is long and thin, but it is as much as five hundred pounds in weight. Revision: Elizabeth innocently snapped the photo and the lion let out a roar that sent Elizabeth scrambling backward until she fell down. Original: A photo was snapped, the tiger was upset, and Elizabeth was on the ground. For each sentence, note the noun in the subject position, the form of the verb “ to be,” the action verb, and the doer of the action. Look at the following two passive voice sentences. In passive voice constructions, the doer of the action usually follows the word “by” as the indirect object of a prepositional phrase, and the action verb is typically partnered with a version of the verb “to be.” The action verb is “started.” If you ask yourself “Who or what started something?” the answer is again “Matt Damon.” But in this sentence, “career” has been placed in the subject position, not “Matt Damon.” When the doer of the action is not in the subject position, the sentence is in passive voice. In the first sentence, “left” is an action verb that is paired with the subject, “Matt Damon.” If you ask yourself “Who or what left?” the answer is “Matt Damon.” Neither of the other two nouns in the sentence-”Harvard” and “career”-left anything. Matt Damon’s acting career was started in the late 1980s when he left Harvard. Matt Damon left Harvard in the late 1980s to start his acting career. To use active voice, you should make the noun that performs the action the subject of the sentence and pair it directly with an action verb. You will then recognize it when you use it as well as when others use it. Once you fully grasp how it differs from active voice, passive voice will begin to stand out.

Lack of awareness or understanding of passive voice may cause you to use it regularly.

Active voice words