Active vs Passive Voice: When to Use Each

Voice shows who does the action.

Active

"Rupesh wrote the report." (subject does action)

Passive

"The report was written by Rupesh." (action on subject)

Form passive

be + past participle. "is eaten", "was built", "will be done".

When to use passive

• The doer is unknown: "The window was broken."
• The result matters more: "Mistakes were made."
• Formal reports: "The policy was approved."

Business tip

Active is clearer and shorter. "We launched the app" beats "The app was launched by us." Use passive only with reason.

Practice

Take 5 active sentences. Flip to passive. Then back. Speak both on SpeakNow.