When should you avoid using passive voice?

In one line

The rule

Avoid passive voice when it makes your sentence confusing, hides who is doing the action, or makes your writing less lively.

Let's understand it simply

Imagine you are playing cricket. If you say, "The ball was hit," no one knows who hit it. But if you say, "Rahul hit the ball," everyone understands. Active voice tells us who does what. Passive voice often hides the doer. When you want your message to be clear, use active voice.

How it works

1. In active voice, the subject does the action. ("Sita cooked dinner.")
2. In passive voice, the subject receives the action. ("Dinner was cooked by Sita.")
3. Passive voice can be useful, but sometimes it makes sentences long or unclear.
4. Avoid passive voice when you want to:

• Make your writing lively and direct.
• Clearly show who is doing the action.
• Give instructions or tell stories.

Where you see it in real life

• School essays: "The experiment was done" (passive) vs "We did the experiment" (active).
• News reports: "A new law was passed" (passive) vs "The government passed a new law" (active).
• Recipes: "The onions are fried" (passive) vs "Fry the onions" (active).
• Cricket commentary: "The ball was caught" (passive) vs "Dhoni caught the ball" (active).
• Instructions: "The form should be filled" (passive) vs "Fill the form" (active).

Why it matters

• Clarity: Active voice makes it clear who is doing what.
• Interest: Active sentences are more lively and keep the reader's attention.
• Shorter sentences: Active voice is usually shorter and easier to read.
• Better marks: Many teachers prefer active voice in exams and essays.

Common mistakes

• Using passive voice when you don't know who did the action. ("The window was broken.")
• Making sentences too long and confusing with passive voice.
• Thinking passive voice is always more formal or better. (It is not!)

Remember it

If you can say who did the action, use active voice for clear writing.