Active and Passive Voice

Passive voice is used in scientific writing. In passive voice, the subject is being acted upon as the subject receives the action of the verb.

The words “by the” indicate the subject in a passive voice sentence. Passive voice will always include a form of the verb “to be.”

Passive voice in academic writing can make the essay seem uninteresting, but sometimes passive voice can be a stylistic choice. Scientific writing uses passive voice to remain objective.

• The boy was bitten by the dog.
• The exam was failed by half of the class.
• The cast of the play was joined by the actress.
• The window fan was turned on by him.