To write this in the active voice, it would be phrased: “The State’s Department of Education will place schools not meeting AYP for 2 consecutive years on a “needs improvement” list.This may be an intentional use of the passive voice, to highlight schools not meeting AYP. Here, all actors taking actions are identified, but this is in the passive voice as the State’s Department of Education is the actor doing the placing, but this verb precedes the actor.See the following examples of intentional passive voice to indicate emphasis:Įxample: Schools not meeting AYP for 2 consecutive years will be placed on a “needs improvement” list by the State’s Department of Education. A writer may intentionally include the subject later in the sentence so as to reduce the emphasis and/or importance of the subject in the sentence. Sometimes, even in scholarly writing, the passive voice may be used intentionally and strategically. This revised sentence is in the active voice and clearly identifies the action takers and the action being taken.Correct: The school administrators will administer the survey instrument.Issue: Here, the actor follows the verb, which reduces emphasis and clarity.Incorrect: The survey instrument will be administered by the school administrators.Correct: Rogers (2016) conducted a study on nursing and turnover.

This improves clarity and word economy as well. Issue: Though the verb and the actor (action taker) are clearly identified here, to use the active voice, the writer should also place that actor, Rogers, before the verb.Incorrect: The study on nursing and turnover was conducted by Rogers (2016).For example, even if the action taker is clearly identified, that actor should be the grammatical subject and come before the verb. Here are some signs to look for in your paper:Īnother indication of passive voice is when the verb precedes the actor in the sentence. Using the past tense of the verb “to be” and the past participle of a verb together is often an indication of the passive voice. Using “I” to identify the writer’s role in the research process is often a solution to the passive voice (see APA 7, Section 4.16). This revised sentence clearly indicates the action taker.In this case, the writer should revise this sentence to clarify who is doing the conducting.Įxample: I conducted a study of job satisfaction and turnover. Here, it is not clear who did the conducting.Consider these examples to help determine which form of the verb is most appropriate:Įxample: A study was conducted of job satisfaction and turnover. So, though you may see the passive voice used heavily in articles that you read for your courses and study, it does not mean that APA style advocates the same usage.Īccording to APA, writers should select verb tenses and voice carefully. if the writer wants to focus on the object or the implications of the actor’s action orĪlso, much like for anthropomorphism, different writing styles have different preferences.in expository writing, where the goal of the discussion is to provide background, context, or an in-depth explanation.if the reader is aware of who the actor is.However, the passive voice is acceptable in some instances, for example:

Generally, in scholarly writing, with its emphasis on precision and clarity, the active voice is preferred.

In this sentence, it is not clear to the reader who conducted this study.

Example: A study was conducted of elementary school teachers.

This sentence structure puts the emphasis of the sentence on the subject, clarifying who conducted the study.

Example: I conducted a study of elementary school teachers.

The order of words in a sentence with active voice is subject, verb, object. In addition, the active voice stresses that the actor (or grammatical subject) precedes the verb, again, putting emphasis on the subject.

The reason is that the use of passive voice often makes it difficult for the reader to determine who is taking the action of the verb. Writing in the active voice means the subject of the sentence clearly performs the action that the verb expresses.ĪPA stresses using the active voice to make it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence. Writing for Social Change in the CapstoneĪPA style encourages use of the active voice over passive voice for clarity.Articles and Books on Writing the Capstone.Search website Search Show Menu Hide Menu

Passive to active voice