Welcome back! In our last session, we focused on building clear sentences around the Subject-Verb-Object core. We saw how getting straight to "who did what" makes writing more direct and powerful.
This lesson builds directly on that foundation. We'll explore one of the most common reasons sentences become indirect: the passive voice. As you'll recall from the previous lesson, flipping a passive sentence was often the key to restoring a clear S-V-O structure. Today, you'll learn not only how to rewrite passive constructions into the stronger active voice but, more importantly, how to recognize the specific situations where the passive voice is a strategic and professional choice. Mastering this distinction is a crucial step in developing a sophisticated journalistic style.
This lesson should take about 60 minutes.
1. Active vs. Passive Voice: A Quick Review
Given your background in linguistics, you're already familiar with the grammatical difference between active and passive voice. In an active sentence, the subject performs the action. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action.
The basic construction of the passive voice involves a form of the verb "to be" plus a past participle (e.g., was directed, are being reviewed, has been cast).
For a quick refresher on this structure, the following video offers a concise overview.
The Passive: When, why, and how to use it
This video, "The Passive: When, why, and how to use it," provides a clear and simple breakdown of the grammatical structure of a passive sentence.
Watch the first part, from the beginning until the timestamp, for a review of how a basic active sentence is reversed to become passive. Pay attention to the "be + past participle" formula. Construction review
In journalism, and especially in the fast-paced world of entertainment news, the active voice is your default. It is almost always stronger, more concise, and more direct.
- Passive: The lead role was given to the newcomer by the director. (11 words)
- Active: The director gave the lead role to the newcomer. (9 words)
The active version is not only shorter but also has more energy. It tells a clearer story of who did what.
2. Why Active Voice Is the Journalist's Default
To see why the active voice is so critical in news writing, let's look at an article written specifically for journalists.
The active and passive voices in news
This article from Media Helping Media explains why active voice gives news stories impact and vitality.
Read the first part of the article, down to the sentence: "So the active voice is a basic part of a journalist’s toolkit." Focus on the comparison between the passive and active versions of the "Fred Smith stores" story. Notice how the active version puts the human interest angle first.
As the article argues, the active voice gives your writing "impact and vitality." It places the actor at the forefront, creating a more dynamic and engaging narrative for the reader, which is essential whether you're reporting on a studio merger or a red-carpet event.
3. When to Strategically Use the Passive Voice
While active voice is the default, professional writers know that the passive voice is a valuable tool when used with intent. Blindly eliminating every passive sentence is just as much a mistake as overusing it. The key is understanding its strategic applications.
Let's explore these strategic uses in more detail, along with a few more sophisticated reasons relevant to your work.
The active and passive voices in news
Continuing with the same article, this section provides excellent journalistic examples of when passive voice is the better choice.
Read the section that begins with the memorable example, “A lion has eaten the president”, and continue to the end of the section discussing the philandering politician. Pay close attention to these two key strategic uses: Emphasizing the recipient: When the person or thing receiving the action is more important than the actor. Identifying evasion: How public figures use the passive voice ("mistakes were made") to avoid taking responsibility. Recognizing this is a critical skill for a journalist.
The article highlights two crucial journalistic reasons for using—or at least, understanding—the passive voice. But there's another important use, related to narrative craft: creating flow and coherence. Sometimes, to connect one sentence smoothly to the next, you need to begin with the object of the previous sentence. The passive voice makes this possible.
The following video demonstrates this technique beautifully with a short history of Coca-Cola.
The Passive: When, why, and how to use it
This segment of "The Passive: When, why, and how to use it" is a masterclass in using the passive voice to create a cohesive and easy-to-read narrative.
Watch the section on shifting focus and creating flow. Notice how the narrator uses passive sentences like "Coca-Cola was invented..." and "...the drink was named Coca-Cola" to keep the focus on the main topic (Coca-Cola) and to link ideas smoothly from one sentence to the next.
This technique of using passive voice to maintain a consistent subject across several sentences is particularly useful in longer feature articles and profiles, where narrative flow is paramount.
4. Practice: Rewriting a News Report
Now, let's put this all together. The following exercise from Media Helping Media presents a short news report written almost entirely in the passive voice. Your task is to apply what you've learned.
Your Task:
- Read the news story under "The exercise" in the resource linked below.
- Rewrite the story in a separate document. Change passive constructions to active voice wherever it makes the sentence stronger and clearer.
- However, be prepared to defend any sentences you choose to keep in the passive voice, based on the strategic reasons we've discussed (e.g., the actor is unknown, the recipient is more important, etc.).
Exercise: Active and passive voices - Media Helping Media
This resource provides a practical, hands-on exercise to test your ability to use active and passive voice effectively in a journalistic context.
First, read the story in the section "The exercise" (it starts with the headline "Local museum broken into"). Perform the rewrite on your own. After you have finished your version, scroll down and compare it to the rewritten story that begins with the headline "Thieves steal £500,000 painting from local museum". Pay close attention to the bolded sentences and the explanations in parentheses that justify why the passive voice was kept in those specific instances.
This exercise is excellent practice for developing the editorial judgment required in professional writing. The goal isn't just to change the grammar, but to make thoughtful decisions that best serve the story and the reader.
Conclusion
Today we moved beyond a simple "active is good, passive is bad" rule. You've learned that while active voice should be your go-to for creating clear and dynamic prose, the passive voice is a nuanced tool for emphasis, flow, and narrative control.
Key Takeaways:
- Active voice is the default: It is generally more direct, concise, and energetic.
- Rewrite passive to active by asking "Who is doing what?" and putting that actor at the front of the sentence.
- Use passive voice strategically when:
- The actor is unknown, unimportant, or obvious ("The building was vandalized.").
- The receiver of the action is the most important element of the story ("The award was presented to the film's star.").
- You need to create a smooth transition by keeping the subject consistent between sentences.
- Be a critical reader: Recognize when sources use the passive voice (e.g., "mistakes were made") to deflect responsibility.
In our next lesson, we'll continue our focus on sentence-level clarity by tackling dangling and misplaced modifiers. You'll learn how to ensure that descriptive phrases clearly and logically connect to the words they are meant to describe, preventing ambiguity and occasional absurdity.