You’ve probably heard that verbs can always have two voices, the choice of which will depend on you as the writer. If the subject of your sentence is the one performing the action, then your verbs will be active. Should your subjects be the receiver of the action, the verbs will be passive.
When being specific is a concern in your writing, always choose to outfit your sentences in the active voice – details, in the English language, always reside in that form. If you’re looking to be a bit shoddy, on the other hand (like when you don’t know the actual facts or are trying to hide information), the passive voice will let you write materials without making the ignorance conspicuous.
Extra Information
Active forms of verbs always force the writer to supply extra information that the passive voice doesn’t require. Take these two sample sentences, for instance:
“Students are not allowed off the school grounds.”
“The principal has decided not to allow students off the school grounds.”
In the first one, the restriction is simply laid out with no clue as to who put it there. The second one, on the other hand, lets us know that the principal put the new ruling in place.
Shorter Sentences
When you’re looking to provide the complete details yet use a passive-verb format, sentences typically end up longer (if you do it enough, a good grammar software will likely catch up and alert you to the fact). To add the information on the principal in the first sentence, for instance, you’ll need to write:
“Students are not allowed off the school grounds, by virtue of a decision from the principal.”
