Active and passive voice

The active voice names an 'actor' which/who is the subject of the verb; the actor does the verb.

• Who/What does the verb? If the answer is clear, the sentence is active. Note that often, there is a direct object (DO) 'receiving' the action.

Part of sppech	Subject	Verb
Sentence	The students	tested	the samples.
	The samples	failed.

• Who/What is the verb done to? This is the direct object.

Part of speech	Subject	Verb	Direct Object
Sentence	The students	tested	the samples.

• Where possible, use the active voice. It is direct, brief, and easy to understand.

The passive voice places the emphasis on the action rather than the actor.The direct object is placed before the verb, which is given in the passive form. The subject, or actor, is usually not mentioned.

Table: Formation of the passive

Formation of the passive
The passive can use any tense of the verb to be		+ a Past participle
The load/s	is/are was/were	calculated
The report/s	has been have been	presented
The sample/s	will be can be	tested
The result/s	is/are being (should) have been (could) have been	compared