Write most of your sentences like this: Somebody does something – and watch your writing come to life. Why? Because this is the natural order of thought: subject, verb, object. This is normally the way you talk. Very often, it is the natural method by which a person breaks news to another. We call this active voice. It gives snap and punch to your writing. Consider this example from a local paper: (1 Congressmen demanded today the firing of all Namarco officials; (2 The firing of all Namarco officials was demanded today by Congressmen; and (3 The demand for the firing of all Namarco officials was made by congressmen.
The first version has the subject-verb-object combination. It is crisp, simple, and clear. The second version reverses the order: object-verb-subject. The snap of action has almost gone. The third version is a completely backward arrangement. The action has now disappeared. The verb has become the subject of the sentence. Also notice how much longer and indirect the second and the third versions have become. The habitual use of the active voice makes for effective writing. Note also that when a sentence is recast into the active voice, it becomes shorter. Whenever possible, use verbs rather than nouns in your sentences. The reason is simple.
Nouns, especially abstract nouns, tend to be static. But verbs imply action, movement. Verbs make a story sparkle. For instance, the sentence “Newspaper circulation grew steadily” is more brisk and vigorous than “The growth of newspaper circulation has been steady.
Finally, use verbs in the active voice, whenever possible. The bulletin board of a local news-magazine office offers an example of a sentence with a passive verb: “It is requested that the production department be notified of any change in deadline.” This could be simplified to read: “Please notify the production department if there is any change in deadlines.”
The International News Service dispatch below offers one of the most famous examples of an effective lead in the active voice: “NEW YORK, June 28 (INS – Listen to this, buddy, for it comes from a guy whose palms are still wet, whose throat is still dry, and whose jaw is still agape from the utter shock of watching Joe Louis knock out Max Schmeling.
“It was a shocking thing, that knockout-short, sharp, merciless, complete.”
The first version has the subject-verb-object combination. It is crisp, simple, and clear. The second version reverses the order: object-verb-subject. The snap of action has almost gone. The third version is a completely backward arrangement. The action has now disappeared. The verb has become the subject of the sentence. Also notice how much longer and indirect the second and the third versions have become. The habitual use of the active voice makes for effective writing. Note also that when a sentence is recast into the active voice, it becomes shorter. Whenever possible, use verbs rather than nouns in your sentences. The reason is simple.
Nouns, especially abstract nouns, tend to be static. But verbs imply action, movement. Verbs make a story sparkle. For instance, the sentence “Newspaper circulation grew steadily” is more brisk and vigorous than “The growth of newspaper circulation has been steady.
Finally, use verbs in the active voice, whenever possible. The bulletin board of a local news-magazine office offers an example of a sentence with a passive verb: “It is requested that the production department be notified of any change in deadline.” This could be simplified to read: “Please notify the production department if there is any change in deadlines.”
The International News Service dispatch below offers one of the most famous examples of an effective lead in the active voice: “NEW YORK, June 28 (INS – Listen to this, buddy, for it comes from a guy whose palms are still wet, whose throat is still dry, and whose jaw is still agape from the utter shock of watching Joe Louis knock out Max Schmeling.
“It was a shocking thing, that knockout-short, sharp, merciless, complete.”
39 comments:
Slapping you would probably get more attention than tapping you by the shoulder. That example illustrates the difference between the active and passive voice. The active voice is more dynamic and straight to the point unlike the passive voice. Using the active voice, most of the time, makes a work credible yet entertaining.
Action is better than speeches. This will make your readers more interested and feel the intensity what you wrote.
When the doer of an action is the subject then it is in active voice. In the active voice, the readers will immediately know who does the action. They will not be confused. So, it is preferable to use the active voice.
We should use active voice so that readers would not mistaken the doer of the action. It is also important to use because sentences are usually written in S-V-O pattern. Another reason is people don't speak backwards...
The active voice is better to use than the passive voice because it is more straight to the point and precise. Unlike the passive voice, the active voice can pass on to your readers what you are trying to say better. It will not confuse your readers.
Again, making your sentences is passive voice makes it too LONG, Dull, BORING, and LIFELESS. Yes, it does. Besides, using the active voice makes your article shorter, yet still maintaining that precious information that provides the facts.
Don’t be so hard on yourself whenever you write. Just use the active voice and you’ll surely have a good write up. It would be an easier thing to do and an easier thing to understand.
In a class, the active students are best remembered by their teachers rather than the passive persons. In writing, the active voice is like nectar that attracts insects to thier flowers. The active voice is like wearing a "NOTICE ME" sign. The active voice increases the interest of the readers.
In most articles, active voice is used because it presents a clearer view. The use of passive voice, especially in news writing, makes it a little bit confusing. Stick to the simple and easy way.
When you break a new to someone, you'll always start from the most important one. This is what the active voice does. When you use this format it allows you to show what's the main thing talked about. The readers will understand it easily.
When we write, we should write it as if it is in action. This would make our work more at life. Write just how you talk because it will be more effective. And it will also give the information we want to convey in a clearer way.
On the first comment, I agree to it, passive voice is used in the middle ages. Your not in there anymore use the ACTIVE one.
Like how our order of thinking, we write in the manner of how we think. Because, if we start from the end, then we will eventually lose interest to our subject. This is also how we relay stories and news to other people. Active voice is better than passive because it is more interesting.
Using active voice makes your article easier to understand. In addition, using active voice gives more impact to your sentences, also, it gives more accurate and easy-to-understand sentences.
Active voice gets straight to the point than passive voice. It would only puzzle your readers about what you wrote if you use the passive voice, because it tends to complicate the meaning of sentences.
Why use active voice? first because it is easier to use. Second because it is less confusing and direct to the point. Third because we speak using active voice not in passive voice.
Active voice makes our writings more interesting. When we prefer the active voice over the passive voice we make our writings sound more straight forward and informative.
The active voice is deemed effective when writing. Why? It is because we humans speak in the active voice! So what better way to communicate with your fellow humans than in the way that they speak! The active voice provides emphasis to the ideas that you are trying to state in each sentence and makes the point easier to understand. Furthermore, it is also hard to construct a sentence in the passive voice, so why let yourself be burdened? Use the active voice!
Active voice is less confusing and more precise. It is straight to the point. Readers would understand your article more when you use the active voice. It may be simple but it is more interesting because it’s not confusing.
I agree with what the rule says that if one uses subject-verb-object pattern there is some magic between the words. But if you use the passive voice, which is the reverse then the magic is gone. One more thing sentences with passive voice are sometimes hard to comprehend. So it is really better to use the active voice.
Active voice for me, is much simpler than passive voice. With the use of active voice, readers can fully understand the thought of your articles, also,it is better to use active voice because its straight to the point.
Subject, verb, object, that is the way that you should write. If you use the active voice in your writing everything would sound natural and your readers would like it better. Since the natural way we talk is thru the active voice, your readers would understand it better. The active voice would also sound dynamic compared to the passive voice, making it more appealing to the reader’s eyes.
The active voice is easier to understand than the passive one. It is the natural and commonly-known way used when we converse and tell a story.
Passive voice does not make an appeal to readers but active voice does. We must always use active voice in making articles.
I agree to this because this will definitely make your article clearer. When I read the examples using the active voice, I understood it better and faster. However, when I read the ones in passive voice, I found it vague and displeasing. We should use the active voice to keep our readers active.
Leo Amadeus Gerella Ruiz
The normal way we talk is using the active voice. We should use specific, concrete language right? so we should right the way we talk. So use the active voice.
Active people-get people's attention.
Passive people-mostly do not.
It is very simple people. So, what kind of sentence should you choose, The active or the passive?
People’s minds are somehow connected. Normal brains go active. And since you write to inform these brains, you must write the way they and you think. In this manner, the writer establishes good communication and relationship with his readers, thereby, conveying his ideas more efficiently.
Using the active voice in writing makes the article more interesting to read. It seems to be more realistic as to an article written in the passive voice. And it usually shows a straight story.
In most write-ups, the doer is the important detail of every sentence. This only suggests that active voice is a must since active voice emphasizes on the doer. Although in every rule there is an exception, as much as possible, use the active voice.
Active voice are the standard voice we use in speaking. It is because it is easier to understand. Active voice can express ideas with ease than expressing the ideas using the passive voice. Passive voice makes use of other tenses of verbs. It will give confusion to our readers once we use the wrong tense of the verb. It is safer to make use of the active voice.
Ma Inna Paulina Egamino Palana
IV - Enrico Fermi
Fe-15
Using the active voice is the key for the greatest communication of a writer to its reader. People love to read those that seems like it was talking to them. Active voice makes a sentence straight to its point. I agree with Beren Bello. The students that are ACTIVE in class are most remembered. Just like in making sentences, those that are in active voice are remembered because it is understandable.
Not everyone who reads your articles are people who have high intellect. We know that the active voice is straight to the point unlike the passive voice. Therefor it would be easy on the reader's part if writers would use active instead of passive to not make readers have a hard time figuring out what you want to say.
The natrural sequence of thought follows the pattern S-V-O. Active voice also uses this pattern that is why it is just like you are speaking. SO, the use of active voice is easier to understand in the part of the readers. You will not have to conjugate verbs in the active oice unlike in the passive. You will be able to save time without saking the quality of your work.
Using the active voice in writing spurs your readers for it gives attention mainly on the doer and the action done. Active sentences make the reader as if he was watching and feeling the action done. This makes it more advantageous than using the passive voice.
Think about this : You are a student searching for messages in songs. Would it not be better to hear the clear message brought to you by Pachelbel's Canon than to hear something vague like that of Red Hot Chili Pepper's Scar Tissue. Point here is that like the Canon, We just need to repeat the same structure over and over again because this is what makes your composition(of words) beautiful to look at (at a information-hungry-man's point of view)
Thinking is like walking. It is easier to walk forward than backwards. Using the active voice is like walking forward because it is the common order of thought and it is something we are used to. So again, following this rule will make your work more efficient.
Writing sentences in the order of how people naturally think will definitely make the readers' lives easier. Using the active voice will help you get directly to the point. Since our main objective in journalism is to inform, it's really advisable for us to just state what we want to say the simple yet informative way.
Using active voice will make a greater impact on the readers. While passive voice will build confusions in the reader's mind.
I agree to this because this will definitely make your article clearer. When a sentence is in the active voice it is understood better and faster by readers. And in real life we often use the passive voice. We never say "ang mahal ko ay ikaw" instead we say, "mahal kita!"
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