Active Voice: Some Key Things to Remember

1. Active Voice: Some Key Things to Remember As many authors are aware, writing can take on different tones and flavours, with the active voice and passive voice being the most prominent. Sometimes, a client may task editing services and proofreading services with repurposing content so that it has one of these specific tones. This article will focus on the active voice, which is more direct and concise than its passive cousin. What is the active voice? The active voice involves the subject of a sentence performing an action: ‘Jenny eats ice cream,’ for example. The reader will note that Jenny is the subject, and her eating the ice cream is the action. What this symbolises is that the active voice is performative and brusque. When deployed correctly, the reader will automatically know what is happening and who or what is playing an active role in proceedings.

2. Editing services and proofreading services will often look to modify the content so that it uses the active voice. Doing so makes authors sound confident and communicates that they understand their subject and can authoritatively share it with the audience. The active voice also focuses on an action, which can often help attract a reader’s attention. How can an author form the active voice? Firstly, it is crucial to clarify who or what is carrying out an activity in the sentence. Next, structure the content so that the subject (i.e., the performer of the action) performs the verb upon the sentence’s object. Follow this simple formula to express the active voice: Subject + Action (verb) + Object We drink coffee We can see that regardless of the verb being used, the sentence is structured so that the subject (we) performs the action (drink) on the object (coffee). And thus is the active voice formed. The tone is direct, and the meaning is clear, which is something all editing services and proofreading services will aspire to achieve when reviewing and tidying up content. When should an author use the active voice? It all depends on the context, of course. But editing services and proofreading services will certainly advocate employing the active voice when directing the audience’s attention to the subject of the content and the action taking place. Scientific writing, in particular, is suited to the active voice because it enables the author to clearly describe what kinds of processes occur, why these processes happen and the effects they have. This clarity, in turn, means that the audience can clearly understand what is happening, which has the further benefit of casting the author in a favourable light: clear and simple descriptions help confer legitimacy upon the content creator. Editing services and proofreading services will always say that authors and readers alike can benefit from the active voice because the clear, direct tone leaves no room for ambiguities. Further, authors will find that using the active voice frees up their word count, leaving them room for more salient information in their content.