active and passive voice

• Active voice


  The subject is doing the action
• Passive voice


  The subject is receiving the action
• Voice


  Refers to the who or what that is doing the verb's action in a sentence
• Active voice


  • The boy plays the piano
• Passive voice


  • The piano is played by the girl
• Active voice is more concise, easier to understand, and less work for your reader
• Active voice


  • The dog scares the cat
• Passive voice


  • The cat is scared by the dog
• Steps to rewrite passive voice into active voice


  1. Identify the verb

  2. Ask who or what is doing the verb's action

  3. Rearrange the sentence order
• Keep the verb tense the same when rewriting passive to active