Active Voice, Short Sentences & Other Quick Wins
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1/8Active voice vs. passive voice
Active voice means the subject does the action. Passive voice means the subject receives the action. • Active: "The team finished the report." (clear who did it) • Passive: "The report was finished." (who finished it? unclear) Active voice is almost always better in business writing because it's clearer, shorter, and more direct. Use passive voice only when the doer is unknown or unimportant.
We launched the product on Monday.
Active. clear and direct.
The product was launched on Monday.
Passive. acceptable, but weaker.
Tip
If you can add "by zombies" after the verb and it makes grammatical sense, it's passive voice. "The report was written [by zombies]."