In the active voice, the subject of a sentence performs the action ('The police caught the thief'). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action instead ('The thief was caught by the police' — or even 'The thief was caught', dropping who did it entirely). Writers choose passive voice deliberately: to shift focus onto the person or thing affected rather than who did the action, to sound more formal or objective, or — sometimes — to avoid naming who's responsible for something. Nominalisation (turning a verb or adjective into a noun, like 'decide' becoming 'decision') is a related technique that can make writing sound more formal and abstract, but can also obscure who is actually doing what.
Example
A news headline reading "Mistakes were made" uses passive voice specifically to avoid naming who made the mistakes — compare this to the active "The company made mistakes", which places direct responsibility on a clear subject. Recognising this choice is a key media literacy skill.
Key terms
Active voice:
A sentence structure where the subject performs the action.
Passive voice:
A sentence structure where the subject receives the action.
Nominalisation:
Turning a verb or adjective into a noun, often making writing more formal or abstract.
Questions
1. In active voice, the subject of a sentence:
Performs the action
Always receives the action
Is never mentioned
Is always a question
2. In passive voice, the subject of a sentence:
Receives the action
Always performs the action
Is always plural
Is always the reader
3. "The thief was caught" is an example of:
Passive voice
Active voice
A question
Neither active nor passive voice
4. "The police caught the thief" is an example of:
Active voice
Passive voice
A question
Neither active nor passive voice
5. Nominalisation means:
Turning a verb or adjective into a noun
Turning a noun into a verb
Removing all nouns from a sentence
A type of punctuation
6. "Decide" becoming "decision" is an example of:
Nominalisation
Passive voice
Active voice
A spelling error
7. Passive voice can be used to:
Shift focus away from who performed an action
Always clearly name who performed an action
Make a sentence shorter than active voice always
Remove all meaning from a sentence
8. Why might a writer choose "Mistakes were made" over "We made mistakes"?
Passive voice can shift focus away from who is responsible for the action
Passive voice always makes responsibility clearer, not less clear
Both sentences always carry identical levels of responsibility
Active voice is the only grammatically correct option in this context
9. Why might scientific writing often favour passive voice ("The sample was heated") over active voice ("I heated the sample")?
It can create a more formal, objective tone that focuses on the process rather than the individual researcher
Passive voice is always grammatically required in scientific writing
Active voice is impossible to use in any formal or scientific writing
The choice between active and passive voice has no effect on tone
10. Why might nominalisation ("There was a decision to close the factory") sound more formal or distant than the equivalent verb form ("They decided to close the factory")?
Turning the action into an abstract noun can obscure who exactly made the decision
Nominalisation always makes a sentence clearer about who is responsible
Nominalised and verb-based sentences always sound identical in tone
Nominalisation has no effect on how formal or abstract a sentence feels
11. Why might a journalist specifically choose active voice when reporting on who is responsible for a decision or event?
Active voice clearly names the responsible party, supporting transparency and directness in reporting
Active voice always hides who is responsible for an action
Passive voice is always clearer about responsibility than active voice
The choice between active and passive voice has no bearing on how responsibility is communicated
12. Why might overusing passive voice throughout a long piece of writing make it feel less engaging to read?
Passive constructions can feel more indirect and distant, and often use more words than the equivalent active sentence
Passive voice always makes writing more engaging than active voice
Sentence structure has no relationship to how engaging a piece of writing feels
Active and passive voice always produce identical reading experiences
13. Why might comparing a news article's active and passive sentence choices reveal something about its perspective on an issue?
Consistent use of passive voice to describe one party's actions but active voice for another can subtly shape how blame or agency is perceived
Active and passive voice choices in news writing are always completely random with no pattern or effect
A news article's grammar choices never reveal anything about its underlying perspective
Readers are never influenced by whether responsibility is stated actively or passively
14. Why might a writer use passive voice specifically when the "doer" of an action is genuinely unknown or unimportant to the sentence's meaning?
Passive voice allows a sentence to focus on the action or its effect when who did it isn't the relevant or known information
Passive voice can never be used appropriately, even when the doer is genuinely unknown
Active voice must always be used even when the person responsible for an action is unknown
The relevance of the doer has no bearing on whether active or passive voice is the better choice
15. Why might a politician being interviewed about a controversial decision favour passive voice and nominalisation when discussing it?
These structures can distance the speaker from direct responsibility while still technically addressing the topic
Politicians always use active voice specifically to maximise personal accountability
Passive voice and nominalisation have no strategic communicative value in this context
This grammatical choice has no connection to how responsibility is perceived by an audience
16. Why might understanding the difference between active and passive voice be considered a critical literacy skill, not just a grammar rule?
Recognising these structures helps readers notice when responsibility or agency is being deliberately emphasised or obscured in a text
Active and passive voice have no connection to how meaning or responsibility is communicated
This distinction is purely a stylistic preference with zero interpretive significance
Critical literacy has no relationship to sentence-level grammatical choices
17. Why might a company's official statement about a product failure use heavy nominalisation ("An investigation into the issue is ongoing") rather than direct verbs ("We are investigating why our product failed")?
Abstract, nominalised language can soften the acknowledgement of fault while still appearing to address the situation
Nominalisation always makes a company statement sound more direct and accountable
This kind of language choice has no strategic communicative purpose in corporate statements
Direct verb-based statements are always less clear than nominalised ones
18. Why might a skilled writer deliberately mix active and passive voice throughout a text, rather than using only one consistently?
Different sentences may call for different focuses — sometimes on the doer, sometimes on the action's effect — so variety can serve the writing's purpose
Mixing active and passive voice always confuses a reader with no benefit
A skilled writer should always use exclusively one voice throughout an entire text
The choice between active and passive voice never serves any deliberate purpose
19. Why might a legal or insurance document favour passive voice and nominalisation ("Damage was sustained" rather than "You damaged the car") throughout its wording?
This phrasing can create deliberate ambiguity around fault, which may serve the interests of whoever wrote the document
Legal and insurance documents always use active voice specifically to maximise clarity about fault
Passive voice and nominalisation have no strategic purpose in formal or legal writing
The wording choices in legal documents never have any bearing on how fault is perceived
20. Why might rewriting a passive sentence into active voice sometimes reveal that a sentence is actually missing a crucial piece of information?
Passive voice allows the "doer" to be dropped from a sentence entirely, so converting to active voice can expose that this information was never actually stated
Converting a sentence from passive to active voice never reveals any missing information
Passive sentences always include exactly the same information as their active equivalents
Missing information in a sentence has no connection to whether it uses active or passive voice
21. Understanding active and passive voice and sentence focus mainly helps you to:
Recognise how sentence structure shapes emphasis, responsibility and tone in a text
Assume active and passive voice always carry identical meaning and effect
Ignore how nominalisation might obscure who performed an action
Treat grammar choices as having no connection to a text's meaning
Answer key (parent copy)
1. Performs the action
2. Receives the action
3. Passive voice
4. Active voice
5. Turning a verb or adjective into a noun
6. Nominalisation
7. Shift focus away from who performed an action
8. Passive voice can shift focus away from who is responsible for the action
9. It can create a more formal, objective tone that focuses on the process rather than the individual researcher
10. Turning the action into an abstract noun can obscure who exactly made the decision
11. Active voice clearly names the responsible party, supporting transparency and directness in reporting
12. Passive constructions can feel more indirect and distant, and often use more words than the equivalent active sentence
13. Consistent use of passive voice to describe one party's actions but active voice for another can subtly shape how blame or agency is perceived
14. Passive voice allows a sentence to focus on the action or its effect when who did it isn't the relevant or known information
15. These structures can distance the speaker from direct responsibility while still technically addressing the topic
16. Recognising these structures helps readers notice when responsibility or agency is being deliberately emphasised or obscured in a text
17. Abstract, nominalised language can soften the acknowledgement of fault while still appearing to address the situation
18. Different sentences may call for different focuses — sometimes on the doer, sometimes on the action's effect — so variety can serve the writing's purpose
19. This phrasing can create deliberate ambiguity around fault, which may serve the interests of whoever wrote the document
20. Passive voice allows the "doer" to be dropped from a sentence entirely, so converting to active voice can expose that this information was never actually stated
21. Recognise how sentence structure shapes emphasis, responsibility and tone in a text