What are active voice and passive voice? Discuss their purposes in detail
In sentences in which the subject is the doer of action, the verbs are called active. In sentences in which the subject is the receiver of action, the verbs are called passive. Business communicators normally use active voice more heavily than passive voice because active voice conveys ideas more vividly.
Review the differences in the impact of passive voice and active voice:
Active voice: Our customers expect free refills of soft drinks, so we should not consider eliminating that offering.
Passive voice: Free refills of soft drinks are expected by our customer base and should not be the focus of cutbacks.
The active sentence invites the receiver to see the consumer as actively engaged in setting expectations, while the passive sentence draws attention to the soft drink refills. Using active voice makes the subject the actor, which places greater emphasis on his or her concerns. In the passive sentence, the receiver becomes aware that soft drink refills are an issue, but it does not reveal who is concerned.
Even when a passive sentence contains additional words to reveal the doer, the imagery is less distinct than it would be if the sentence were active: Free refills of soft drinks are expected by our customer base and should not be the focus of cutbacks. "Free refills" gets the most attention because it is the subject. The sentence seems to let the audience know the result of the action before revealing the doer; therefore, the sentence is less emphatic.
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