Active Voice

Use active voice in most sentences. Active voice makes it clear who or what performs the action, and it results in shorter, more direct sentences.

Active vs. passive

In active voice, the subject performs the action:

The user clicks the button.

In passive voice, the subject receives the action:

The button is clicked by the user.

When passive voice is acceptable

Use passive voice sparingly, and only when:

• The actor is unknown: “The file was corrupted during transfer.”
• The actor is unimportant: “The package is installed automatically.”
• You want to emphasize the object: “All data is encrypted at rest.”