Nouns
Verbs
The term voice refers to the form of a verb indicating whether the subject performs an action ( active voice) or receives the action ( passive voice).
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Mary smashed the ball over the net. (active voice)
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The ball was smashed over the net by Mary. (passive voice)
Use the active voice whenever you can; it conveys more energy than the passive voice and also results in more concise writing.
Use the passive voice, however, when you don't know the actor, when you don't want to name the actor, or when you want to emphasize the person or thing acted upon rather than the actor. The passive voice is often appropriate in scientific writing.
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When we returned, the car had been towed.
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I regret that a mistake was made.
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Gold was discovered there early in the last century.
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His mother was rushed to the hospital by the police.
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A change in structure was found in the experimental group.
