Changing passive verbs into active verbs is probably the best-kept secret of professional writers and editors. If you use active verbs whenever possible in your writing, you'll change your style from dull, impersonal and long-winded to vigorous, interesting and readable.
When StyleWriter highlights passive verbs in your writing, it advises you to turn them into active verbs. This tutorial teaches you two ways to do this and also explains when you can use passive verbs.
Passive verbs
consist of the verb
to be combining with the past participle of another verb.
Each passive verb starts with one form of the verb
to be, such as:
is, are, was, were, be, been, being. Followed by the past participle of another verb, either as:
· a regular verb ending in
...ed such as
believed,
calculated or
passed, or
· an irregular verb such as
bought,
made,
understood
| Regular Passive Verbs |
Irregular Passive Verbs |
| are believed |
are bought |
| be recommended |
be taken |
| is subsequently stated |
been fully understood |
| been formally passed |
being taught |
Active verbs are essential to good writing. Replacing passive verbs with active verbs makes your writing lively, direct, concise and personal.
To turn passive verbs into active verbs, either: Put "Who did it?" first
|
Passive: |
It was agreed by the committee... |
|
Editing: |
Who agreed? The committee did.
Put this information first. |
|
Active: |
The committee agreed... |
Cross out as much of the passive verb as you can.
|
Passive: |
The savings could be used to pay for a new photocopier. |
|
Editing: |
The savings could be used to pay for a new photocopier. |
|
Active: |
The savings could pay for a new photocopier. |
An average of only one or two passive verbs in every ten sentences is a sign of a competent and professional writer. Replacing passive verbs with active verbs means your:
· style becomes more personal and less official
· style is simpler and less awkward
· readers get more information
· meaning becomes clearer and more
precise
· sentences are shorter and more effective.
The
Passive Index shows whether you have used too many passive verbs and helps you decide how many you need to change into active verbs. Too many passive verbs make writing tedious and difficult to read.
StyleWriter counts the number of passive verbs, divides them by the number of sentences and multiplies the result by 100 to give a Passive Index score.
|
Passive Index = |
Number of Passive Verbs |
X 100 |
|
Number of Sentences |
StyleWriter's
Passive Index can measure how passive your writing is, whatever its length. You should aim to keep the Passive Index as low as possible.
If you have too many passive verbs, change as many passive verbs as you can into active verbs. If you can keep your Passive Index below 20, you're using a good, active writing style.
Click image to enlarge!
By default, StyleWriter has the "Passive Verbs" category selected to check your document for all passive verbs. In this screenshot, the user can activate and deactivate the "Passive Verbs" category with a click of the button.
