NCO Primary Leadership Subjects
Rule 2: Write in the Active Voice
The active voice emphasizes the doer of an action. Use the active voice to create
Introduction
short, strong, direct writing.
The active voice shows who or what does the action. It uses the standard English
Definition:
sentence structure of subject-verb-object Thus the subject does the action.
Active voice
Example:
SGT Jones fired the rifle. (The subject, SGT Jones, did the action.)
The passive voice obscures or eliminates the doer entirely.
Definition:
Passive voice
Examples:
The rifle was fired by SGT Jones. (The object, rifle, changes places with the
subject [now a prepositional phrase] and receives the action.)
The rifle was fired. (Who fired the rifle?)
The passive voice typically uses some form of the verb to be (am, is, are, was, were,
Changing
be, been) plus a main verb that ends with -d, -ed or -en (past participles). Passive
passive to
sentences usually use more words than active ones, but much less directly.
active
To change passive voice to active voice, use one of these techniques:
Eliminate the form of the verb to be and put the doer (the one "doing" the action)
up front
Example:
PASSIVE: The report was submitted by Joe. (Joe is the doer.)
ACTIVE: Joe submitted the report.
Eliminate the verb to be and the past participle verb ending.
Example:
PASSIVE: He is required to attend.
ACTIVE: I require him to attend.
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Writing Mechanics and Composition
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