ACT English: Choose Active Voice for Clarity and Directness

Active voice: The subject of the sentence performs the action. Example: "The researcher discovered the cure." Passive voice: The action is performed on the subject. Example: "The cure was discovered by the researcher." Both are grammatically correct, but active voice is clearer, more direct, and more concise. ACT English tests whether you prefer active voice by showing both forms and asking which is better. Nearly always, active voice is the better choice because it's shorter, clearer, and more engaging.

Passive voice has a place in formal or scientific writing when the agent (who did the action) is unknown or irrelevant. Example: "The experiment was conducted using standard protocols." Here, we don't care who did it; the focus is on the procedure. But when the agent is known and important, active voice wins every time.

Passive voice uses "to be" (is, was, are, were, be, being, been) plus a past participle. Example: "The report was written by Sarah." Spot it: "was written" (is+past participle). Convert to active: "Sarah wrote the report." The subject "Sarah" moves to the front, the verb becomes simple past tense, and the sentence is shorter. In almost every ACT English question where passive voice appears, converting to active is the correct answer.

Conversion formula: (Agent) + (simple verb) + (object). Example: "The problem was solved by the team" becomes "The team solved the problem." The converted version is 3 words shorter and clearer. Practice: (1) "The cookies were baked by Mom." Convert: "Mom baked the cookies." (2) "The song is sung by the choir." Convert: "The choir sings the song." (3) "The lawn was mowed by the neighbor." Convert: "The neighbor mowed the lawn."

Passive voice is correct when: (1) The agent is unknown ("The museum was vandalized."), (2) The agent is irrelevant ("The election results were announced."), (3) Emphasis on the action or object is needed ("The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci" emphasizes the painting, not Leonardo). Passive voice is wrong when: (1) The agent is known and important, (2) The sentence is awkward or wordy, (3) The active version is clearer. On ACT, passive voice is wrong about 95% of the time a choice exists between active and passive.

Three ACT-style sentence pairs: (1A) "The award was won by the team." (1B) "The team won the award." [1B is better.] (2A) "The guidelines were established in 2005." (2B) "The organization established the guidelines in 2005." [2B is better if the organization is important; 2A if the focus is the guidelines themselves.] (3A) "The problem was recognized by many scientists." (3B) "Many scientists recognized the problem." [3B is better.]

ACT English tests style and clarity, not just grammar. When a question offers both active and passive versions, active is almost always clearer, shorter, and stronger. If you default to active voice, you'll eliminate half the wrong answer choices immediately, giving you a massive advantage on style questions.

Spend one week converting passive sentences to active. Write ten passive sentences, then rewrite them in active voice. Notice how much clearer and tighter they become. By test day, your instinct will favor active voice automatically, and you'll answer these questions with confidence without deliberating.