-Sentences should ideally begin by clarifying what or who (the sentence’s subject) is causing an action. Then a sentence should provide the action- a verb- and finally the target (object) of the action. For example, “The boy kicked the ball.” shows the boy is the one creating the action and the ball is the target. These are two nouns which are connected by the verb “kicked”. This is called the active voice, and is proven to add to sentence clarity.

-The passive voice does not provide clarity on who is taking the action, particularly if the subject is not named. For instance, “Emergency care for the homeless will be provided by using donated funds.” does not mention who is providing the care.Writing actively gives this detail immediately. “The hospital provides emergency care for the homeless using donated funds.”

-There is a place for passive writing but it is best writers limit its use to a few times in each paragraph at most. They can be used to de-emphasise the subject of the sentence. This is ideal if another part of the sentence is more important.

Two examples of the active voice are:

– The teacher emphasised the importance of sentence structure to all the students present in the class.
– I find it important to understand how information can be communicated most clearly.

Two examples of the passive voice are:

The importance of varying sentence length was explained unclearly to the students.
Poor writing is penalised by concerned teachers so it is important to improve your communication quality.

The first sentence above does not mention who the subject is whereas the second sentence is passive but is clearer about the person taking the action. A combination of styles can be used as long as other sentences make it clear who the subject is.