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In general, use active voice (in which the grammatical subject of the
sentence is the person or thing performing the action) instead of passive voice
(in which the grammatical subject of the sentence is the person or thing being
acted upon), although there are exceptions. Make clear who's performing the
action.
In passive voice, it's easy to neglect to indicate who
or what is performing a particular action. In this kind of construction, it's
often hard for readers to figure out who's supposed to do something (such as the
reader, the computer, the server, an end user, or a visitor to a web page).
Recommended: Send a query to the service.
The server sends an acknowledgment.
Not recommended: The service is queried,
and an acknowledgment is sent.
It's possible to indicate who's performing the action in passive voice (using
by), but the resulting prose is generally not as good as if you were to recast
the sentence as active voice. So whenever possible, make the doer the subject of
the sentence.
Recommended: Send a query to the service.
The server sends an acknowledgment.
Not recommended: The service is queried by
you, and an acknowledgment is sent by the server.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-10-15 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003ePrioritize using active voice to ensure clarity and directness in your writing, making it clear who is performing the action.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhile active voice is generally preferred, passive voice can be acceptable in specific situations, such as when emphasizing the object, de-emphasizing the subject, or when the actor is irrelevant.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003ePassive voice can make it difficult for readers to understand who is responsible for an action, leading to confusion and ambiguity.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhen using passive voice, ensure the context provides enough information for readers to understand the meaning, even without explicitly stating the actor.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eRefer to Google's Technical Writing One guide for a deeper understanding of active and passive voice and their appropriate usage.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Use active voice by making the doer the subject of the sentence, which clarifies who performs the action. Passive voice can obscure the actor. While possible to indicate the actor in passive voice, active voice is preferred. Passive voice is acceptable to emphasize an object, de-emphasize a subject, or when the actor is irrelevant. For example, instead of \"The service is queried,\" use \"Send a query to the service.\"\n"],null,["# Active voice\n\nIn general, use active voice (in which the grammatical subject of the\nsentence is the person or thing performing the action) instead of passive voice\n(in which the grammatical subject of the sentence is the person or thing being\nacted upon), although there are exceptions. Make clear who's performing the\naction.\n\nIn passive voice, it's easy to neglect to indicate who\nor what is performing a particular action. In this kind of construction, it's\noften hard for readers to figure out who's supposed to do something (such as the\nreader, the computer, the server, an end user, or a visitor to a web page).\n\nRecommended: Send a query to the service.\nThe server sends an acknowledgment.\n\nNot recommended: The service is queried,\nand an acknowledgment is sent.\n\nIt's possible to indicate who's performing the action in passive voice (using\n*by*), but the resulting prose is generally not as good as if you were to recast\nthe sentence as active voice. So whenever possible, make the doer the subject of\nthe sentence.\n\nRecommended: Send a query to the service.\nThe server sends an acknowledgment.\n\nNot recommended: The service is queried by\nyou, and an acknowledgment is sent by the server.\n\nFor more information, see\n[Active voice vs. passive voice](https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/one/active-voice)\nin Google's Technical Writing One guide.\n\nExceptions\n----------\n\nIn certain cases, it's okay to use passive voice. For example, passive can be\nokay in the following instances:\n\n- To emphasize an object over an action.\n- Recommended: The file is saved.\n- To de-emphasize a subject or actor.\n- Recommended: Over 50 conflicts were found in the file.\n- Not recommended: You created over 50 conflicts in the file.\n- If your readers don't need to know who's responsible for the action.\n- Recommended: The database was purged in January."]]
