Passive voice is present when the subject of the sentence receives the action or is acted upon.  It has three characteristics:

• A form of the verb to be (is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being)
• A past participle (a verb ending in ed or en)
• A prepositional phrase beginning with by

Examples:

“The document was written by Mylien.  The results of the meeting will be sent to you by Monday”

In contrast, the active voice is present when the subject performs the action.  Read the same sentences above rewritten in active voice.

“Mylien wrote the document.  You will receive the results of the meeting on Monday”

The active voice is clearer and stronger than the passive voice.  Sometimes the writer can use the passive voice to obscure who is responsible for an action.  In the sentence below, the reader does not know who made the decision:

“The decision was made to downsize the organisation by 20 percent.”

The writer intended to be ambiguous about the decision.  Although the writer can use passive voice intentionally, if it is overused, it can result in wordy, dull writing.  Use passive voice when necessary but do not overuse it.