Active and passive voice in English. What is the difference?
In this month's language tip, we explore the differences between the active and the passive voice and show you how to make the best use of both forms. The choice of form depends on what you want to emphasise as well as the tone and style you wish to convey in your text.

Active voice
Active voice is used when you want to focus on the subject (the doer of the action). This form makes a sentence more direct and vivid and is often used to emphasise who is performing the action or to create an engaging text.
- Researchers at BTECH develop innovative technologies.
Passive voice
In passive voice, the action (e.g. the process or results) is in focus. It is therefore not necessary or important to mention the actor (the doer of the action).
- Innovative technologies are developed at BTECH.
Academic texts
Passive voice is often used in academic texts, as the focus is typically on results, processes or data rather than the researcher as the actor.
- The experiment was conducted under strict conditions.
However, active voice is becoming more widespread, particularly in introductions, conclusions and discussions, where it highlights the researcher’s role, contribution and arguments.
- We analysed the results to determine their significance.
In the table below, you will find examples of the use of active and passive voice in different tenses with the verb ‘examine’.
Tense | Active | Passive | Example, active | Example, passive |
Present | examine | is/are examined | I examine the data every day. | The data is examined every day. |
Past | examined | was/were examined | They examined the document carefully. | The document was examined carefully. |
Present perfect | has/ have examined | has/have been examined | She has examined all the reports. | All the reports have been examined. |
Past perfect | had examined | had been examined | He had examined the samples before the meeting. | The samples had been examined before the meeting. |
Future | will examine | will be examined | The researchers will examine the data. | The data will be examined. |