Eli5 How does passive/active voice work???
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People have already provided a great overview of the grammar. With active, there’s definitely an efficiency factor. Often, active voice provides greater efficiency because it requires fewer “parts” to assemble a coherent statement. Passive voice tends to include more parts, more steps, and increases the risk that you’re missing a part altogether.
I’ll add that it’s useful to understand a little bit about application—specifically in terms of style and intent that might be helpful.
Stylistically, the type writing and associated voice can matter. I could make the case that using only active voice makes things a little awkward, curt, and even robotic. Efficiency tends to be helpful for readers, but more creative or personal writing can benefit from variation and strategic “breathing room.” On the flip side, passive voice can make things more confusing—especially when the writing uses a lot of prepositions (of, to, from, etc.) and makes it hard to figure out who’s doing what to whom. I tend to write what I’m going to write and then rewrite passive phrases where context, clarity, or reader attention might suffer.
People can also make certain active / passive choices to frame what they want to say. When there’s an incentive or need to highlight the subject, active does just that. If you’ve won an award for selling the most widgets, you’d want someone to say, “[*Your name*] won the award” not “The award was won.” Similarly, if you were suing your neighbor for biting you, you’re better off saying “[*Your neighbor’s name*] bit me” versus “I was bit.” On the flip side, it’s common to use passive phrasing when a subject is unknown or if someone wants to shift focus from responsible parties (e.g. “I broke the vase” vs. “The vase was broken”).
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