A passive voice construction has the verb acting upon the subject. It contains a form of the verb "to be" plus the past participle of another verb.

Example: The police car was driven by the officer. ("Was" is a form of the verb "to be," and the past participate of the verb "to drive" is "driven.")

An active voice construction has the subject performing the action of the sentence.

Example: The officer drove the police car. ("The officer" performs the action of the sentence, which is driving.)

Use active voice constructions to eliminate wordiness and stress the action of a sentence. In most academic writing, active voice constructions are always preferable.

Sometimes, the subject performing the action is not in the passive voice construction. To change it into an active voice construction, you must add in the subject performing the action.

Passive voice: The building was demolished in 1995.

Active voice: The city demolished the building in 1995. Construction workers demolished the building in 1995, etc.

To change a passive voice construction to an active voice construction, use the following steps:

1. Identify the passive voice construction.

Example: The check was written by the manager. ("Was written" is the passive voice construction.)

2. Identify the person or object that is performing the action of the sentence.

Example: The check was written by the manager. ("The manager" is performing the action of the sentence.)

3. Place the person or object that is performing the action of the sentence before the verb, make the verb agree with the subject, and eliminate any unnecessary prepositions.

Example: The manager wrote the check. ("The manager" is performing the action of the sentence." "Wrote" agrees in tense and number with the subject;"by" is no longer necessary.)