Active voice

Contents

What is it?

Active voice is when you clearly name who does what. The sentence subject performs the action (for example, “The facilitator explains the task”), rather than having the action happen to something (for example, “The task is explained”). The Australian Government Style Manual recommends active voice because it improves readability and helps people scan content quickly.

In learning design and development, active voice makes instructions, activities and assessment steps easier to follow because participants can see the “doer” straight away. It also reduces confusion about responsibility in learning tasks and workplace action.

Why is it important?

Active voice supports clear government communication because it makes meaning direct and reduces ambiguity about responsibilities. The Style Manual explicitly links active voice to clarity about “who must do what”. International government plain language guidance also notes that active voice reduces ambiguity and improves understanding.

In learning products, unclear responsibility creates real risk: learners may misunderstand who completes a step, which can affect compliance tasks, safety steps, system actions and decision points. Active voice helps you design learning that people can use “in the flow of work” because the action is explicit and quick to apply.

What are the benefits

Builds clearer, more confident writing by training you to express ideas directly and succinctly.
Understand instructions faster and with less effort.
Know exactly who needs to act (participant, manager, facilitator, system).
Spend less time re reading or asking for clarification.
Complete tasks more confidently, especially in online modules and job aid.
Learn how to identify and revise passive constructions, resulting in sentences that are easier to read, more engaging, and more impactful.

Suitable for

Instructional designers and learning developers (eLearning, digital and blended).
Facilitators and program owners writing participant guides, run sheets and activities.
SMEs drafting technical or policy content that learners must apply at work.

Active voice options

Active voice is less about words used but rather the structure/order in how they are presented. In active voice the subjects perform the action to an object in a sentence, which makes the sentence active (and easier to understand).

The subject, verb and objects can be interchanged, and it will remain active but if the structure changes it will become passive.

Structure = subject + verb + object (who + action + to what/who)
Who (subject)	Action (verb)	To what/who (object)
Nouns, collective nouns and pronouns	Any verb or verb structure	Nouns, collective nouns and pronouns

Present Indefinite Tense	Present continuous tense	Present Perfect tense
He (subject) writes (verb) a letter (object)	He is writing a letter	He has finished the letter
He (subject) does not write (verb) a letter (object)	He is not writing a letter	He has not finished the letter
Does he (subject) write (verb) a letter (object)	Is he writing a letter	Has he finished the letter
They (subject) buy (verb) books (object)	They are buying books	They have bought books
He (subject) helps (verb) me (object)	He is helping me	He has helped me
We (subject) make (verb) chairs (object)	We are making chairs	We have made chairs

Past Indefinite Tense	Past continuous tense	Past Perfect tense
He bought a car	He was buying a car	He had bought the car
He did not buy a car	He was not buying a car	He had not bought the car
Did he buy a car?	Was he buying the car?	Had he bought the car?
I wrote a letter	I was writing a letter	I had written he letter
She decorated the house	She was decorating the house	She had decorated the house
They saw an accident	They were seeing an accident	They had seen an accident
He laughed at the joke	He was laughing at the joke	He had laughed at the joke
He asked some questions	He was asking some questions	He had asked some questions

Future Indefinite Tense	Future continuous tense	Future Perfect tense
He will receive this letter	He will be receiving the letter soon	He will have received the letter
He will not receive this letter	He will not be receiving the letter	He will not have received the letter
Will he receive the letter?	Will he be writing the letter?	Will he have received the letter?
They will start a business	They will be starting the business shortly	They will have started a business
She will write a story	She will be writing a story later	She will have written a story
We will write a report	We will be writing a report	We will have written a report

Verb options

Themes	Verbs
Application	apply, chart, choose, demonstrate, distribute, document, dramatise, employ, execute, illustrate, implement, interpret, operate, order, perform, practice, present, produce, record, schedule, sketch, solve, train, use
Change, innovation and improvement	adapt, alternate, convert, create, devise, deviate, diminish, eliminate, evolve, exceed, extend, improve, innovate, integrate, invent, modify, restore, substitute, synthesise, transform
Collaboration, relationships and engagement	believe, commit, compensate, involve, participate, rely
Compliance, control and risk	constrain, exclude, entitle, establish, monitor, remove, retain, secure
Communicate and influence	advocate, argue, clarify, communicate, confirm, contact, demonstrate, discuss, explain, express, illustrate, impress, justify, paraphrase, present, report, specify, support, write, publish
Comprehension	>allocate, assign, classify, describe, designate, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, match, paraphrase, recognise, report, restate, review, select, sort, tell, translate
Context, conditions and states	comprise, function, happen, occur, occupy, precede, survive
Decision-making, judgement and governance	admit, assess, attach, choose, consent, decide, defend, demand, enforce, grant, impose, legislate, monitor, negotiate, prescribe, prohibit, rate, recommend, require, restrict, select, value
Evaluation	appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose, compare, conclude, critique, decide, deduce, defend, derive, diagnose, estimate, evaluate, judge, manage, measure, monitor, negotiate, predict, prescribe, rate, recommend, score, select, support, theorise, troubleshoot, value, hypothesise, infer, interpret
Execution, delivery and performance	achieve, apply, approach, assist, build, conduct, construct, control, create, develop, employ, execute, implement, operate, perform, practice, produce, pursue, respond, solve, submit, train, use
Information, research and data handling	collect, compute, derive, document, find, formulate, generate, inventory, locate, measure, obtain, record, seek
Knowledge	arrange, cite, comprehend, communicate, define, describe, duplicate, give, identify, indicate, know, label, list, memorise, name, order, provide, quote, recognise, recall, recognise, relate, remember, repeat, reproduce, restate, review, state, tell, translate
Planning, organisation and coordination	administer, allocate, arrange, assign, chart, classify, coordinate, design, develop, organise, plan, prepare, prioritise, schedule, set up, sort
Resources, operations and transactions	consume, deduct, distribute, give, invest, manage, purchase, retain
Synthesis	arrange, assemble, collect, compose, compute, conduct, construct, control, coordinate, create, design, develop, devise, discover, establish, extend, find, formulate, generate, integrate, invent, manage, organise, plan, prepare, propose, set up, synthesise, write
Thinking, analysis and insights	analyse, anticipate, appraise, assess, calculate, categorise, compare, conclude, contrast, criticise, critique, deduce, define, determine, detect, diagnose, diagram, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, estimate, evaluate, examine, experiment, explore, hypothesise, infer, interpret, inventory, investigate, judge, perceive, predict, question, survey, test, theorise, validate, verify

General Practices

Good Practice
Use a clear subject (“you”, “we”, “the facilitator”, “your manager”, “the system”) and a strong verb Put the action first in instructions (“Complete the quiz”, “Submit the form”). Write step by step tasks so each step names the doer. Use active voice for headings and button labels where possible (“Start module”, “Download checklist”). Turn on application functionality to check the grammar or indicate readability (e.g. Microsoft Editor) Example: A clear example of a positive experience using active voice: “We reviewed your application and approved it today, so you can access your payment immediately.” This uses active voice to clearly show who took the action (“we”), what was done (“reviewed” and “approved”), and the positive outcome for the reader. It sounds confident, transparent, and reassuring - helping the reader feel informed and supported.

Good Practice

Use a clear subject (“you”, “we”, “the facilitator”, “your manager”, “the system”) and a strong verb
Put the action first in instructions (“Complete the quiz”, “Submit the form”).
Write step by step tasks so each step names the doer.
Use active voice for headings and button labels where possible (“Start module”, “Download checklist”).
Turn on application functionality to check the grammar or indicate readability (e.g. Microsoft Editor)

Example:

A clear example of a positive experience using active voice:

“We reviewed your application and approved it today, so you can access your payment immediately.”
This uses active voice to clearly show who took the action (“we”), what was done (“reviewed” and “approved”), and the positive outcome for the reader. It sounds confident, transparent, and reassuring - helping the reader feel informed and supported.

Practices to avoid
Hide the doer (“It must be done”, “The form is submitted”). Overuse of passive voice in assessment criteria or instructions, creating uncertainty about responsibility. Use long, abstract sentences that bury the action. The use of ‘understand’ should not be used as it is not a measurable criteria. Example One issue with using active voice is that it can place a strong emphasis on the person or group responsible for an action, which may feel too direct or confrontational in sensitive situations. As a result, writers sometimes need to balance active voice with more neutral phrasing to maintain diplomacy and professionalism.

Practices to avoid

Hide the doer (“It must be done”, “The form is submitted”).
Overuse of passive voice in assessment criteria or instructions, creating uncertainty about responsibility.
Use long, abstract sentences that bury the action.
The use of ‘understand’ should not be used as it is not a measurable criteria.

Example

One issue with using active voice is that it can place a strong emphasis on the person or group responsible for an action, which may feel too direct or confrontational in sensitive situations. As a result, writers sometimes need to balance active voice with more neutral phrasing to maintain diplomacy and professionalism.

Topics

Communication