Chapter 2 · Practice 2 of 4
Use the active voice most of the time
Why it matters
Google's course says to use the active voice most of the time and the passive voice sparingly. An active sentence follows the pattern actor, verb, target. Passive sentences reverse it and often drop the actor entirely, leaving the reader to guess who does what.
| Passive | Active |
|---|---|
| The cache is invalidated on deploy. | The deploy script invalidates the cache. |
| The config file must be updated. | Update the config file. |
| Errors were found during review. | The reviewer found two errors. |
In technical writing the missing actor matters: "the cache is invalidated" does not tell the reader whether they must do it or the system does it for them.
Do
- Name who or what performs each action
- Use imperative mood for instructions
Avoid
- Passive sentences that hide who must act