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active voice

Cultural

One of the two “voices” of verbs (see also passive voice). When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the subject is doing the acting, as in the sentence “Kevin hit the ball.” Kevin (the subject of the sentence) acts in relation to the ball.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"As a player who has an active voice, I tell people to seek help," he said.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2024

A person could ask a chatbot to rewrite a paragraph in an active voice.

From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2022

That format uses short sentences, active voice and explanation of any complex words and ideas in a separate sentence.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 13, 2022

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence acts—the subject performs the action of the verb.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

The passive allows him to do so because the agent can be left unmentioned, which is impossible in the active voice.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023