Consider these three pairs of sentences:
The report was read by Betty.
A decision was made to stop the project.
The passive voice should be avoided.
Betty read the report.
We decided to stop the project.
Avoid the passive voice.
Now, ask yourself: which of the two sentences in each set sounds better to you —
and why?
In general, the active voice (represented by the second sentence in each pair) is preferable
to the passive voice (represented by the first sentence in each pair) because the active voice
tends to be simpler, clearer and more direct. The active voice also makes for more forceful
and interesting writing. Thus, we say: Avoid the passive. Favor the active.
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