How to Write an Active Vs Passive Voice for Engineering

Engineering students must navigate a complex balance between technical objectivity and clarity in their documentation. While traditional engineering manuals often favored the passive voice for perceived neutrality, modern journals like the IEEE Transactions on Robotics now emphasize active voice to reduce ambiguity in experimental results.

What Is an Active Vs Passive Voice in Engineering?

In engineering, active voice places the actor—often the researcher or the system—as the subject performing the action, whereas passive voice focuses on the object being acted upon. Unlike humanities, engineering requires a strategic mix: passive voice is standard for describing standardized methodologies to emphasize repeatability, while active voice is preferred for discussing data interpretations and system performance to ensure the reader knows exactly what caused a specific output.

Before You Start

• Consult the specific style guide of your target journal, such as the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) or ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) manual.
• Identify the primary actors in your study, whether they are the research team, a specific software algorithm, or a physical testing apparatus.
• Differentiate between your 'Methodology' section and your 'Analysis' section, as the voice requirements will typically shift between them.
• Review your experimental data to determine where causal relationships need to be explicitly stated.

Use Passive Voice for Experimental Procedures

In the methodology section, the focus should be on the process so that other engineers can replicate your work. The person performing the test is irrelevant to the outcome.

Example: The concrete cylinders were cured in a water tank at 23 degrees Celsius for 28 days.

Tip: Avoid starting every sentence with 'I' or 'We' when describing standard lab protocols.

Shift to Active Voice for System Responses

When describing how a system or component reacts to a stimulus, use active voice to show direct cause and effect.

Example: The PID controller adjusted the motor speed to maintain a constant torque of 50 Nm.

Tip: Treat the hardware or software as the subject to make the technical mechanism clear.

Employ Active Voice for Research Findings

When presenting your conclusions or the significance of your data, active voice makes your claims stronger and more direct.

Example: Our analysis demonstrates that the carbon fiber reinforcement increases the tensile strength by 15%.

Tip: Use active verbs like 'indicates,' 'suggests,' or 'proves' to take ownership of your findings.

Minimize Wordiness in Technical Descriptions

Passive voice often requires more words (auxiliary verbs). In engineering reports with strict page limits, active voice helps maintain conciseness.

Example: The algorithm minimizes energy consumption (Active) vs Energy consumption is minimized by the algorithm (Passive).

Tip: Count the words in your abstract; switching to active voice can often save 10-15% of your word count.

Use Passive Voice to Emphasize the Object of Study

If the specific material or component is the most important element of the sentence, place it at the beginning using passive voice.

Example: The bridge spans were inspected using ultrasonic testing equipment.

Tip: If the 'who' is less important than the 'what,' stick with passive.

Avoid Dangling Modifiers in Passive Sentences

Engineering reports often fail when a passive sentence leaves the reader wondering who performed an action related to a modifying phrase.

Example: After calculating the Reynolds number, the flow was categorized as turbulent. (Incorrect: The flow didn't calculate the number).

Tip: Ensure the subject of the sentence is the one performing the action in the introductory phrase.

Clarify Software Interactions with Active Voice

When documenting code or CAD simulations, active voice clarifies which module is triggering an event.

Example: The Python script parses the CSV file and generates a stress-strain curve.

Tip: Think of your code as a series of active commands rather than a passive state.

Apply Passive Voice for Safety and Standards

When referencing industry standards or safety regulations, passive voice conveys a sense of established, objective truth.

Example: Hard hats and safety goggles must be worn at all times within the construction zone.

Tip: Use the passive 'must be' to indicate a requirement rather than a suggestion.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using passive voice to hide a lack of evidence or a weak engineering assumption.
• Overusing 'It was found that...' which adds unnecessary clutter to technical abstracts.
• Inconsistent voice within the same paragraph, switching between 'we measured' and 'it was measured' without a logical reason.
• Using passive voice for software functions, leading to ambiguity about which class or method is executing a task.
• Thinking that passive voice is the only way to sound 'professional' or 'scientific' in a lab report.

Pro Tips

• Read the 'Instructions for Authors' for the Journal of Fluid Mechanics; they have specific preferences for active voice in theoretical derivations.
• If a sentence contains 'by the,' it is likely passive; try flipping it to see if it reads faster and clearer.
• Use active voice when you are making a recommendation in a Feasibility Study to sound more authoritative.
• Reserve passive voice for the 'Materials' section where the objects are truly the stars of the text.
• Check your 'Discussion' section: if it is entirely passive, your personal contribution to the engineering field may be obscured.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is passive voice still the standard for engineering lab reports?

While passive voice remains standard for the 'Methods' and 'Materials' sections to emphasize objectivity, modern engineering curricula and journals increasingly encourage active voice for the 'Results' and 'Discussion' sections to improve clarity.

When should I use 'we' in a multi-author engineering paper?

Use 'we' when the authors are making a specific decision, such as 'We chose a sampling rate of 1 kHz to avoid aliasing.' This attribute's the technical choice to the researchers.

Can active voice make an engineering report sound too informal?

No, as long as the focus remains on the technical data. Saying 'The sensor recorded a spike' is active and professional, whereas 'A spike was recorded by the sensor' is simply wordier.

Does the IEEE style guide allow active voice?

Yes, IEEE specifically states that the use of the first person ('I' or 'we') is acceptable and often preferred for clarity in describing research contributions.

Related Resources

• How to Write an Active Vs Passive Voice for Computer Science

• How to Write an Active Vs Passive Voice for Biology

• How to Write an Active Vs Passive Voice for Psychology

• How to Write a Sentence Rewriting for Engineering

• How to Write Topic Sentences for Engineering

• How to Write a Paragraph Structure for Engineering

• Find Peer-Reviewed Sources with Sourcely

• Polish Your Writing with Revise AI