By Sunil Saxena
It is not that I did not try, but somehow I ended up writing more passive sentences than active ones.
I was not alone. There were many more in the class like me. All of us struggled to write sentences that were direct, used less words and revolved around the subject.
Our teacher could not hide her frustration. “You’ll continue to write dull, flat, and boring prose until you learn to use the active voice,” she would drone incessantly.
It was good advice. Even today, I review my writing for passive constructions and revise them into active voice. However, the process is challenging and requires considerable effort.
This is where Gen AI has made a magical difference. It can spot passive sentences in an instant and suggest active replacements.
I now submit all my blogs to ChatGPT, and it converts my passive writing from “dull and boring” to “sharp and energetic.”
You too can do the same.
My passive to active prompt
After several tries, I came up with a powerful prompt, which I now use.
I am sharing this prompt with you, so that you too can benefit.
Prompt: You are an expert editor. Please review the following text and convert all sentences written in passive voice into active voice, while preserving the original meaning and tone.
- Maintain grammatical accuracy and natural flow.
- If the subject performing the action is missing or unclear, make a logical assumption or suggest an appropriate subject.
- Use bold text to mark all edits in track-changes style.
- Provide explanations of the passive voice sentences that were revised.
Using the above prompt, a short blog post was submitted to ChatGPT.
ChatGPT’s response:
ChatGPT followed the prompt and:
· Marked all changes in bold making it easy for me to understand
· Made a side-by-side comparison of the original text with the edited text
· Converted passive constructions into active ones
· Provided an explanation of the revisions.
Here’s the edited version, where the active voice changes are marked in bold:
Akhilesh Kumar presented the image of a reticent old man interested in being with the ghosts of his past.
The only time he left his seat was either to sleep or to continue his lifelong habit of reading religious texts.
For the rest of his day, Kumar would sit listlessly in his chair. The TV played in the background, providing background noise while he reminisced about his recently departed wife.
Life changed when his wife Ananya Kumari passed away. Akhilesh and Ananya made an electric couple who radiated passion for life.
They hosted dinners and parties and invited all family members and friends.
What ChatGPT changed and why
There were five sentences that ChatGPT changed. It grouped the changes under three headings: Original, Edited (Active Voice) and Explanation.
For brevity and ease of reading, I am reproducing three of the five sentences:
Sentence 1
Original:
The only time he was away from his seat was either to sleep, or to continue his lifelong habit of reading religious texts.Edited (Active Voice):
He left his seat only to sleep or to continue his lifelong habit of reading religious texts.Explanation:
“He was away from his seat” is passive, focusing on the state rather than action. In the active version, “He left his seat” places the subject (he) in control of the action.Sentence 2
Original:
Things had been different till his wife Ananya Kumari passed away.Edited (Active Voice):
Life changed when his wife Ananya Kumari passed away.Explanation:
“Things had been different” is a passive, vague construction. The active version “Life changed” gives the sentence immediacy and energy.Sentence 3
Original:
There were dinners and parties where all family members and friends were invited.Edited (Active Voice):
They hosted dinners and parties and invited all family members and friends.Explanation:
“Family members and friends were invited” is in passive voice. Switching to “They invited” names the subject (they) and their action directly.
Do one more test before you go public
I was happy with the changes, but I wanted to be sure. I therefore submitted the edited passage to Google Gemini to locate passive constructions.
Google Gemini confirmed that there were no passive constructions in the passage.
You too can take the help of GenAI and get rid of passive constructions.
(The writer is Founder-Director of AI Media Academy.)
(This article was first published on Medium.com.)
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