Voice indicates the relationship between a doer of an action and that action. Mood indicates the writer's attitude toward what is written. What is the difference between active and passive voice? What is the subjunctive mood?

To answer those and other questions about voice and mood, review the first of our four rules:

1.  Use active and passive voice appropriately.

• Use active voice to delineate responsibility.
  Not passive: Telephone numbers for facilities personnel will be provided. (Who will provide the numbers?)
  But active: Rhea Liable will provide telephone numbers for facilities personnel.
• Use active voice to give instructions.
  Not passive: All empty boxes should be stacked in Storage Area A. (Who should stack the boxes?)
  But active: Stack all empty boxes in Storage Area A. (You is the understood doer.)
• Use passive voice to emphasize completed action rather than the doer of the action.
  Not active: The post office returned 50 percent of the trade fair announcements because of incorrect addresses.
  But passive: Fifty percent of of the trade fair announcements were returned  because of incorrect addresses. (Obviously the announcements were returned by the post office.)
  Exception: Use active voice to emphasize completed action when the doer is understood to be I, as in status reports and resumes.
  Examples: Designed and implemented an advanced test system for reporting monthly sales totals. Created a process for hardware/software responsibilities resolution.
• Use passive voice to soften a harsh message.
  Not active: You didn't follow the suggested maintenance instructions. (Emphasizing the reader is too direct and harsh.)
  But passive: The suggested maintenance instructions were not followed. (Passive voice emphasizes the action to be corrected rather than directing attention to the reader.)