Verbs Consistent In Mood And Voice

Moods and tones should be maintained throughout your text. While your reader won’t necessarily get confused if you switch from one voice to another, it will affect their reaction to the information you’re giving them. For instance, the passive voice is not terribly firm, and your reader may not get too excited about what they’re reading; the active voice sounds very forceful and can incline the reader to believe whatever you say.

Passive Voice/Active Voice

Mahatma Gandhi talked about independence, and cultural changes were made.

Mahatma Gandhi talked about independence and helped make cultural changes.

Independence was inspired partly by Mahatma Gandhi, and cultural changes were made.

Subjunctive/Indicative

The mother insisted that her daughter wear a winter coat and puts on a hat.

The mother insisted that her daughter wear a winter coat and put on a hat.

Conditional/Unconditional

If there were more employment opportunities, people will invest more in their education.

If there were more employment opportunities, people would invest more in their education.

Impersonal/Personal (Informal/Formal)

One might consider the negative consequences of plagiarism, and you also want to watch your back if you help someone else cheat.

One might consider the negative consequences of plagiarism, and one might also consider the consequences of helping another to cheat.

You might want to think about what’ll happen if you cheat, and you also want to watch your back if you help someone else cheat.

In formal writing, if you’re writing an opinion piece or a personal essay, you can use I. If you’re explaining your opinion, beliefs, or point of view, the use of third person can sometimes sound stilted and unnatural. Be sure to maintain the tone and mood of your whole piece.