Per Dictionary.com, "active" is defined as "engaged in action...being in a state of existence, progress, or motion...involving physical effort and action...characterized by action, motion, volume, use, participation." The Free Dictionary website defines "passive" as "Receiving or subjected to an action without responding or initiating an action in return...Accepting or submitting without objection or resistance; submissive...Existing, conducted, or experienced without active or concerted effort." Whereas passive is done to, active does.
Active verbs let the reader know what the subject is doing. A boy runs. A woman cries. John and Susan married in Las Vegas. Passive verbs clutter the sentence by adding unnecessary words that say essentially the same information in a more passive voice that takes focus away from direct action. A boy is running. A woman is crying. John and Susan were married in Las Vegas. These verbs become weaker and less effective, and should be replaced with more specific action verbs.
A writer who uses these passive verbs establishes passive voice. He takes the focus off the subject and onto the action taken by the subject. The use of passive voice reverses the order of the proper sentence structure, which requires the passive verb to properly link the subject and the verb. Passive voice also overuses adverbs to modify weaker verbs rather than find a strong action verb to use in its place. The boy ran quickly. The boy sprinted. The woman cried hard. The woman sobbed.
Like in the written word, a passive attitude takes the focus off the direct action and places it on the indirect action. A passive aggressive person will not confront conflict, but rather indirectly address the problem through avoidance techniques. A passive person tends to allow situations to happen to them, rather than create opportunities for herself. She may "hit a wall" with a situation and rather than look for other solutions, will resign herself to the problem. Passive people run the risk of being people pleasers and ineffective as well as less successful.