they have been observed vs they have observed

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'They have been observed' is passive voice, indicating that someone else has observed them. 'They have observed' is active voice, indicating that they themselves have done the observing.

Last updated: March 28, 2024

they have been observed

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English, especially in passive voice constructions.

This phrase is used in passive voice to indicate that someone else has observed 'them'. It emphasizes the action of being observed rather than the observer.

Examples:

They have been observed by the researchers during the experiment.
The animals have been observed in their natural habitat for years.

Alternatives:

They were observed
They have been seen
They have been noticed
They have been watched
They have been monitored

they have observed

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English, especially in active voice constructions.

This phrase is used in active voice to indicate that 'they' themselves have done the observing. It emphasizes the action of observing rather than being observed.

Examples:

They have observed the behavior of the birds in the park.
The students have observed the effects of climate change in their project.

Alternatives:

They observed
They have seen
They have noticed
They have watched
They have monitored

What Our Customers Are Saying

Our customers love us! We have an average rating of 4.79 stars based on 283,125 votes.
Also check out our 2,100+ reviews on TrustPilot (4.9).

"Thank you!"
Sachi Nakama July 2024
"I have literally been through chat, PI, claude, bard and bing and I got conflicting answers! Thank you! Human intelligence reigns!"
Retha July 2024
"Faster than AI"
CYNTHIA December 2023
"This was very helpful and I personally think this site is the best."
Kaden October 2023
"It was extremely thorough and very helpful!"
imperialelisa October 2023
"7 years without any disappointment. Always 100% satisfied. You guys are the best in the world at what you do. Thank you so much :)"
Zubair Alam October 2023
"In a world of text messages and online communication, this is great to have as a live tool. Thank you."
Selena October 2023
"Without textranch I would be stuck!"
宏祐 October 2023
"Accuracy and fast response. Personal comments from editor. Thank you."
Clh September 2023
"I wasn't aware of this service, it's fascinating and more reliable than standard IA tools available on the internet"
Arturo September 2023
"The fact that you can get reliable fast feedback on your texts."
Vinicius Antonio August 2023
"you guys are better than grammarly i'm being honest here"
ordinary July 2023
"OMG! This is really good than any other text correction tools I've used so far. Highly recommend this."
Vehan July 2023
"Very fast and accurate. thank you."
mojtaba July 2023
"I love this app because it's help to writing skills all of students ♥️"
Tarisini July 2023
"This was exactly the mistake I was looking for, the wording dind´t sound right at first. Better than grammarly!"
Ente July 2023
"The immediate help that I received was reassuring and very satisfactory. Thanks."
priiiyanshuu July 2023
"this helps A LOT for my studies."
kathnunez02 June 2023
"Woow!! I would never have expected such precision! Thank you soooo much!!"
Berta June 2023
"Real Time Editor and not AI. Many Thanks."
Priya June 2023
"The very first thing excites me about Textranch is how much your editors care."
sepideh June 2023
"The fact that texts are checked by human editors rather than by AI, etc. I appreciate this!"
Анна June 2023
"Feel welcome, immediate response, high quality feedback"
martin.roy June 2023
"This is the best app that I have ever seen"
Burulai May 2023

they have been observed vs they have observed