voice-over

Meaning

A 'voice-over' is a piece of narration in a movie, documentary, or commercial where the speaker is not seen on screen. It is used to provide background information, express a character's inner thoughts, or describe what is happening.

Examples

• The documentary used a dramatic voice-over to explain the history of the ruins.

  The documentary used a dramatic voice-over to explain the history of the ruins.

• She does voice-over work for animated movies and video games.

  She does voice-over work for animated movies and video games.

• The movie starts with a voice-over by the main character explaining his childhood.

  The movie starts with a voice-over by the main character explaining his childhood.

• I didn't like the voice-over in the commercial; it sounded too aggressive.

  I didn't like the voice-over in the commercial; it sounded too aggressive.

• He hired a professional actor to record the voice-over for his presentation.

  He hired a professional actor to record the voice-over for his presentation.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ The movie had a background voice explaining the story.

  ✓ The movie had a voice-over explaining the story.

  'Background voice' is not the correct industry or everyday term. The standard term for off-screen narration is 'voice-over'.

• ✗ He spoke a voice-over for the cartoon.

  ✓ He did a voice-over for the cartoon.

  We usually use the verbs 'do', 'record', or 'provide' with 'voice-over', not 'speak'.

Related Expressions

Practice

• The actor recorded a ___ for the new perfume commercial.

  💡 Off-screen spoken commentary.

  Show answer

  voice-over

• Many nature documentaries rely heavily on a calm ___ to describe animal behavior.

  💡 Narration where the speaker is not seen.

  Show answer

  voice-over