Danger! Passive Voice | August 2009 |
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Typical advice given writers is not to use the passive voice. What makes such advice problematic is that most of the people giving that advice generally fail to recognize the passive voice.
The most common misconception is that the passive voice involves all forms of the verb to be. Actually, it's rather depressing seeing how often such statements are made by writers, editors, and agents. The passive voice refers to a sentence in which the subject receives the action, whereas the active voice refers to a sentence in which the subject does the action. To be the recipient of an action doesn't necessarily mean that a sentence is weak or unworthy. For example,
Of course, it is easy to go wrong with the passive voice. For example,
To conclude, fearing the passive voice because it is the passive voice is silly. The passive voice can be used with dramatic effect, especially for suggesting an element of mystery. In terms of number, most sentences of anyone's writing will be in the active voice, but the passive - at the right moment - can give a little something extra. To denigrate the passive voice because of the word passive makes as much (or as little) sense as recommending perfect tenses for perfect writing. |