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#Active vs passive voice in technical writing plus

Remember: passive voice is strictly a grammatical property, defined as a form of “be” or “get” plus the past participle.Ī passive-voice clause is grammatically complete and valid without the “by” phrase that tells us the agent of the action passive voice can therefore erase the agent of an action, making it difficult or impossible for readers to discern who is doing what: (Has both components of passive voice: “be” plus the past participle.) Passive present progressive: Aunt Judy is being devoured by that chicken.

(Includes a form of “be” but with the present participle.)

Active present progressive: Aunt Judy is devouring that chicken.

The only verb form that uses “to be.” Looking for “to be” verbs in your writing is one way to find passive constructions, but it’s a somewhat crude instrument given that certain other tenses also use “to be”:.

Active versions: The IRB reviewed / is reviewing / will review the contents of the questionnaire.

Future and passive: The contents of the questionnaire will be reviewed by the IRB.

Present progressive and passive: The contents of the questionnaire are being reviewed by the IRB.

Past and passive: The contents of the questionnaire were reviewed by the IRB.

Although it always contains the past participle, passive voice can be in any tense, depending on which form of “be” or “get” (plus any auxiliary verbs) it uses:

Passive and concrete: The cat was launched from the trampoline by the tremendous force of the impact.

Active and abstract: The germ theory of disease initially eluded the medical community.

Both active and passive voice can convey any kind of action, provided there’s an agent and a recipient involved:

Solely for expressing abstract or “uneventful” actions.

Passive and tentative: This thesis should probably be read by anyone interested in the emerging uses of nanolaminates.

Passive and assertive: This thesis must be read by anyone interested in the emerging uses of nanolaminates.

Active and tentative: Those with an interest in the emerging uses of nanolaminates might consider reading this thesis.Active and assertive: Those with an interest in the emerging uses of nanolaminates must read this thesis.Passive voice can be diffident or assertive, as can active voice: It’s therefore important to be able to differentiate passive voice from these other qualities. Passive voice sometimes gets confused with a number of other, unrelated properties of writing-none of them inherently undesirable. If a verb does not have these components, it’s not in passive voice.įor practice spotting passive voice in your writing, see the GWC video tutorial Recognizing Passive Voice and accompanying infographic. The past participle is a fixed form of the verb used to create various tenses just look for a verb that appears to be in the past tense.Įvery passive-voice verb will have these two components. The past participle of some verb (“crossed”).A form of the verb “be” or “get” (in our example, “was”).In particular, every passive-voice verb has two telltale features: the verb changes to reflect these new roles.the agent performing the action appears in a prepositional phrase, after the word “by” and.the entity receiving the action is the subject of the sentence.That’s because, when a clause is in passive voice, Note the crisscrossing positions of the sentence elements. In 1776, the Delaware was crossed by Washington. the recipient of the action comes after the verb, as the object ("the Delaware").the verb tells us what the agent is doing ("crossed") and.the agent-whoever or whatever is performing the action-is the subject ("Washington").In 1776, Washington crossed the Delaware.

That said, passive voice does have some legitimate purposes, and it’s often confused with other grammatical characteristics, such as the past tense being able to differentiate between passive voice and other constructions and knowing when and why to avoid it will give you much greater control over the clarity and rhetorical effect of your writing.Īctive and passive voice are an issue only in sentences in which one entity-the agent-is doing something-the action-to another entity-the recipient.Īctive voice is the standard subject–verb–object sentence structure: Use of passive voice is among the most frequently invoked sentence-level criticisms, and with good reason: the essential components of a clause-the subject(s) and verb(s)-exist precisely to tell us who is doing what, and the passive voice can undermine that function, obscuring what entity is responsible for what action. Got an active schedule? See the eight-minute version on Quick Clips & Tips, where you can also peruse our infographic!