![]() The humanities, on the other hand, privilege individual interpretation and argument, so writing for these fields should nearly always be written in the active voice. The passive voice is usually a good rule of thumb for scientific writing because the sciences want to de-emphasize the one doing the research and emphasize the research itself. Notice that the second sentence is better even though it’s written in the passive voice - because it’s putting the emphasis on the right part. The results were analyzed for possible errors in the data collection and calculations.What’s emphasized here? The “I”, right? But the researcher isn’t the important part of that sentence the results are. I analyzed my results to see if I had made any errors in the data collection or calculations.While this might seem like an arbitrary choice, these preferences actually make sense. The sciences and social sciences (think: biology, chemistry, psychology) usually prefer the passive style. The humanities (disciplines like English, history, and philosophy) tend to prefer the active style. There are also disciplinary preferences for active versus passive voice. Both of these sentences are equally correct - it’s up to you, the writer, to decide where the emphasis should go and craft a sentence that does that. In the second sentence-the passive one-the families are placed in the spotlight instead. Since it is the subject of the sentence, the reader pays more attention to that than the families mentioned later. ![]() ![]() In the first sentence, the earthquake is the center of attention. Over 250 families within in a twenty mile radius were displaced by yesterday’s earthquake.The earthquake displaced over 250 families within a twenty mile radius.Look at the two sentences below and think about what is being emphasized in each one: In general, the main difference between passive and active sentences is what you want to emphasize. So now you know that you shouldn’t automatically trust the “Don’t use passive voice EVER!” rule, but how do you decide which style to use in a given situation? Keep reading to find out when to use active voice and when to use passive voice –and, even more importantly, why. However, the “don’t use passive voice ever!” rule is also misleading, since there are times that it is appropriate. In most writing, you’ll want to use active verbs because they are more energetic and specific. The second sentence tells you right away who discouraged the passive sentences, which helps the reader immediately understand what the sentence is about. While the first sentence doesn’t break any rules, its meaning is more vague-you have to read to the very end of the sentence before you know who discouraged the passive sentences. In general, teachers recommend avoiding “to be” verbs and using more specific verbs because this makes writing more active and more concise. Active: The teacher discouraged passive sentences.īoth sentences say the same thing, right? So why do teachers forbid the passive voice?.Passive: Passive sentences were discouraged by the teacher.Here’s an example of two sentences that say the same thing but in passive versus active voice: Grammatically, “passive sentences” are sentences that use forms of “to be” as their main verb –things like be, am, is, are, was, were, being, and been. When the agent (i.e.Most of us have heard the order from teachers: “Make your sentences active!,” they say, or “Don’t use the passive voice!” But what exactly is the passive voice? What does that even mean?.Things would probably be easier if it were, but there are contexts in which passive voice is essential and the most appropriate rhetorical choice you can make. This is good advice and a helpful guideline, but it's not an absolute rule. Most students have been told at some point in their English education that they should avoid using the passive You can often identify passive voice by other indicators: the main verb in the sentence may be accompanied by the verb to be and a "by-phrase" that includes the subject, as in "My cashmere sweater was torn to pieces by my cat." ExampleĢ is written in the passive voice in this instance, the subject receives the action. (passiveĮxample 1 is written in the active voice in this case, the subject ("She") performs an action. The window was shut to keep out the rain.She shut the window to keep out the rain.In order to understand what passive voice is, consider
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