We’re kicking off the New Year with simple tricks and heuristics that are guaranteed to improve your writing and help you develop a sharper sense of style. But, unlike the confusing and sometimes counterintuitive rules of traditional style guides, this series offers a refreshing and relevant take on writing readable texts of all kinds.
When used properly, passive voice can improve your writing.
There are two major voices in the English language: the active voice and the passive voice.
The active voice is used when the subject of the sentence does something to someone else. For example: “A dog bit Jack on the leg.” The subject in the sentence (the dog) bites the object (Jack) and is therefore active.
The passive voice is used when the subject of the sentence is being acted upon. For example, “Jack was bitten in the leg by a dog.” In this case, the subject (Jack) is passive, while the object (the dog) is active.
As you can see, the passive voice tends to make a sentence more verbose. You will often see it used in academic and bureaucratic writing, which tends to be both tiresome and difficult to read. Consequently, editors and style guides have frowned upon the passive voice for ages.
In his 1946 essay, Politics and the English Language, the influential writer George Orwell suggested that the active voice should always be used in favor of the passive voice. And over the years, editors have agreed — often blindly changing sentences written in the passive voice.
But the passive voice has its advantages, and a good writer (or editor) should know when to use it.
Sometimes, for example, the active voice does an awkward job of conveying information. Take this troublesome sentence, written in the active voice:
“Another man, he says, whom someone had told to get rid of the puppy, gave the dog to him.”
This can be simplified using the passive voice:
“The puppy, he says, was given to him by another man who was told to get rid of the dog.”
Remember, the goal is to keep your writing clear and concise, so anything that helps you do that is fair game.
The passive voice also allows you to direct your reader’s attention in ways the active voice cannot. For example, it’s always good to start sentences and paragraphs by focusing on the subject at hand.
Let’s imagine you’re trying to do this in an essay about red-tailed hawks. Using the active voice might result in:
“Bird watchers observed the red-tailed hawk eating...”
But with the passive voice, you can place a spotlight on your subject, making it the primary focus:
“The red-tailed hawk was observed eating...”
After all, you’re writing about red-tailed hawks, not bird watchers!
Until next week…
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