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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Essay & Composition Writing
How to avoid using the passive voice in a report.
Hello,
I recently wrote my thesis, the first piece of formal report writing I had done it a long time. From high school, I remember being told not to use first person pronouns in a piece of writing. This lead to a style of writing that avoids the use of first person pronouns being adopted. I later discovered this to be the "passive voice" and saw several articles advising against its use. I read quite a few reports, and they often fluctuate between the passive voice and first person pronouns to avoid overusing either of the two. However, these reports are in the most part written by computer scientists, I'm not going to explain the rammifications. Is there a simple rule that a simpleton computer scientist like myself could easily follow? Any other recommendations?
I recently wrote my thesis, the first piece of formal report writing I had done it a long time. From high school, I remember being told not to use first person pronouns in a piece of writing. This lead to a style of writing that avoids the use of first person pronouns being adopted. I later discovered this to be the "passive voice" and saw several articles advising against its use. I read quite a few reports, and they often fluctuate between the passive voice and first person pronouns to avoid overusing either of the two. However, these reports are in the most part written by computer scientists, I'm not going to explain the rammifications. Is there a simple rule that a simpleton computer scientist like myself could easily follow? Any other recommendations?
Top answer
Dear I-doubt-you're-a-simpleton, The passive voice is used (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance. Do not mix and match. Be consistent and, if you see your HS teacher again, tell him or her that their advice was correct for everything BUT computer, medical or other technical writing.
- Dear I-doubt-you're-a-simpleton, The passive voice is used (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance.
- Do not mix and match.
- Be consistent and, if you see your HS teacher again, tell him or her that their advice was correct for everything BUT computer, medical or other technical writing.
- Regards, JohnParis
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4 Answers
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Dear I-doubt-you're-a-simpleton,
The passive voice is used (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance.
Do not mix and match. Be consistent and, if you see your HS teacher again, tell him or her that their advice was correct for ev
The passive voice is used (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or principle being described is of ultimate importance.
Do not mix and match. Be consistent and, if you see your HS teacher again, tell him or her that their advice was correct for ev
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Hi,
When advising against the use of first-person, people usually suggest the use of third-person.
eg Instead of 'I believe alcohol should be illegal', say 'Alcohol should be illegal' or perhaps 'Some people believe that alcohol should be illegal'.
When advising against the use of first-person, people usually suggest the use of third-person.
eg Instead of 'I believe alcohol should be illegal', say 'Alcohol should be illegal' or perhaps 'Some people believe that alcohol should be illegal'.
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You have only two choices:
1) Use active voice. Then you have to include a subject - the actor - in each sentence.
e.g.:
I finished writing and testing the software that implemented the *** algorithm. I designed it for high performance parallel processing so the code will run on shared-nothing LINUX clusters, or distributed over the Internet using individual personal com
1) Use active voice. Then you have to include a subject - the actor - in each sentence.
e.g.:
I finished writing and testing the software that implemented the *** algorithm. I designed it for high performance parallel processing so the code will run on shared-nothing LINUX clusters, or distributed over the Internet using individual personal com
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Apparently, even in science/medical writing they are moving away from passive now. At least according to this artcicle.
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