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Heralding Heretic Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
Passive sentence
Greetings and salutations,
I have been told that it's best to avoid the use of passive sentences in writing. After reading and thinking about it for a bit, I mostly agree. Yet I still struggle in some instances to see if a passive structure is tolerable of not. For example in the following sentence:
I was no longer able to endure the agony that was provoked by the decaying hope of ever returning to that exceptional symbiosis.
There is a passive structure in the second part of the sentence, yet if I change it into:
The decaying hope of ever returning to that exceptional symbiosis provoked agony that I was no longer able to endure.
It doesn't feel better to me. So, my question is: which one do you think is better, and is there a good guideline to determine when passive structures are tolerable and when not?
Thanks.
I have been told that it's best to avoid the use of passive sentences in writing. After reading and thinking about it for a bit, I mostly agree. Yet I still struggle in some instances to see if a passive structure is tolerable of not. For example in the following sentence:
I was no longer able to endure the agony that was provoked by the decaying hope of ever returning to that exceptional symbiosis.
There is a passive structure in the second part of the sentence, yet if I change it into:
The decaying hope of ever returning to that exceptional symbiosis provoked agony that I was no longer able to endure.
It doesn't feel better to me. So, my question is: which one do you think is better, and is there a good guideline to determine when passive structures are tolerable and when not?
Thanks.
Top answer
Heralding Heretic Greetings and salutations, A simple 'hello' will better serve nowadays. Heralding Heretic I have been told that it's best to avoid the use of passive sentences in writing. Generally, active voice is more concise and direct, characteristics that are looked for in modern communication.
- Heralding Heretic Greetings and salutations, A simple 'hello' will better serve nowadays.
- Heralding Heretic I have been told that it's best to avoid the use of passive sentences in writing.
- Generally, active voice is more concise and direct, characteristics that are looked for in modern communication.
- The main exception is in scientific writing, as in journal articles, which eschew denonation of the agent so prefer passive voice.
- It doesn't feel better to me.
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2 Answers
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Heralding HereticGreetings and salutations,A simple 'hello' will better serve nowadays.
Heralding HereticI have been told that it's best to avoid the use of passive sentences in writing.Generally, active voice is more concise and direct, characteristics that are looked for in modern communication. The main exception is in
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