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Jenthecute Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

What do you think of 'passive voice'?

0What's your opinion about 'passive voice'?02br
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00I was told to use the active voice rather than passive voice to express myself clearly. 02br
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00And I think it's ture at most of the times. Well, if that's true....02br
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00When do you use the passive voice, then?02br
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00Could you take a look at the sentence below?02br
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00ex) Your computer will ask you to enter the password. 02br
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00I don't think it's wrong in anyways, but... I can't really pinpoint why beacuse I'm not a native speaker.. 02br
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00but still.. I wanted to change it to "You will be asked to enter the password."(I didn't have to mention the word 'computer' because the article was about computer anyway.) using passive voice. Like I have mentioned, I couldn't really pinpoint why, but I thought my sentence sounded more professional and clearer. 02br
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00Well, it's okay even if I'm wrong, but the question is:02br
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00If you occasionally use the passive voice over the active voice(which is known for more effective way!!) WHEN IS IT???02br
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00and could you tell me the differences between the two in terms of a nuance and feelings?02br
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00TAHNK YOU VERY MUCH IN ADVANCE and have a great weeked!!!! :->02br
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00p.s. The sentence above was from one of those manuals. And I was wondering if they avoid using the passive voice in technical writing!!02br
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00Any technical writers here??? :->0-
  

Top answer

0 01table 01tr 01td 02br 02br 00As far as I know, you mostly use passive voice for business purpose. 02br 02br 00For example:02br 02br 001. 02br 02br 002.

— Vannessgal

  • 0 01table 01tr 01td 02br 02br 00As far as I know, you mostly use passive voice for business purpose.
  • 02br 02br 00For example:02br 02br 001.
  • 02br 02br 002.
  • 02br 02br 00No.
  • 2 sounds more formal.
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6 Answers
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0 01table01tr01td
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00As far as I know, you mostly use passive voice for business purpose. 02br
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00For example:02br
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001. I will deliver the documents tomorrow morning.02br
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002. The documents will be delivered tomo
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Jenthecute12cite10What's your opinion about 'passive voice'?12br
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10I was told to use the active voice rather than passive voice to express myself clearly. 12br
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10And I think it's ture at most of the times. Well, if that's true....12br
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10When do you use the
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0Yes, I am both a technical writer and "business" writer. And as a business writer, I continue to fight the perception that overly wordy phrasing, the passive voice, and other things that get in the way of clear, concise information is a more "business-like" way of doing thing. 02br
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00Goodman is entirely correct - One reason to use the passsive is when you want to emphas
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0 Hello Jen the Cute02br
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00I'm neither a native speaker nor a technical writer, but I have written several scientific reports for international journals in the past. So, although other people have already made good answers, let me throw my 2 cents to your question.02br
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00It is true that many of writing manuals recommend us to use active voice as
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0thanks a lot!!! 050010id1
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Paco200412cite10But still we need to use passive voice in situations as follows.12br
10(1) When we want to talk about a 'done-er' rather than the 'doer'.12br
10 "John was killed in the war." (rather than "Somebody killed John in the war")11font10 The fact that he died is m
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