{"id":60371,"date":"2021-11-23T01:29:20","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T06:29:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=60371"},"modified":"2021-11-23T01:29:20","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T06:29:20","slug":"check-for-the-passive-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/check-for-the-passive-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Check for the passive voice"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nPassive voice. Put simply, the active voice is when the actor, the person doing the action, is named. The writer does not name the actor when using passive voice.<\/p>\n

Ironically, the first sentence above does not name the actor \u2013 it is as if action of writing in the active voice just magically happens. However, in the second sentence, the writer is responsible for naming who is acting \u2013 the writer.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s what happens when you use passive voice. The active agent disappears, and the focus is on the recipient of the action. Let me illustrate again.<\/p>\n

Academic writing is typically weighted more to the passive voice than the writing found in newspapers, magazines and fiction. (That first sentence, and this one as well, are both written in the passive voice.) We academic writers are so accustomed to reading passive voice that we really only notice when there is too much of it, or not enough.<\/p>\n

Too many sentences in the passive voice puts even the experienced academic reader to sleep. But too many sentences in the active voice may give the reader the sense that they are not reading a scholarly work.<\/p>\n

We might ask ourselves \u2013 why is passive voice such a strong academic writing convention? Perhaps it\u2019s because the passive voice creates an illusion of objectivity. The text appears to deal only with facts. Research results appear untouched by researchers, events, places or times. Conclusions appear logical and unassailable because writer-researchers and their decisions are removed from consideration. Researcher\u2019s interpretations, interests, cultural positioning and their beliefs are excised \u2013 it is as if the human has no possible bearing on what is reported and argued.<\/p>\n

But academic writing doesn\u2019t\u00a0have<\/em>\u00a0to be like this. If the omniscient, but absent. researcher is not your preferred (epistemological) position then you might want to check your use of passives. Check knowing that writing in passive voice is a choice, not a matter of blindly following convention -nor is it simply about opting for a particular readable style (although that is very important).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to have some strategies that you can use to help you make decisions about how and when to write in the active and\/or passive voice. Here\u2019s one approach. It is a strategy for revising.<\/p>\n

Read through your text underlining the sentences are that in the passive voice. You can often find passive voice by looking for sentences that use the verbs\u00a0am, is, was, were, are, been, has, had<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Once you have located the sentences using the passive, you can then visually assess the balance. If the weighting seems rather skewed one way or another, you can then do some targeted rewriting, adjusting the passive\/active ratio. But before reaching for the mouse and keyboard, it\u2019s very helpful to check where the meaning becomes clearer through the switch.<\/p>\n

Of course I\u2019m not suggesting you need to write entirely in the active voice. There are actually some circumstances where you may decide to keep the passive voice. But in order to decide what these are, it is helpful to assess your underlined sentences and then decide what to do.<\/p>\n

When you find a sentence written in the passive voice ask yourself:<\/p>\n