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“The Passive Engineer”. Reported by Austin Fadely. Passive voice (PV) is a specific style of writing. It emphasizes action rather than actors. Passive constructions are a form of the verb “to be” and a past participle. Not many people understand the purpose of passive voice.
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“The Passive Engineer” Reported by Austin Fadely
Passive voice (PV) is a specific style of writing. It emphasizes action rather than actors. Passive constructions are a form of the verb “to be” and a past participle. Not many people understand the purpose of passive voice. Active voice (AV) emphasizes actors. Active constructions are anything that is not a combination of “to be” and a past participle. What is passive, what is active?
Passive i.e.: The ball was thrown (by Tom). Notice the verb constructions. Also notice that by Tom is not needed. You can omit the actor with PV. Active i.e.: Tom threw the ball. Tom is the subject, not the ball. Emphasis is on actor, not action. Passive vs. Active
First bad reason to use PV : “it sounds objective.” • Many professions require objectivity, like engineers, scientists and businesspeople • But the passive voice can be vague, and it will not hide bad or subjective methods • Good writers do not compromise their objectivity by being vague
Second bad reason to use PV:“I” and “We” sounds unprofessional. • Not true, “I” and “We” does not sound unprofessional; just avoid sounding tedious. • PV is more of a political tool; it can be used to completely omit the actors. • One can use PV to avoid taking responsibility i.e.: “mistakes were made” (PE).
Sometimes it’s good to be vague • There are cases where one wants to be vague; otherwise, we would not have the passive voice. • PV can soften harsh or alarming comments. • i.e.: “the resume was sent without being proofread” (PE) • This sounds less harsh than, “I sent your resume without proofreading it.”
The good reason to use PV: emphasize results. • Since the subject of PV is always the action, PV can be used to emphasize results. • i.e.: I collected the data. • vs.: The data were collected. • The latter is an example of PV, and it emphasizes “data” rather than “I.”
So when is it okay to use PV? • 1. When the actor is not important. • i.e.: The Statue of Liberty was given to the U.S. (who cares who built it, haha). • 2. When you do not know who the actor is. • i.e.: The house was robbed last night. (Nobody knows who did it). • 3. When the actor wishes to remain nameless. • i.e.: $1000 was donated to the sanctuary.
When should PV be avoided? • 1. When writing instructions. • PV can often be wordy and confusing if it is used too often, as is the case with instructions. • It is too easy to lose track of who should do what. • i.e.: A is connected to B on apparatus X which is then connected to cord F which is fed into apparatus Q. • vs.: Connect A to B; then connect X to cord F, and feed cord F into apparatus Q.
When should PV be avoided? • 2. Do not use “it” constructions like “it should be noted that…, it would seem that…etc….” • Using these “it” constructions does not clarify anything; they just take up room and time.
Works Cited • “The Passive Engineer,” Professional Training Company. Updated: Nov 21, 2005 <http://blackboard.umbc.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_15124_1>Accessed: Feb. 24, 2006.
