Use The Active Voice
The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive:
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I shall always remember my first visit to Boston.
This is much better than
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My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me.
The latter sentence is less direct, less bold, and less concise. If the writer tries to make it more concise by omitting "by me,"
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My first visit to Boston will always be remembered,
it becomes indefinite: is it the writer, or some person undisclosed, or the world at large, that will always remember this visit?
This rule does not, of course, mean that the writer should entirely discard the passive voice, which is frequently convenient and sometimes necessary.
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The dramatists of the Restoration are little esteemed to-day.
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Modern readers have little esteem for the dramatists of the Restoration.
The first would be the right form in a paragraph on the dramatists of the Restoration; the second, in a paragraph on the tastes of modern readers. The need of making a particular word the subject of the sentence will often, as in these examples, determine which voice is to be used.
The habitual use of the active voice, however, makes for forcible writing. This is true not only in narrative principally concerned with action, but in writing of any kind. Many a tame sentence of description or exposition can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice for some such perfunctory expression as there is, or could be heard.
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There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground.
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Dead leaves covered the ground.
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The sound of the falls could still be heard.
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The sound of the falls still reached our ears.
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The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired.
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Failing health compelled him to leave college.
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It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he had.
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He soon repented his words.
As a rule, avoid making one passive depend directly upon another.
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Gold was not allowed to be exported.
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It was forbidden to export gold (The export of gold was prohibited).
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He has been proved to have been seen entering the building.
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It has been proved that he was seen to enter the building.
In both the examples above, before correction, the word properly related to the second passive is made the subject of the first.
A common fault is to use as the subject of a passive construction a noun which expresses the entire action, leaving to the verb no function beyond that of completing the sentence.
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A survey of this region was made in 1900.
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This region was surveyed in 1900.
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Mobilization of the army was rapidly carried out.
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The army was rapidly mobilized.
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Confirmation of these reports cannot be obtained.
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These reports cannot be confirmed.
Compare the sentence, "The export of gold was prohibited," in which the predicate "was prohibited" expresses something not implied in "export."
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One Response to “Use The Active Voice”
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Your comments about the use of the active voice in preference to the passive voice are quite pertinent. However, as I was quickly going through the article, one sentence just flashed in my mind. It is a famous saying involving a passive immediately dependent upon another passive. Allow me to quote it here:
‘”Justice must not only be done, but must also be seen to be done”.
What makes grammar hard to master for some is that it entails rules and exceptions. By the way, it is the exceptions, they say, that make the rules! Indeed, there would be no point in making rules if there were no exceptions to them! In the absence of exceptions, rules would be quite matter-of-fact.
It is worth noting also that the passive voice is used in lieu of the active voice when the subject of the passive sentence matters more than the actual doer of the action.
Examples: Rome was not built in a day.
Salt is obtained from sea water.
Emphasis is yet another factor that may determine the precedence of the passive over the active:
Examples: The moon was first explored by the Americans and NOT by the Russians!
Orders are given ONLY by me here and NOT by any Tom, Jack and Harry!