on passive voice
1. Recognizing Passive Voice
Watch out for too much passive voice. Look
for "of, for, by, at" which usually indicate you're
using a passive voice.
Avoid there was, there were, or forms of
the verb "to be" such as: am, are is, was, were unless
the meaning calls for the passive voice — action down to
something or someone. Personalize passive sentences into active
voice by including people as the the subject. Use energy verbs:
pump, tease, purr, shout, motivate, etc.How to changing to
Active Voice
1. The active voice shows who is doing
something
2. Look for these: is, was, are, being
3. Use of these verb forms require the
subject to be a non-person.
4. Add a personal subject
5. When you want to retain a non-person
subject, change the verb. Ex. Complaints have been answered
by the arguement to Complaints provoke the arguement.
When to use Passive Voice
1. The passive voice shows who is acted
upon.
2. The words used to form the passive voice
are so common that subconsciously it causes the reader to ignore
what is being said.
3. Good for drawing the reader's attention
to the person who suffers or gets something.
4. Ex. of good use of passive: "Mr.
Miller was killed in an accident or Billie was showered with
birthday presents."
Copyright 2001, Robert I. Winer, M.D.
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