Passive: Difference between revisions
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A voice beloved of [[mediocre lawyer|lawyers]] and scientists, the passive voice saps even the most energetic sentence of its ''joie de vivre''; along the way obscuring responsibility for action and at the same time depersonalising and sterilising whatever meat there may have been. There are circumstances, to be sure, in which one should use the passive (if you can’t identify the author of the action, or if doing so might give offence), but in general a passive sentence is longer, flatter and more tedious to read. | A voice beloved of [[mediocre lawyer|lawyers]] and scientists, the passive voice saps even the most energetic sentence of its ''joie de vivre''; along the way obscuring responsibility for action and at the same time depersonalising and sterilising whatever meat there may have been. There are circumstances, to be sure, in which one should use the passive (if you can’t identify the author of the action, or if doing so might give offence), but in general a passive sentence is longer, flatter and more tedious to read than its [[active]] equivalent. | ||
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{{c2|grammar|Plain English}} | {{c2|grammar|Plain English}} | ||
Revision as of 16:16, 24 September 2016
A voice beloved of lawyers and scientists, the passive voice saps even the most energetic sentence of its joie de vivre; along the way obscuring responsibility for action and at the same time depersonalising and sterilising whatever meat there may have been. There are circumstances, to be sure, in which one should use the passive (if you can’t identify the author of the action, or if doing so might give offence), but in general a passive sentence is longer, flatter and more tedious to read than its active equivalent.
Plain English Anatomy™
Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | Preposition | Conjunction | Latin | Germany | Flannel | Legal triplicate | Nominalisation | Murder your darlings