User blog:EvergreenFir/Passive Voice

Many wiki articles contain passive voice so I thought I'd write a quick blog about it. Passive voice is not inherently bad but tends to be over used and makes articles wordy and difficult to read. I hope that by describing passive voice, contributors will learn to recognize it and minimize it. Personally, I learned about it last year (i.e., no one ever told me about it).

There are two kinds of passive voice that I frequently see:
 * 1) Classic passive voice (direct object first)
 * 2) Step removed

Classic passive voice is when you either flip the position of the direct object and the subject or omit the subject altogether. The opposite of this is called active voice. Here are some examples (subjects are in green and direct objects are in purple : Subject/Direct object flip:
 * Active: Mabel eats her hair when she is nervous.
 * Passive: Mabel's hair is eaten by her when she is nervous.

Subject omitted: What I call "step removed" is not a passive verb tense but a manner of wording that removes the reader from the action. Typically, this appears in the "It is revealed..." or "It is shown..." form. It creates a tone of hesitation; don't be afraid to say something directly. Here are some examples: Step removed: In sum, say what happens and be direct about it. There are no pages minimums to meet so make it short and sweet. If you can say it in 5 words instead of 10, do so. I hope this helps some. If nothing else, this can help your writing for school.
 * Active: Wendy gave the keys to Dipper.
 * Passive: The keys were given to Dipper.
 * Passive: It is revealed that Mabel creates her own sweaters.
 * Non-passive: Mabel creates her own sweaters.
 * Passive: It is shown in "The Inconveniencing" that Dipper has a crush on Wendy.
 * Non-Passive: In "The Inconveniencing," Dipper has a crush on Wendy.

Cheers,  EvergreenFir  04:34, July 9, 2012 (UTC)

Resources: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/01/ http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/active-voice-versus-passive-voice.aspx http://www.dailywritingtips.com/7-examples-of-passive-voice/