Talking Good English
Amanda and I were discussing the merits (demerits?) of MS Word's grammar check last night, and we both were stumped when we tried to work our way through figuring out what "Passive Voice" is. I didn't think much about it (it was kind of a passing conversation), but a letter to Keith Olbermann regarding his recent apology in Salon mentions the passive voice, so I've done a little research on just what this beast is.
This explanation from Purdue University is the best I could find (and it was number one on the Google search for "passive voice". What a coincidence).
In sentences written in active voice, the subject performs the action expressed in the verb; the subject acts ... In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon.
In scientific writing ... passive voice is more readily accepted since using it allows one to write without using personal pronouns or the names of particular researchers as the subjects of sentences.
This blog entry was posted by AJ Schuster AJ Schuster posted this blog entry.
November 21, 2002 - 09:43 AM
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Passive voice. I’m an English major and proud of uf it, but my English comrades and I tend to be stumped over this one. Most of us pretend to understand what it is, but hardly any of us can actually describe, coherently, what it is. Bravo, AJ. You are fantastic.
I’m not ever going to pretend to get it….And to whom does it matter?
hello