Grammatically speaking, writing in the passive voice is not wrong. However, it is important to know the difference between passive and active voice. The active voice tends to be more direct, which is necessary in business and professional writing. Knowing the difference between these two voices is important because “the habitual use of the active voice…makes for forcible writing” (The Element of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White).
In the active voice, the subject of the sentence acts. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon — the subject isn’t “doing” the action. Let’s look at a simple example:
(Active) I love you.
(Passive) You are loved by me.
In the first sentence (the active voice), “I” am the subject and “I” do the action (“love”). The second sentence isn’t as straightforward or direct. The subject of the sentence is “you” and “you” don’t do anything — “you” are the recipient of the action (“love”).
To clarify, let’s look at a few more examples:
(Active) Your letter of October 9, 2009 arrived today.
(Active) We received your letter of October 9, 2009 today.
(Passive) Your letter of October 9, 2009 was received by us today.
(Active) The “spell-check” feature makes correcting my spelling easier.
(Passive) Correcting my spelling is made easier with the “spell-check” feature.
(Active) The administrative assistant filed the report.
(Passive) The report was filed by the administrative assistant.
Tip: Nearly 100% of the time, the active voice uses fewer words than the passive voice. It is more direct and usually conveys a clearer message.
Remember that neither voice is grammatically incorrect. However, most business writing needs a clearer, more direct voice to convey a clear message, so use the active voice.
Exception: In instances when diplomacy and tact are necessary, the passive voice tends to sound softer. The passive voice works well to convey unpleasant news.
(Active) I find your work unsatisfactory.
(Passive) Your work has been found unsatisfactory.
No comments:
Post a Comment