College Essay Passive Voice Text

Jonathan Friesen - Writing Coach

Choosing between active and passive voice verbs when writing usually, effective writing uses the active voice and shuns the passive. Nevertheless, some situations are awkward or inappropriate when expressed in the active voice. reasons to use the passive voice:

    the agent doer of the action is unimportant. 1 to de emphasize the agent 146 s role in the action
      the alarm was triggered by my son. 93
    2 to emphasize the party receiving the action reasons to use the active voice:
      the active voice is shorter and more direct.

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        the active voice is less awkward and clearly states relationship between subject and action. passive: your request for funding has been denied by the review committee.
          the active voice sentence pattern propels the reader forward through your writing thus avoiding weak prose.
        used with permission from oregon state university business writing web page by donna shaw w.orst.edu identifying passive voice verbs ar 1/21/02 verbs have two voices: active and passive. In active voice sentences, the verb expresses the action in the sentence, the subject performs the action, and the object is the recipient of the action. The passive voice requires a double verb and will always consist of a form of the verb to be and the past participle usually the en/ed/t form of another verb.

        Example: is kicked writers should be familiar with the forms of to be so that they can easily identify the passive voice in their work. Passive sentences can be easily transformed into active sentences when the object of the preposition by is moved to the subject position in the sentence. level 1: directions: change the sentences below to the passive voice.

          children cannot open these bottles easily. Have you seen the new movie that was directed by ron howard? my car is in the garage being fixed by a dubious mechanic. A great deal of our oil will have been exported to other countries by our government.

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        used with permission from oregon state university business writing web page by donna shaw w.orst.edu level 2 revision practice: avoiding passive voice verbs read this essay carefully paying special attention to passive voice verbs. Revise the essay by changing the passive verbs into active verbs where appropriate. Mistakes
          technological civilization has reached its present advanced state by the trial and error behavior of those who lived before us. Many of the most useful discoveries and inventions were the result of mistakes when people were looking for something else. The discovery of penicillin was speeded by somebody who left a loaf of bread out to get moldy. Think how far behind ourselves we 146 d be now if mistakes were impossible for us to make.

          Our knowledge is also increased by our mistakes, if only because once a mistake has been made, a way of correcting it must be found. If the mistake had not been made by us in the first place, we might have had no reason to learn how things are done. As a result of my mistakes, since i did discover them, i learned the difference between continuous and continual i learned that useful has only one l and that the rule goes for hundreds of other words, like wasteful.

          Had i made no mistakes in the first place, i might have had a pretty good essay, but i would still not have known why. If columbus had thought san salvador was india and let things go at that, the world would be smaller today. Had the moldy bread been tossed to the birds, the birds might have become healthy while human life went on suffering from raging diseases.

          I realize these statements are somewhat doubtful, but now i 146 m so curious about columbus and penicillin that i 146 m going to learn the real facts tomorrow. Mistakes are made by computers, but only rarely by comparison with the human brain 146 s continual bumbling. Human beings, one might say, have emotions and desires and prejudices that mistakes are the result of. If the time should ever come when most of the world 146 s work is done by computers rather than by people, fewer mistakes will be made.

          And fewer mistakes will mean fewer of those useful discoveries and inventions brought about by the stumblings of the human species. Wendell smith p 112 114. answers for level 2 revision practice: avoiding passive voice verbs you should have used the active voice to replace passive in lines 5 6, 7 8, 11, 12, 1, 25, 34, 37, 39, and 42 43. Remember an occasional passive voice sentence, if not awkward, may be appropriate.

            the particular topic chosen by the instructor for study in his section of english 2 must be approved by the steering committee. 93 recommendations concerning the type of study needed to assure adequate definition of the larger problem and develop feasible options in programs designed to eliminate or greatly reduce both the direct and indirect effects within a reasonable time and at acceptable cost were presented in the report.

            93 avoidance of such blunders should not be considered a virtue for which the student is to be commended, any more than he would be praised for not wiping his hands on the tablecloth or polishing his shoes with guest towels. 93 collaborative analytical determinations were utilized to assess the probable consequences of mechanical failure. 93 the difference between restrictives and nonrestrictives can also be better approached through a study of the different contours that mark the utterance of the two kinds of element than through confusing attempts to differentiate the two by meaning. 93 individuals whose income is insufficient to lift them above poverty must be provided with assistance from public sources. 93 in the next thirty five years it is expected that there will be more engineering work to be done than has been done in all of recorded history. 93 if expansion is not accomplished, then two less efficient alternatives must be acted upon: either the book sales will have to be in separate quarters or else the whole enterprise will have to be moved to a new location.

            93 trees on average sites are expected to be about twenty inches in diameter when they are eighty years old if they are managed properly since youth. 93 any amended declaration should be filed with the internal revenue office with whom the original declaration was filed even if you move to another district.

          what are the differences between passive and active voice? when do you use them? is there an advantage in using one over the other? choosing the voice of verb for a research paper ndash or for any form of writing ndash can be a tricky task.