![]() To revise the above, all I did was look for the two buried things (simulations and zones) in the original version that could actually do something, and I made the sentence clearly about these two nouns by placing them in front of active verbs. But the reader’s task gets much easier in the revised version below: Two model simulations (Figures 1 and 2) illustrate how zones of fracture concentration influence groundwater flow. As often happens, the passive voice here has smothered potential verbs and kicked off a runaway train of prepositions. The sentence is becoming a burden for the reader, and probably for the writer too. So why all the fuss? Because the habit of overusing passive constructions rules too many writers, who habitually produce grammatically tangled sentences such as this one: Groundwater flow is influenced by zones of fracture concentration, as can be recognized by the two model simulations (see Figures 1 and 2), by which one can see. ![]() The passive choice slightly emphasizes "the rate of evaporation," while the active choice emphasizes "the size of an opening." Simple. Passive voice: The rate of evaporation is controlled by the size of an opening.Īctive voice: The size of an opening controls the rate of evaporation. In fact, notice how the sentences below, depending on the context in which they appear, are equally acceptable: You are probably already able to identify whether or not sentences are written in the passive or active voice, but if not, here is a refresher: In the simplest terms, an active voice sentence is written in the form of "A does B." A passive voice sentence is written in the form of "A is done by B." Both constructions are fine. Further, your English textbook might suggest that the active sentence "Jack hit the baseball" is better than the passive sentence "The baseball was hit by Jack." As well-intentioned as they might be, these tidbits of advice don’t help much, do they? You are not likely to have anyone named Jack hitting any baseballs in your papers, and obviously both passive and active voice are powerful tools in the right hands. You may have had a frustrated (and frustrating?) professor write on your paper "Use passive voice!" or "Avoid passive voice!" during your studies, and your grammar checker will be happy to flag and condemn all passive sentences for you. Keep the subject and verb together in a sentence whenever possible.Teachers actually get fired up about this issue. TIPSĪvoid past tense “to be” (was/were) verbs when discussing action to avoid passive voice. The students earned their grades by their use of active voice. The grades were earned by the students based on their use of active voice.Īctive: The students submitted the essays to the professor, and the professor reviewed the essays. ![]() Passive: The essays were submitted to the professor by the students, and the essays were reviewed for grades. Your verb sill probably have to change to match the context of your new sentence (usually, this means that you will need to remove the “to be” verb and adjust the action verb). Once you have identified these key elements, restructure your sentence so that the “actor” comes first, the verb second, and the “receiver” last.
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