When do or don't I use passive voice?

Question

Hello all,

First to clarify: I am a non native speaker and I am writing my graduation paper in English.

I have come to the conclusion (as Word 2016 suddenly comments on my writing) that I have used the passive voice in my documents.

I have tried to gain the knowledge on this subject, but I have not found the best explanation yet.

Can anyone here tell me/show me a good explanation (or where the explanation is written)?

For example;

- ... , but that will be globally provided.

The is stated as passive voice. Do I make it 'active voice' by clarifying by whom it will be globally provided?

- ... , but the supplier will globally provide that.

Is any of the above wrong to use?

Thanks in advance.

Rowan

3/28/2017 | Rowan from Schenectady, NY

Answer 1

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When do or don't I use passive voice?

Hello all,

First to clarify: I am a non native speaker and I am writing my graduation paper in English.

I have come to the conclusion (as Word 2016 suddenly comments on my writing) that I have used the passive voice in my documents.

I have tried to gain the knowledge on this subject, but I have not found the best explanation yet.

Can anyone here tell me/show me a good explanation (or where the explanation is written)?

For example;

- ... , but that will be globally provided.

The is stated as passive voice. Do I make it 'active voice' by clarifying by whom it will be globally provided?

- ... , but the supplier will globally provide that.

Is any of the above wrong to use?

Thanks in advance.

Rowan

3/28/2017 | Rowan from Schenectady, NY

Answer 2

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When do or don't I use passive voice?

Answer 3

Hi Rowan,

Passive Voice is appropriate when the person doing the action is not important at the time. What you want to stress is the action, not the "actor". Let me give an example.

Let's say your computer breaks and you get it repaired. Three days later you're working on your computer with a friend and it breaks down again. You may say, "That computer was just repaired 3 days ago!". Under the circumstance, you're focused on the computer repair, not on who repaired it. Now, if you decide to bring the computer to a different repair person, you can say, "XYZ Computer repaired this computer 3 days ago." Now it would be helpful to know who repaired the computer.

Regarding your example, I'm not clear what you mean by "globally provided". I suspect Passive Voice is fine, because probably "the provider" is not important in that sentence.

I hope that helps.

Paul L.

When do or don't I use passive voice?

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