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

Answer 1

Hello Rowan,

Thank you for your question. It's a great one, and it shows you are thinking critically about your writing. Many native speakers struggle with this too!

Your example, "... but that will be globally provided," is a perfect illustration of when the passive voice is not just acceptable but often the best choice. Let's break down your specific question and then look at the general principles.

Addressing Your Example

You are correct that:

"... but that will be globally provided." is in the passive voice.

"..., but the supplier will globally provide that." is in the active voice.

Neither sentence is grammatically wrong. The choice between them depends entirely on what you want to emphasize in your paper.

Use the passive voice when the "doer" (the supplier) is less important than the action or the product or service provided. In your sentence, the focus is on the product or service and the fact that it will be available globally. The identity of the supplier may be obvious from context, irrelevant, or not the main point.

Final Answer: Your passive construction is perfectly fine. It places the emphasis where it likely belongs: on the product or service provided.

Use the active voice when the "doer" (the supplier) is the most important part of the sentence. If your paper is about the company's relationships with its suppliers, for example, then using the active voice is better because it highlights the role of the supplier.

The Strategic Value of Passive Voice in Writing

Your instincts are correct—the passive voice is not a mistake to be avoided but a tool to be used strategically. Despite a common misconception that passives are inherently bad, they play a crucial role in many contexts. Let's explore why this is the case.

Ever since a widely circulated style guide in the early twentieth century urged writers to “eschew the stationary passive,” the doctrine of passive resistance has become firmly entrenched in writing manuals and first-year composition courses. Conventional wisdom holds that passives produce the dull, sterile prose often associated with pedantry. By vigilantly rooting them out—or avoiding them altogether—novice writers are thought more likely to sustain reader engagement.

Yet here, this dogma overlooks a fundamental truth: while its overuse saps the life out of syntax, the passive voice plays a crucial role in many contexts—making it not a dreaded faux pas but a stylistic asset.

Strategic Uses of Passive Voice

Maintaining Focus Across Sentences

Writers often use passive voice to sustain attention on a particular subject or concept. Constance Hale illustrates this with Jerry Brown:

“Jerry Brown has never been able to settle for the Zen life. After being defeated in successive presidential campaigns, he… reinvented himself as [Oakland] mayor.”

The passive construction keeps Brown as the focal point while allowing for a seamless transition between ideas.

Enhancing Impact and Timing

The passive voice can heighten dramatic effect by delaying critical information. Mark Twain’s quip demonstrates this:

“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

The construction postpones the twist, delivering the comic punch with maximum impact.

Creating Memorable Brevity

Certain phrases derive rhetorical power from their concise passive form. For instance:

Made in the USA—an active equivalent would sound clumsy and forgettable. Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA—far more impactful than a literal rendering such as My mother gave birth to me in a U.S. hospital.

Reflecting Thematic Content

Passive voice can also reinforce meaning by mirroring thematic passivity. For example, in critiques of restrictive gender roles: “In return for renouncing [her agency, a woman] is caressed, desired, handled, influenced.”

Here, grammatical passivity underscores the subject’s lack of agency.

The Irony of Blanket Prohibitions

Ironically, some of the most vocal critics of passive voice rely on it themselves.

Strunk and White, in The Elements of Style, instruct: “Use the active voice.” Yet they immediately follow with: “The active voice is preferred as it makes sentences more direct and vigorous.” This passive construction undercuts their own argument. They later concede that “the passive voice is frequently convenient and sometimes necessary.” George Orwell, in "Politics and the English Language," advised: “Never use the passive where you can use the active.” Yet Orwell’s own essays contain carefully chosen passives, revealing their indispensability even to writers who theoretically oppose them.

Conclusion

The passive voice is not “wrong”—it is a stylistic resource. While often less forceful than the active voice, it becomes indispensable when writers need to emphasize action over actor, achieve concision, or control rhythm and emphasis. Effective writing requires not only mastery of the mechanics of each voice but also discernment in recognizing when each best serves a rhetorical purpose—making it not a dreaded faux pas but a stylistic asset.

Answer 2

Hi Rowan,

Passive voice can be tricky. The best tip I have given my students in the past is to look for state of being verbs (am, are, is, was, etc.) that connect with another verb in the past tense. Tell Word to find them and then eliminate them all...if you can. Either simply get rid of the first verb or replace both verbs with a more dynamic word.

For example:

The bill was passed by Congress. The boy was told the story by Ben.

Eliminate the state of being verb and write the sentence again, making sure you don't lose meaning, intent, or tone. For example:

Congress passed the bill. Ben narrated the story for the boy, entertaining him for hours.

These last two sentences are written in active voice, and as such, are much more dynamic. Using this technique will also force you to combine your sentences, which will automatically become shorter and need to be rewritten more often than not. This gives you the added bonus of creating a more varied sentence structure.

In regards to your specific question above, you could use this to introduce another sentence. For example:

Globally provided by the supplier, ...and then fill in the rest of the sentence.

However, it is more important not to lose the intended impact or meaning in your sentence than it is to eliminate PV. And...sometimes you have to use a passive expression because of the context of the material. (Word 2016 doesn't understand this.)

I hope this helps. I frequently work with writers on this topic. Please reach out if you would like additional guidance. Good luck!

Dawn

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.