Don't Leave it to the Zombies to Act: Knowing When to Use Passive Voice
| Publication year | 2021 |
| Pages | 0064 |
| Citation | Vol. 27 No. 3 Pg. 0064 |
This installment of "Writing Matters" returns to a subject that we visited more than a decade ago, but which remains an elusive goal even for the best writers: eliminating uses of the passive voice that interfere with the purpose of the text.
BY DAVID HRICIK AND KAREN J. SNEDDON
As legal writers, we make choices all the time. Each choice can and should promote the purpose of the text. This installment of "Writing Matters" returns to a subject that we visited more than a decade ago, but which remains an elusive goal even for the best writers: eliminating uses of the passive voice that interfere with the purpose of the text. We'll describe passive voice, highlight its problems and its utility, and share some tips to identify passive voice so that you can be deliberate about its use. Spoiler alert: there will be zombies.
What is the Passive Voice?
In English, verbs are action words. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the verb and so comes before it. So: Matthew filet the motion. The judge issued an order. Those illustrate the active voice: subject (Matthew, the judge), verb (filed, issued), and then the direct object (motion, order). The actor (Matthew, the judge) is identified as doing the act and is the subject of the sentence.
With passive voice, the order flips and the object becomes the subject: The motion was file by Matthew. Now the first word, which is the grammatical subject of the sentence, is the motion. The motion isn't
"doing" the action of filing, and Matthew, who did the action, is now relegated to the end of the sentence.
In that sentence, we know Matthew filed the motion because Matthew is identified in it. Consider this further example of the passive voice: The motion was file. Again, the object of the sentence (i.e., the motion) is the subject of the sentence. But the actor is now missing entirely from the sentence.
There's nothing inherently wrong with passive voice. After all, passive voice is not a grammatical error. It is instead a matter of style. Style should be a matter of choice. The use of passive voice must be deliberate because there are reasons to choose, and reasons to avoid, the passive voice.
Why Avoid the Passive Voice and Why Use It?
Why avoid the passive voice? First and foremost, passive voice is often wordier, and brevity and...
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