“If you do not pay the royalty on your mineral production, your lease will be terminated.” SourcesĬharrow, Veda R., Erhardt, Myra K. You might also use passive when it doesn’t matter who is doing an action. For example, when one action follows another as a matter of law, and there is no actor (besides the law itself) for the second action, a passive sentence may be the best method of expression. In a few instances, passive voice may be appropriate. Use passive voice when the law is the actor A past participle (generally with “-ed” on the end).A form of the verb “to be,” such as “are,” “was,” “were,” “could be,” or “have been”).Passive sentences have two basic features, although both may not appear in every passive sentence. More than any other writing technique, using active voice and specifying who is performing an action will change the character of your writing. Our state office must approve your permit. The permit must be approved by the agency’s state office. We will withhold your bond if you don’t comply with all permit terms and conditions. You must include the following information in your application.īonds will be withheld in cases of non-compliance with all permits and conditions. The following information must be included in the application for it to be considered complete. Passive sentences often do not identify who is performing the action. In a passive sentence, the person or item that is acted upon is the subject of the sentence. In an active sentence, the person or agency that’s acting is the subject of the sentence. Don’t confuse passive voice with past tense. Not “It must be done,” but “You must do it.” Passive voice obscures who is responsible for what and is one of the biggest problems with government writing. It eliminates ambiguity about responsibilities. > Keep it conversational Use active voiceĪctive voice makes it clear who is supposed to do what. Tips for starting a plain language program.Twenty ccs of the solution was poured into the beaker.I poured twenty ccs of the solution into the beaker.This is common in lab reports where you want to avoid the use of personal pronouns such as “I.” You should use the passive voice when it is more important to draw attention to the thing being acted upon. Using the passive voice can shift the focus of the sentence from the subject to the action. The girl smelled (subject “girl” is directly performing the action of “smelling”) the flowers.Revise the sentence so the subject is performing the action, rather than just receiving the action.The flower was smelled by the girl (subject/agent/doer).The majority of passive sentences drop this prepositional phrase, e.g.The log was jumped over by the dog (prepositional phrase beginning with “by” containing the object “the dog”).If the original subject is mentioned, it becomes the object of the preposition “by.”.“To be” verbs=am, is, are, was, were, will be, are being, were being, being, has, have been, had been, will have been.The log was (“to be” verb) jumped over by the dog. ![]()
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