Dearest Reader,
Welcome to another instalment of the English Enjoyed newsletter. In this week's instalment, we cover:
The passive voice often gets a bad rap for being weak or evasive, yet it can be a powerful and elegant tool in English. It shifts focus onto the action itself—or the person or thing receiving the action—rather than the one performing it. This week, we’ll explore five common situations where the passive voice shines, along with three illustrative sentences for each use case.
1. Broad Statements about Widely Held Opinions or Social Norms
When expressing widely shared beliefs or accepted standards, the passive voice highlights the idea itself instead of the individuals who hold it. It can convey a sense of consensus without cluttering the sentence with unnecessary subjects.
Examples:
- Passive: “Tipping less than 20 per cent is now considered rude.”
Active: “People now consider tipping less than 20 per cent rude.”
- Passive: “Wearing bright colours after the holiday is thought to be in poor taste.”
Active: “Many believe that wearing bright colours after the holiday is in poor taste.”
- Passive: “In many circles, leaving one’s phone on during a performance is deemed disrespectful.”
Active: “In many circles, people deem leaving one’s phone on during a performance disrespectful.”
In these examples, the passive voice helps present common perceptions as collective truths without specifying who holds these views. It makes the writing more concise.
2. Reporting Crimes or Actions with Unknown Perpetrators
When you don’t know—or don’t care—who performed the action, the passive voice keeps the emphasis on what happened, not on who did it.
Examples:
- Passive: “My car was stolen yesterday.”
Active: “Someone stole my car yesterday.”
- Passive: “The documents were removed from the safe overnight.”
Active: “Someone removed the documents from the safe overnight.”
- Passive: “Several artworks were damaged during the gallery’s renovation.”
Active: “Someone damaged several artworks during the gallery’s renovation.”
By using the passive voice, we highlight the event or result, leaving the doer out of focus when their identity is irrelevant or unknown.
3. Scientific Contexts
In scientific writing, the passive voice often places emphasis on the procedure, data, or findings rather than the researcher. It lends an objective, impersonal tone that many scientific contexts require.
Examples:
- Passive: “The samples were examined under a high-powered microscope.”
Active: “The researchers examined the samples under a high-powered microscope.”
- Passive: “The rat was placed in a T-shaped maze.”
Active: “The scientists placed the rat in a T-shaped maze.”
- Passive: “The solution was heated until it reached boiling point.”
Active: “The team heated the solution until it reached boiling point.”
Here, who performed the action is less important than what was done, making the passive voice a natural fit.
4. Avoiding Blame or Responsibility
When speakers or writers prefer not to assign fault—or when they want to acknowledge a problem without naming names—the passive voice offers a diplomatic solution.
Examples:
- Passive: “Mistakes were made during the negotiation process.”
Active: “Someone made mistakes during the negotiation process.”
- Passive: “It has been observed that certain guidelines were not followed.”
Active: “Observers have noted that certain people did not follow the guidelines.”
- Passive: “Complaints were received, but no further details were provided.”
Active: “People received complaints, but they did not provide any further details.”
These sentences tactfully acknowledge that something went wrong without pointing fingers.
5. Emphasizing the Action or Recipient
Sometimes, the focus should be on what happened or who was affected, rather than on the doer. The passive voice allows you to draw attention to the recipient of the action or to the action itself.
Examples:
- Passive: “The president was sworn in on a cold January morning.”
Active: “An official swore in the president on a cold January morning.”
- Passive: “Cleo was transformed by her journey across Latin America.”
Active: “Her journey across Latin America transformed Cleo.”
- Passive: “The manuscript was rejected by several publishers before its eventual success.”
Active: “Several publishers rejected the manuscript before it eventually succeeded.”
In these instances, the passive voice spotlights the event’s significance to the subject at hand.
The passive voice is not just a linguistic quirk; it’s a valuable stylistic option. Whether you’re discussing social norms, reporting an incident with no known culprit, presenting scientific findings, avoiding blame, or highlighting the affected party, the passive voice can make your writing sound more natural, diplomatic, or objective.
Use this knowledge wisely! Revisit your writing and see if the passive voice can help you achieve the tone and focus you want. After all, sometimes the best way to say what you mean is to let the action, not the actor, take centre stage.
What I am reading
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Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect
The book charts the rise of the restaurant Eleven Madison Park from its humble beginnings to eventually winning the top spot on 2017’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
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I am not one to usually read business books but this was gifted by a friend of mine and I recently read it on a long-haul flight. I have not yet finished it but there are many interesting and useful insights which I hope to adopt—and it is definitely thought provoking.
There is a particular passage that I somewhat disagree with, however:
The word I always return to when I describe EMP's room is significant. Another way to say it: the first time you walk into the space, your jaw drops.
The scale is astonishing—-thirty-five-foot ceilings, terrazzo floors stretching out in front of you for days, and massive, two-story-tall windows looking out onto Madison Square Park. When you cross the threshold, you feel that you are standing in a living slice of New York's vibrant past, in a room that captures the spirit of a lost age. A space like this will not—cannot—be re-created in our time; nothing like it will ever be built again.
It is the very last line, "nothing like it will ever be built again" which sounds like an invitation to me and a question I would like to propose you mull over—what, dear reader, do you admire in this world, that you would like to see created again?
Warm regards,