Another type of “voice”: passive or active Another type of “voice”: passive or active  Passive Voice literary longer more vague less active verb emphasizes the thing acted upon sometimes, the only accurate way to go  Active Voice the way we speak more concise says who did it more active verb emphasizes the doer of the action all things being equal, the way to go

Passive Voice Active Voice Passive Voice Active Voice l l Elapsed time is indicated by a pointer. l l The project was completed by the installation crew. It is suggested that readings be recorded hourly. l l A pointer indicates elapsed time. l l The installation crew completed the project. I suggest you record readings hourly. Voice is a rhetorical strategy.

Passive Voice is longer.  “It was discovered during QD’s initial modeling efforts that the reservoir was actually a retrograde condensate reservoir.”

Active Voice is shorter.  It was discovered during QD’s initial modeling efforts that the reservoir was actually a retrograde condensate reservoir.  Better: QD’s initial modeling efforts showed that the reservoir was actually a retrograde condensate reservoir. () (13-14 words) (17 words)

Passive voice can make writing ambiguous: Who is doing which testing? The scope of this strategy does not cover testing all the functionality of the different sub components. It is expected that each component be tested prior to the solution integration test.

When to use which? When to use which? to emphasize the agent of the action: Previous researchers established the relationship between chemical qualities and model parameters. Active VoicePassive Voice to emphasize the object: The relationship between chemical qualities and model parameters was established by previous researchers. The water sample was heated to a temperature of C. to emphasize the action: JMC Consulting recommends that BPAmoco adopt a risk-communication plan