Chapter 4 of 10All chapters
Chapter 4 of 10
Active and passive
A choice, not a rule.
Default to active
Active voice names the doer and is usually shorter and clearer. The engineer changed the setting beats the setting was changed by the engineer.
- Test: add by zombies after the verb. If it fits, it is passive.
- Passive hides responsibility, which is sometimes evasive and sometimes tactful.
When passive is right
When the doer is unknown, irrelevant, or genuinely less important than the receiver. Scientific method sections use it for exactly that reason.