Question about grammar...
 

I wasn't sure where to put this so feel free to move it if it isn't appropriate here.

My question concerns active vs. passive sentences and I would love to hear from other writers or anyone with a better grasp of grammar than myself (which probably includes most everyone on this board).

Over the past few months, I’ve read a number of books on how to improve writing skills. One of the things that seem to pop up most frequently is that passive sentences seem to be universally frowned upon. Microsoft Word even has a handy little feature that gives you a percentage of how many passive sentences you have used.

And yet, for some reason, I have a really hard time spotting them in what I write. I’ve read numerous explanations of what they are but something just isn’t clicking in my brain.

For those who have a good grasp of them, I have a few questions.

First, are there any tips you could offer that might help me improve my writing in this area or make the concept of passive sentences clearer to me?

Second, what are your opinions of passive sentences? Do you loathe seeing them, as so many authors attest?

Lastly, I know this is arbitrary but do you think that there are a percentage of passive sentences that are acceptable? Should the goal be to remove them completely or do they have their place?

Any and all insight into this somewhat perplexing dilemma would be helpful and appreciated.

PS: According to Word, the percentage of passive sentences in this post is 8%.

Disapproval of the passive voice is a relativley recent phenemenon (frequently, and mistakenly, attributed to George Orwell and a political tract of his) and the appropriate response to anybody who tries to enforce it is: go suck an egg.


But essentially if you want active voice that means the subject of the sentence is doing the action. In passive, the subject of the sentence has the action done unto them.

The cat ate me. Active. The cat (subject) performs the verb phrase (ate).

I was eaten by the cat. Passive. I (subject) am the recipient of the verb phrase (was eaten).

Generally, if your verb has an associated conjugation of "to be" then you are probably using passive voice.

I am being killed ...
I was killed ...
I will be killed ...
They were killed ...
We have been killed ...

All passive as the actor is not the subject. The solution is to generally turn the sentence around.

... killed me.
... killed us.
... killed them.

Um, first-off, what exactly is a passive sentence, and what makes it passive?

I happen to be a very good writer (if I do say so myself), but I don't know the names of gramatical constructs. I have a mastery of the subject, but not of the jargon needed to teach the subject.


Edited to add: Um, thanks Alex ... and, er, nevermind, I guess.

The basics of passive voice:

Essentially, whenever the subject of the sentence is NOT the doer of the verb, you're in passive voice.

example: The car was driven by Johnny = passive voice because the subject is "the car", but the verb ("driven") is being done by the object ("Johnny")

example 2: Jane drove the car = active voice

Personally, while writing does tend to sound better when it's avoided, I don't see a need to be fanatical about it. It's worth taking a look at and seeing if you can come up with an active way to say something, but if you have to do gramatical calisthenics to wrap the sentence around it when passive voice will give you a clean, suscinct option, don't worry about it.

And no, I wouldn't put a percentage on it. If the best option for a sentence is passive, leave it passive.

And to clarify, the to be conjugation with the verb is not always a sign of passive voice, you have to rely on who is doing what to whom, but it tends to be a hint.

I am going to the store.
They are killing us.

Both of those are active.

Oops. The post I just wrote was being written by me during the time when the post by Alex was being posted by him.* Sorry for the repeat info.

That would be a case where passive voice = bad

The concept that there should be a percentage of active vs. passive sentences, or that one or another should be avoided ... is moronic on its face to me.

Writing is writing. It's whatever is appropriate, in the author's opinion, to the moment. What you need to write well is an ear, not some ditzy formula.




And yes, apparently GD, Alex and I were all posting at the same time. Wow, a hot grammar topic!!

This is very true, but it IS good to know some of the technical reasons WHY something doesn't sound right. It's one thing to read something and think, "Gosh, that sounds clunky and amateurish." It's another to know how to go about fixing it. Reducing the ammount of passive voice is a good tool to have on the toolbelt.

For the record, when you write for someplace with a standard styleguide they will usually prohibit passive voice to a stupid degree. Here is a recent Language Log (a great blog by the way by descriptivist, rather than prescriptivist, linguists) post about how the "... for Dummies" series prohibits all passive voice and it lead to a stupid situation.

Thanks for the insight.

In simple sentences, I can tell whether they are active or passive. The longer the sentence, the more apt I am to get confused.

I've written things that looked perfectly acceptable to me, only to have Word tell me after the fact that 25% of my sentences are passive, which certainly makes it seem as if I'm not paying enough attention to them.

Perhaps, as some suggest, I'm making a bigger deal of them than is necessary. Still, if I am going to go around breaking rules, I would prefer to have a firm grasp on what I am breaking and why. :)

Thanks for the input so far.