Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences. The passive voice occurs when the person or thing that performs an action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. In our previous article, What is the Difference between Active and Passive Voice?, we explained the difference between active and passive voice in academic writing. Second, the active voice usually creates shorter sentences. While some writers argue against the use of passive voice in academic writing, others claim it should Academic writing traditionally uses the passive voice so that the use of pronouns is minimised There is, however, no hard-and-fast rule that says you can never use the active voice in academic writing. APA stresses using the active voice to make it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence. For that purpose, which person should you use: first (I/we) or third (he/she/they)? On the other hand, in the passive voice, the action being performed When is Passive Voice Useful? The active voice refers to a sentence format that emphasizes the doer of an action. APA style encourages use of the active voice over passive voice for clarity. 1. Once upon a time, you would have said third and passive without even blinking. Published on June 6, 2019 by Shona McCombes. Adapted from Writing with Style by Stott and Avery, 2001, p.54. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy. The passive voice is thus extremely useful in academic writing because it allows writers to highlight the most important participants or events within sentences by placing them at the beginning of the sentence. Which voice: active or passive? Revised on April 24, 2020. Writing in the active voice means the subject of the sentence clearly performs the action that the verb expresses. The people examining a thesis are supposed to be experts in the field, they'll be reading this kind of scientific writing all the time and will be used to it. Choosing Passive Voice While active voice helps to create clear and direct sentences, sometimes writers find using an indirect expression is rhetorically effective in a given when writing dissertation paragraphs what voice should be used situation, so they choose passive voice. You want to sound objective and professional. What is passive voice? Although your paper should include a variety of sentence lengths, shorter sentences are usually easier to understand than longer ones. Actually, having a piece of writing that doesn't conform to the structure and style that you're used to reading hinders communication. Instead, the person or thing that receives the action is placed before the verb.Passive sentences are formed using the verb to be combined with a past participle. The passive voice generally hinders communication. Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. For example, in the sentence The mice inhaled the tobacco-infused aerosol, the doer, i.e., the mice seem important. In fact, some scholars have actually shown that active voice was the preferred form till the beginning of the 20 th century when the trend of objectivity became favored. However, it is not always easy to read and it may add unnecessary words. WHY use the passive voice in academic writing? We also gave examples of passive voice that result in vague or unreferenced generalisations. Here are two common cases in which you should prefer the active voice rather than the passive voice: Use the active voice to describe your own actions. It is often used in academic writing as it is seen as more impersonal and therefore more objective. Voice and Person in APA Style Imagine you are writing a dissertation or journal article in the social sciences. When Writing Dissertation Paragraphs What Voice Should Be Used. Active and passive voice. According to Ding (1998), in writing, the world should essentially be represented in terms of objects, things, and materials. Instead, your choice of active or passive voice should be determined by the focus of your sentence, and by the conventions of your discipline. The usage of active versus passive voice is often a source of confusion in scientific writing. Often in academic writing, we don't want to focus on who is doing an action, but on who is receiving or experiencing the action. It is easy to default to the passive voice in academic writing, and sometimes it really is the better choice. Informal language. In an active sentence, the person or thing responsible for the action in the sentence comes first. If you are undecided, try rephrasing the sentence in the active voice and asking yourself whether it changes the meaning of your sentence or simply makes your writing clearer or more concise. In English, all sentences are in either active or passive voice: active: Werner Heisenberg formulated the uncertainty principle in 1927. passive: The uncertainty principle was formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927. The passive voice is more formal than the active voice. In a passive sentence, the person or thing acted on comes first, and the actor is added at the end, introduced with the preposition by. The passive form of the verb is signaled by a form of to be: in the sentence above, was formulated is in passive voice while formulated is in active.