Using Passive Voice Correctly

Scientific & Mathematical Writing

The Rooftop Lab

What is Active Voice?

To understand Passive Voice, we should first look at the way we usually write: Active Voice

In Active Voice, the subject of the sentence is doing something (the verb).

Examples:– Steve ate the pizza.

– Jennifer and I measured the wall.

Subject Verb

Subject Verb

When Do We Use Active Voice?

Almost always, Active Voice is the way to go!

Active Voice = Power and Vigor

Microsoft Word will even tell you passive voice is wrong!

Don’t worry, though – it’s not always wrong.

What is Passive Voice?

In Passive Voice, the subject isn’t doing the verb anymore.

Instead, the subject has the verb done to it. Examples:

– The pizza was eaten by Steve.

– The wall was measured by Jennifer and me.Subject

Subject

Verb

Verb

Passive Voice – Eliminate the “Agent”

In Passive Voice, we often just remove the “Agent” – the who or what is actually doing the action to the subject.

Examples:– The pizza was eaten by Steve.– The pizza was eaten.– The wall was measured by Jennifer and me.– The wall was measured.

When Should We Use Passive Voice?

Scientific and Mathematical Writing – Lab Reports, etc.

When it does not matter who or what did the action, just that the action got done.

When you don’t want to reveal who or what did the action.

When you want to emphasize the object of the verb. To add some variety to our usual writing – use

sparingly.

Passive Voice in Action

When you don’t want to reveal who or what did the action or want to emphasize the object of the verb.

Examples:– No food in the hallways.– Full Version: No food in the hallways by order of the

administrators.– (Active) The administrators ordered that there will be no

food in the hallways.– This allows us to hide who ordered the rule so they don’t

look bad and it emphasizes the “No food in the hallways” rather than who ordered it.

Passive Voice In Action for Us!

Does not matter who or what did the action, just that the action got done.

Exactly what scientific & mathematical writing requires.

Creates the feeling of accuracy and lack of personal bias.

Leaves the work open for anyone to do – not just the people who did it.

Passive Voice for Our Rooftop Lab

Example: Active: We measured the height of the wall

and found it be 7’9” tall. Passive with Agent: The height of the wall

was measured and found to be 7’9” tall by us. Passive without Agent: The height of the wall

was measured and found to be 7’9”. Better: The height of the wall was found to be

7’9”.

Passive Voice for Our Rooftop Lab

Example: Active: I then multiplied the two measurements

together to find the area of the wall. Passive with Agent: The two measurements were

then multiplied together to find the area of the wall by me.

Passive without Agent: The two measurements were then multiplied together to find the area of the wall.

Better: The two measurements were then multiplied together and revealed an area of 27’ 4”.

Try Converting Active to Passive

The students turned in all their papers on time.

The papers were all turned in on time by the students.

OR

The papers were all turned in on time.

Try Converting Active to Passive

Our group needed to subtract the area of the windows in the wall from the total area of the wall.

The area of the windows in the wall needed to be subtracted from the total area of the wall by our group.

OR, much better:

The area of the windows in the wall needed to be subtracted from the total area of the wall.

Final Thoughts

More and more scientific writers are moving to Active Voice because it is so much easier to read and understand.

Be prepared for either type of voice in lab writing – some will still insist on Passive.

Good Rule: If Passive Voice sounds stupid or is too hard to understand, go with Active!