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When do I use passive voice? You might use passive voice in the following cases:

When do I use passive voice? You might use passive voice in the following cases:. 1. The actor is unknown: The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don't know who made them.]. 2. The actor is irrelevant :.

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When do I use passive voice? You might use passive voice in the following cases:

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  1. When do I use passive voice? You might use passive voice in the following cases:

  2. 1. The actor is unknown:The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don't know who made them.]

  3. 2. The actor is irrelevant: • An experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. • [We are not interested in who is building it.]

  4. 3. You want to be vague about who is responsible: Mistakes were made. [Common in bureaucratic writing!]

  5. 4.You are talking about a general truth: • Rules are made to be broken. • [By whomever, whenever.]

  6. 5. You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on • Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto. It is still the only treatment available for diabetes.

  7. Passive voice is often preferred in lab reports and scientific research papers, most notably in the Materials and Methods section: The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid.

  8. When should I avoid passive voice?

  9. Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action: Both Othello and Iago desire Desdemona. She is courted. [Who courts Desdemona? Othello? Iago? Both of them?]

  10. Research has been done to discredit this theory.[Who did the research? You? Your professor? Another author?]

  11. The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. [I couldn't find out who invented the telephone!]

  12. The passive voice is preferred when identifying the object (receiver) of the action is more important than the subject (agent), and when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or not worth mentioning:• The child was struck by the car.• The store was robbed last night.• Plows should not be kept in the garage.• Kennedy was elected president.[5]

  13. I am excited.( It is a state or condition. It is not in passive voice)The electron was excited with a laser pulse.• My taxi hit an old lady. (the taxi is the topic, the lady is the focus)• My mother was hit by a taxi.(the mother is the topic, the taxi is the focus)• Don't you see? The patient was murdered by his own doctor

  14. Someone has put a child in this bunk. → *This bunk has been put a child in. (unacceptable)• Someone has put a child in this bunk. → A child has been put in this bunk. (acceptable)• The window was broken. (Someone or something broke the window, action, event)• The window was broken.The window was not intact. (resultant state)

  15. Other constructions are mentioned in which a passive past participle clause is used, even though it is not introduced by the auxiliary be or get (or is introduced by get with a direct object):• I had my car cleaned by a professional.• Jane had her car stolen last week.• You ought to get that lump looked at.• This software comes pre-installed by the manufacturer.

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