Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Dumping on the passive voice

IN THE DECADES since Ronald Reagan's famous non-apology for the Iran-Contra scandal - "mistakes were made" - we've gotten used to treating the passive voice as a shady customer. It's shifty and craven, weak and flabby, we say. But do we have any idea what we're talking about? - Jan Freeman, The Word

Do we writers get it all wrong when it comes to the passive voice? The Boston Globe's Jan Freeman thinks so. Read what she has to say in Active resistance.


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2 comments:

Anne Rettenberg LCSW said...

The New York Times uses the passive voice a lot.

Deb Sistrunk Nelson said...

Elizabeth: Thanks for the comment. I consider the New York Times to be the standard bearer when it comes to style.