If you write for long enough, you’ll eventually come to the conclusion that it’s impossible to completely avoid using passive voice. That isn’t to say your professors were wrong when they told you not to use it. Both are true: you shouldn’t use it, and you can’t help but use it. I’m sorry. English is a cruel language. Continue reading
We’ve all been there. You’re writing an essay, minding your own business, when suddenly MS Word pops up with the message: “Passive Voice (consider revising).” You turn in that essay, only to have it returned to you, with “Passive Voice” written all over it in red ink. Reading over the passages your instructor has marked, you can’t find anything wrong with them. So what gives?