![]() Some people believe that it sounds more ‘scientific’, but more recently this view has been falling out of favour.Īlso, people can be particularly reluctant to use the active voice if it means that a sentence will include first-person pronouns (‘I’ or ‘we’), and they may even have been taught (especially in certain countries/cultures) to avoid them altogether in scientific writing. It emphasises the participants (people) rather than the interviews (objects).Īs noted, people writing in academic contexts have traditionally relied on the passive voice.It is slightly shorter and easier to read.This might seem like a subtle distinction, but there are two things that are worth noting about this active sentence: Here, the six participants are now at the beginning of the sentence, and rather than the action being performed on them, they are performing the action (‘completed’ being the verb). Six of the participants completed exploratory interviews. ![]() ![]() Now have a look at this (active) version of the sentence: This is an example of a passive construction: the action (‘were completed’) is performed on the subject of the sentence (‘six of the participants’). Active and passive voice explainedĮxploratory interviews were completed by six of the participants. But exactly what is the passive voice (vis-à-vis the active voice), and is it always right to use it in academic writing? This article explains what the active and passive voices are and gives some suggestions about when to use each. In academic writing, people naturally want to come across as being objective, and this often includes using the ‘passive voice’. Sometimes, the way in which something is expressed can be as important as what is being said. Core Skills for Early Career ResearchersĪcademic writing tips: How to use Active and Passive voice.
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