GETTING ACTIVE
We should make a
decision that we will attend the meeting.
We should decide to attend the meeting.
Do you see the difference between these two sentences? Is there a difference in meaning? No. Is there a difference in effectiveness? Yes.
The second strikes us as more effective because it uses ACTIVE VERBS. Using active verbs will generally allow you to cut out unnecessary words--making your writing leaner and stronger.
A word of advice: "Shun the -tion words." Most -tion words are nouns which have active verb forms that you can use. E.g., "make a declaration," vs. "declare." "gave an explanation," vs. "explained." And so on. Similarly, try--whenever you can--to avoid sentences that use "is" or "was" (or "are" or "were") as your verbs. Try to use an active verb form instead.
Immediate
implementation of the new policy is essential.
We must implement the
new policy immediately.
Often, that will mean using the active voice in a sentence, and not the passive:
The question was answered by the Chief of Police. (passive)
The Chief of Police answered the question. (active)
The office will be inspected by Mr. Hall . (passive)
Mr. Hall will inspect the office. (active)
The results were reported in our July 9 letter. (passive)
We reported the results in our July 9 letter. (active)
This policy was supported by the union. (passive)
The union supported this policy. (active)
The policy was enforced by the committee. (passive)
The committee enforced the policy. (active)
Passive constructions are often preferred by bureaucrats because they take up more space, seem more impersonal (hence more authoritative), often use nouns that are longer and thus presumably more impressive, and are more discreet (e.g., An error has been committed. vs. Michael Dembrow screwed up again.). Do not turn to the passive voice because you mistakenly assume that it signals importance or seriousness of purpose.
Avoid the passive as much as possible. You will find that the effort to name a subject might help you to visualize the scene or process that you are presenting. It also, not incidentally, will help you to make positive contact with your reader.
Try especially to avoid awkward shifts from active to passive:
She has a weakness for blondes; Brunettes and redheads are greatly admired as well.
Americans love to
drink milk, but mass quantities of beer are also consumed.
As usual, though, there are no hard-and-fast rules for anything having to do with writing style. There are some instances in which the passive voice would be more appropriate:
· when the person doing the action is unknown:
The tennis match was rescheduled for next Saturday as opposed to They rescheduled the tennis match for next Saturday. (Who is this mysterious "they"? Don’t use “they” unless you can point to specific individuals. Better to use the passive here.)
During the past year the equipment has been sabotaged several times. (We don't know who did yet yet, so we can't say spies did it, or terrorists, or whomever.)
· when you feel that you have good cause not to name names:
Two complaints have been made about you.
Winter 2006