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Not so! "The GHI window appears" is NOT in the passive voice.
The window is described as acting, not being acted upon.
Saying "the window is displayed" is an example of passive voice.
--Guy K. Haas gkhaas -at- usa -dot- net
Software Exegete in Silicon Valley
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Musser [mailto:ChrisM -at- webridge -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 5:27 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: Displays versus Appears-Which One?
My dictionary (a Webster's) says that "display" is a transitive verb. To use
it as you have ("the GHI window displays") is incorrect, as transitive verbs
require an object.
Your previous editor may have dinged you because "the GHI window appears" is
in the passive voice. The construct is pretty common, though (probably
because no one wants to say, "the application displays the GHI window").
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