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----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael West" <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Sent: July 25, 2003 06:37 PM
Subject: RE: Active voice / passive voice studies
>
>
> Nancy wrote:
>
> > OK, we all know that it's better to use active voice whenever possible.
>
> Well, sort of. Sometimes the passive voice is
> quite suitable. ("I was flummoxed.") It's certainly
> better to give *instructions* in active voice -- simply
> because it's clearer, more direct, and uses fewer
> words.
>
Technically, that is not an example of passive voice. "Flummoxed" is an
adjective.
> > I'm interested in finding studies that support this claim -- specifically,
> > studies that address differences in the way readers comprehend active- and
> > passive-voice sentences. I vaguely remember one of my professors saying
> > that readers encode sentences in active voice regardless of how they're
> > written.
>
> Don't you do this? If I hear "the boy threw the
> ball" I can easily and instantly visualize the
> action. But if I hear "the ball was thrown" I
> have to do a lot more work to visualize what
> a ball looks when it's being thrown by an unknown
> thrower. And in fact, I can't do it.
>
And, importantly, you have to WAIT to hear if there's an actor.
I think that we instinctively translate passive sentences into active
sentences. That's what takes time (see below).
> Possibly not all readers instinctively visualize.
> Possibly not all texts are conducive to visualization.
> But it seems that this is a common enough phenomenon
> in most languages, ancient and modern, that the preference
> for the active voice prevails among educated readers
> and writers.
>
> > However, I also recall her saying that the "jury was still out"
> > on whether passive voice actually hinders the reading process.
>
> It isn't a matter of the jury being out. It's a
> matter of some constructions being better for
> some kinds of communication.
I think it *does* hinder the reading process if the reader has to wait for all
the information before she or he can translate the passive into active.
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