1. VERBS 14: Style and the
Passive
Materials by Liz Siler

2. Using the Passive
• The most common uses of the passive
are determined by the agent.

3. The Agent
• When the agent is
–
–
–
–
relatively unimportant, or is
clearly understood, or is
of no real consequence, or is
of much less importance than the action or the
object (of the original active),
• it’s fine to use the passive.

4. Example
• In such cases, we can almost always just
delete the agentive by-phrase of the passive.
– Example: Roll was taken (by the teacher of
course!) and the class started.

5. Technical/ Professional
English
• Technical English is one style of writing
where we often see the passive.

6. Example
•
The following sentences are from a scientific article on climate
change. The article has about six authors. Some clauses are
active. Some are passive. Identify the actives and passives
and consider why you think the writers chose the active or
passive.
– Conceptually this increase is understood as a shift of the statistical
distribution towards warmer temperatures.
– Changes in the width of the distribution are often considered small.
– Here we show our framework.
– This framework does not explain the record-breaking central European
summer temperatures in 2003.
•
Stop and think before going on!

7. DISCUSSION
•
The following sentences are from a scientific article on climate
change. The article has about six authors. Some clauses are
active. Some are passive. Identify the actives and passives
and consider why you think the writers chose the active or
passive.
– Conceptually this increase is understood as a shift of the statistical
distribution towards warmer temperatures.
– Changes in the width of the distribution are often considered small.
– Here we show our framework.
– This framework does not explain the record-breaking central European
summer temperatures in 2003.

8. Context
• The passive is used according to the
context of the passage.

9. A Context Example.
• Context: An article about shipwrecks. The emphasis
is on the content of various narratives.
– The earliest narratives were found in the diary of Columbus’
first voyage.
– In this context, do we absolutely need to know who found
these narratives?
• Context: An obituary about a really innovative
researcher’s life and exploits.
– Williams found the first examples of these narratives in the
archive of the Columbus materials in Santo Domingo. She
published them. . .

10. A Context Example.
• Context: An article about shipwrecks. The emphasis
is on the content of various narratives.
– The earliest narratives were found in the diary of Columbus’
first voyage.
– In this context, do we absolutely need to know who found
these narratives?
• Context: An obituary about a really innovative
researcher’s life and exploits.
– Williams found the first examples of these narratives in the
archive of the Columbus materials in Santo Domingo. She
published them. . .