Saturday, October 23, 2010

The passive voice should be rewritten

“Passive voice” is a fancy term invented to make writers feel bad for not having a better technical knowledge of grammar. Don’t worry; it’s easy to spot.
If someone’s doing something, it’s active. If something was done by someone, it’s passive.
Passive sentences feel wordy, limp, and lifeless.
Active sentences feel tight, energetic, and immediate.
For example:
  • Passive: The magnificent copy was written by the copywriter.
  • Active: The copywriter wrote the magnificent copy.
Passive voice isn’t always a bad thing, and the Copyblogger police won’t show up at your site and write you a ticket for using it. Just keep it to a minimum.

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I WILL REJECT ANY CHINESE OR JAPANESE IDIOMATIC WRITING, AUTOMATICALLY.