: Re: When should I use passive voice? Is there ever a good time to use passive voice in nonfiction?

I've struggled with this in my technical writing. When I read a technical article entirely in the passive voice, it feels like the writers are either: a) just doing what everyone else does, or b) trying to sound more authoritative than they are. In either case, it certainly comes across as dry.

On the other hand, if I'm writing a paper on something I alone did, it sounds egotistical to say, "I examined the data and found...". I much prefer "We examined the data and found..." if it's a team effort, or "When we look at the data..." using "we" to refer to myself and my readers.

Still wrestling with that one...

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: You are hitting an interesting question here. I am a native French speaker and I struggled with the same issue when I learnt English. My English writing used to reflect my French upbringing.

@Debbie451

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: How can you build an interactive tone into articles? I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one

@Debbie451

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: Depends on what your "limit" is. If you are limiting yourself to one character, then yes: the Harry Potter series is told in third person limited omniscient, and we get Harry's thoughts,

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: Re: When should I use passive voice? Is there ever a good time to use passive voice in nonfiction?

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: You are hitting an interesting question here. I am a native French speaker and I struggled with the same issue when I learnt English. My English writing used to reflect my French upbringing.

: How can you build an interactive tone into articles? I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one

: Depends on what your "limit" is. If you are limiting yourself to one character, then yes: the Harry Potter series is told in third person limited omniscient, and we get Harry's thoughts,

: Does this sign-up email announcement sound friendly and conversational? This is version 2 of this post The intended audience is from 16-45 m/f, they have given me their email address and will

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: Re: When *should* I use passive voice? Is there ever a good time to use passive voice in nonfiction?

More posts by @Debbie451

: You are hitting an interesting question here. I am a native French speaker and I struggled with the same issue when I learnt English. My English writing used to reflect my French upbringing.

: How can you build an interactive tone into articles? I was wondering about tone in articles lately. My articles don't tend to be interactive. It feels like most of them are just flowing one

: Depends on what your "limit" is. If you are limiting yourself to one character, then yes: the Harry Potter series is told in third person limited omniscient, and we get Harry's thoughts,

: Does this sign-up email announcement sound friendly and conversational? This is version 2 of this post The intended audience is from 16-45 m/f, they have given me their email address and will

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: Re: When should I use passive voice? Is there ever a good time to use passive voice in nonfiction?