Passive: The presence of larvae was determined by dip netting.Īctive: We evaluated the number of haplotypes (h), haplotypes (Hd), and nucleotides (π) using the DnaSP 5.10 program. Past tense – tense often used in the Materials and Methods/ResultsĪctive: We determined the presence of larvae by dip netting. Passive: The patterns and mechanisms behind disease clusters at small spatial scales, especially in wild host–pathogen systems, have been focused on by only a small number of empirical studies. Passive: Comparative analyses of ORF2 sequences have been used in previous studies to elucidate phylogenetic relationships among different FCV isolates.Īctive: Only a small number of empirical studies have focused on the patterns and mechanisms behind disease clusters at small spatial scales, especially in wild host–pathogen systems. Present perfect – tense often used in the Introduction/Discussion/ConclusionĪctive: Previous studies have used comparative analyses of ORF2 sequences to elucidate phylogenetic relationships among different FCV isolates. Passive: An efficient methodology to examine a space–time continuous dataset for urban irrigation water use is developed in this study. Passive: In this study, a design of an electric hot water tank is presented.Īctive: This study develops an efficient methodology to examine a space–time continuous dataset for urban irrigation water use. Present tense – tense often used for AimsĪctive: In this study, we present our design of an electric hot water tank. Passive: A series of environmental problems, including photochemical smog, broken ozonosphere, and environmental pollution, can be induced by volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from industries and vehicle exhausts. Passive: The risk of hair loss is increased by vitamin A.Īctive: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from industries and vehicle exhausts can induce a series of environmental problems, including photochemical smog, broken ozonosphere, and environmental pollution. Present tense – tense often used in the Introduction/Discussion/ConclusionĪctive: Vitamin A increases the risk of hair loss. ![]() Passive voice – the subject is acted upon. As such, most scientific journals encourage the use of the active voice over the passive voice. The active voice promotes simple, straightforward writing. The infographic contains the following text: As such, while the passive voice is useful, it’s worth trying the active voice first.In this infographic, we discuss the use of the active and passive voice in scientific writing. This way, you keep the clarity of using the active voice while also achieving the impersonal objectivity for which the passive voice is often used. The hypothesis was supported by the results.Īlternatively, we can keep the active voice and use ‘the results’ as the subject of the sentence instead. We could change it to the passive voice as follows: I believe the results support the hypothesis. For instance, if we take the active, first-person sentence: And you don’t need to use the passive voice to remove the first person from your writing. ![]() Most of the time, however, the active voice is clearer and more concise. Passive Sentence: The surveys were sent to the participants. ![]() We can therefore use the passive voice to remove subjectivity when describing a methodology:Īctive Sentence: I sent the surveys to the participants. The idea here is that using first-person pronouns (‘I’ or ‘we’) in academic writing draws focus away from the subject matter. We therefore see the passive voice a lot in scientific writing. Some institutions discourage using the active voice on the basis that it makes writing too personal, whereas the passive voice lends a sense of objectivity. When should you use the active and passive voices in your work? Both have their place, although opinion is divided on which is best in many situations. We can also use the passive voice to distance ourselves from our actions, like when politicians say, ‘ Mistakes were made.’īy whom were these mistakes made? A passive sentence leaves this unanswered, which is handy if you were responsible for the mistakes! Active or Passive Voice? This is much more mysterious, as (in this case) we don’t know who did the conquering.
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