Let's talk verb tenses. It is interesting that I am learning Hebrew and Arabic as part of my post-graduate degree, and I have been told by my profs that the passive voice (especially in Hebrew ((nefal verbs)) is writing at the highest level. This runs counter to everything I have been told when writing English. In fact, Word Perfect, as part of its spell/grammer check would alert you to how many sentences you constructed in the passive voice so you could correct them.
So, I was hoping you all had some tips on how to avoid passive voice that you could share with the group...and.... if you want, any other secrets about avoiding tenses which drag down the narrative.
I look forward to reading the posts and perhaps gleaning some new secrets myself.
Very interesting post, Carton, thanks for starting the thread. I’ll post the ‘twisted pencil’ to mark a new day.
Yes I know it is sort of a rule to avoid the passive voice, as in
‘the sails were set’
‘the coffee was served’
‘the floor was swept’
and so on, which leaves out the person or thing doing the action.
I am not so sure it is always a bad thing.
First of all, it is a short-and-sweet way of describing an action, when you don’t want to go into a lot of detail.
I am at present re-reading Patrick O’Brian’s maritime series and he uses the passive voice as a quick way of describing something.
‘The mainsail was set’ is quicker than ‘the forecastlemen hurried up the shrouds to set the mainsail’.
Creative writing teachers seem to hate it, however.
Maybe some people habitually overdo it?
Eveything has its use. Here’s the twisted pencil.
In other words, there is no agent, as they say.
And I would like to learn more about the use of the passive voice in Hebrew poetry.
Is it modern or ancient Hebrew?
Would it be because of verse considerations -— rhythm and so on?
Does ancient Hebrew poetry rhyme?
I should go look at Psalms again and see if the translators carried the passive voice over into English.
We have very lovely cool weather here, unusual for this part of Texas at this time. Hope it lasts.
Science writing uses a lot of passive voice and for good enough reason. The object is the most important part of many science sentences, so to put it first makes the sentence objective as science is supposed to be—the subject is entirely reduced and would disappear altogether in modern science writing even though the language won’t bend that far.
“Let’s talk verb tenses. It is interesting that I am learning Hebrew and Arabic as part of my post-graduate degree, and I have been told by my profs that the passive voice (especially in Hebrew ((nefal verbs)) is writing at the highest level. This runs counter to everything I have been told when writing English. In fact, Word Perfect, as part of its spell/grammer check would alert you to how many sentences you constructed in the passive voice so you could correct them. “
Knowing Hebrew (rabbinical & Biblical) fluently, and being familiar with, but rusty at Arabic, I don’t know what your professors are talking about. English has a problem with the passive voice because it involves extra, unnecessary verbiage. For example, “I have been told by my profs,” rather than “My profs have told me.” Of course, that problem is not as acute in Hebrew and Arabic, because they don’t have those gosh-darned auxiliary verbs that English has. You’d say “hugadti,” or “Qoola lii” rather than “I have been told.” But the other source of extra verbiage would still be there, to wit, the conversion of the subject into the object of a prepositional phrase, to wit: “hugadti al ydei profesorai” and “Qoola lii min ustaathai” for “by my professors.” If you have a hidden subject, that is not a problem in any of the three languages, but the extra auxiliary verbs still persist in English. “I have been told” for “hugadti” and Qoola lii”.