Passively active: The strange power of passivity - Part 2
Now, imagine you're putting together a piece that is steamy opinions. It could be an op-ed, a paper on pollution, corruption, or a venting about that awful coworker of yours. Sure, water cooler diplomacy may work but the solution is obvious. Be objective. Objectivity can mask your subjectivity, and this is useful, especially if you’re in the legal services or business. Passive voice helps you do this simply because it sounds more formal:
Active: “The X company polluted the nearby river unabiding with environmental policies set by the government”
So, are you now going to protest outside the company? A statement like this brings us closer to emotional appeal, leading us to believe that it's the writer’s opinion.
Passive: “The local river was purported to have been polluted by X Company…”
Yes it sounds wordy and more complex, but it works. It changes the tone, subject and takes away the responsibility of the writer to 1) give an unbiased appraisal of the situation, and 2) shows that the case hasn’t been proven yet by the court.
Heard of being impartial and unbiased? You just need to browse news websites such as the BBC to observe how the passive voice distances the readership with the corporation’s own political angles. An organisation that prides itself on impartiality is still held to public scrutiny based on journalistic content, what’s not said and what’s reported on, which in the long run lays bare a political leaning or bias. Therefore, passive voice helps to maintain distance but with authority bringing the sense of authenticity while reducing sensationalism.
This leads us to the ultimate question of how to decide which voice to use? Well, the best way is to ask yourself some more questions, such as:
Do I want to distance the piece emotionally from the reader?
Do I want to focus on the action or the subject?
Do I want to express my opinions without being direct?
Does the paper require conversational or authoritative tone?
As always, read the context, choose the tone, and don't be afraid to play around with passive voice. Yes, sometimes the passive voice grins with disingenuousness, and yes it may remind you of the slimy tactfulness of a yearly performance review, “mistakes were made, but let’s focus on steps to improve.” But the point here is that the passive voice made you experience something. And that's it, the crafting of language is an experience that produces reaction, either internally or externally, and to know how and when to use it, is to control. So, to steal a line from Hemingway, grammar is a moveable feast, so tuck in, and make merry with the joys of active and passive.
