Passive tense

In other words, Darwin chose evolution as his masterwork s literal last word on the outcome of descent with modification. Certainly, Darwin displayed a seemly Victorian correctness in using the passive tense of the verb to reflect its etymological subtext from our standpoint in time, the biosphere we encounter has indeed evolved (unfolded) according to the laws of natural selection over four billion years. In other words, hindsight reveals how possibility unfurled into fact, whether or not the pathway followed a predictable trajectory. 

You may have begun a course because it seemed to be about your own interests, but then you find that you are not expected to bring in your own experiences or opinions or yourself after all. You may find that you are expected to write as if you were not present in a situation when you were. For example, if you have carried out a science experiment, you will probably be expected to use the passive tense to say this was done and not I did this. In social studies you may carry out an interview and yet not reveal this when you write about it. You may have been moved by a film but are rarely expected to discuss your feelings about it in a film studies assignment. 

Use the active tense rather than the passive tense. Avoid using the verb forms is, are, was, were too often. The overuse of these verbs makes you sound as though you lack conviction and confidence in your ideas. 

Procedures written by engineers are sometimes verbose, and are often written in the passive tense. As already noted, engineers have an unfoitunate tendency to write instructions such as. 

The valve should be closed Close the valve Use of the passive tense taeates uncertainty as to whether the operator is to eheck on the status of the valve or take action. Also, the word should is ambiguous... 

Genres also vary by their conventional uses of verb tense (past, present, or future) and voice (active or passive voice). For example, most jokes (including the three-men joke) are told (or vv ritten) in present tense ( Three men are... about to be executed as opposed to Three people were...about to executed ). Present tense is used to make the joke more vivid for the listener or reader. Jokes also tend to be told in active rather than passive voice ... 

Two writing conventions apply to the Methods section as a whole the use of tense (past or present) and voice (passive or active). Past tense and passive voice predominate in the Methods section however, in some cases, present tense and/ or active voice are also used. Like other writing conventions, the proper use of tense and voice reveals authors familiarity with the expectations of the held, their objectivity, and more expert-like writing abilities. 

The Methods section is also written largely in passive voice. Passive voice is most often combined with past tense ... 

The mixture is heated to 80 °C. [present tense, passive voice] Appropriate The mixture was heated to 80 °C. [past tense, passive voice]... 

Table 3.4 Passive-voice-past-tense combinations commonly used in Methods sections/... 

When you join two sentences that are in past-tense passive voice, each subject must have a verb that is preceded by "was" or "were."... 

Writing conventions Check to be sure that you have used voice (mostly passive) and tense (mostly past tense) correctly. Check your formatting of units and numbers, use of abbreviations and acronyms, and capitalization of compounds and vendors. 

Use of tense (past/present) and voice (active/passive) in a Methods section... 

In hgure 3.3 (chapter 3), we reported the frequencies of passive voice in each section of a journal article. If you look back at figure 3.3, you will see that passive voice is used more frequently in Methods sections than in Results (or Discussion) sections. This distribution suggests that both active voice and passive voice are used in Results sections. Past and present tense, when combined with active and passive voice, form four different tense-voice combinations. Each combination has its own function, several of which are illustrated in table 4.1. 

When citing others works to establish importance or provide background information, authors often use present tense or present perfect in either active or passive voice. 

Verb tense Verb tenses in conference abstracts are consistent with conventions described elsewhere in the textbook (e.g., see tables 4.1, 5.1, 6.5). For example, past tense is used to describe work done in the past (e.g., The rates were measured ), and present tense is used to make statements of fact or state information that is expected to be true over time (e.g., Furans are found in natural products ). Some authors use future tense (in active or passive voice) in conference abstracts to refer to the work that will be presented (e.g., We will present these Endings and The synthesis will be presented ). Others prefer to state such intentions in present tense—passive voice (e.g., The Endings are presented ). 

Lastly, we briefly consider verb tense and voice used in move 1. Goals and objectives are commonly stated in present and/or future tense. Both active and passive voice may be used. Common tense and voice combinations are summarized in table 12.3. Personal pronouns (e.g., we, my, our) should be avoided in the opening goal statement but may be used elsewhere in move 1 ... 

Lastly, we briefly consider verb tense and voice used in move 2. As shown in table 12.5, past and present tenses and present perfect may all be used. Past tense and present perfect are used to provide background information (work done in the past), typically in passive voice. Passive voice allows the writer to focus on the science rather than the scientist ... 

We close our discussion of move 3 by analyzing common verb tense and voice combinations used in this move (table 12.6). Gaps are often stated in present tense (in active and passive voice), sometimes in combination with a present perfect-passive statement fill-the-gap statements are usually in present or future tense and active voice. Personal pronouns (I or we) are common in fill-the-gap statements. 

We conclude this section by analyzing common verb tense-voice combinations in move 3. Because move 3 describes work that will be done in the future, future tense is most common. Future tense is used with both active and passive voice ... 

We conclude our discussion of move 1 by considering verb tense and voice combinations. Present and future tenses, with either active or passive voice, are commonly used in narrative timelines (e.g., excerpt 14B and 14C), as summarized in table 14.2. The timeline itself is often a list of fragments that need not contain verbs, as illustrated in the following timeline adapted from Harpp (1998) ... 

Table A3 Examples of active and passive voice in different verb tenses.

Passive voice constructions require the use of the past participle (e.g., shown, become), which is sometimes different from the past tense verb (e.g.. showed, became). See the footnote in table 6.2 for more details. 

Proofreading Tip To meet the expectations of a chemistry audience, do your best to use active and passive voice following conventions in the field. Refer to tables 4.1,5.1,6.5,12.3, 12.5,12.6,13.3,14.2,14.5,15.1 for summaries of common tense-voice combinations and their functions. 

The simple past tense is used. Both the active and passive forms are acceptable The rats were dosed daily from day 6 to 17 of gestation. or We dosed the rats daily from day 6 to 17 of gestation. are equally acceptable. 

You re now familiar with the types of questions you will encounter. But what kinds of issues will those questions most likely deal with All of the errors that appear in Identifying Sentence Errors and Improving Sentences are fair game in Improving Paragraphs. Expect to see problems with word choice and sentence-level issues such as adjective/adverb confusion, verb tenses, faulty comparisons, and improper use of the passive voice. 

Choice b repeats the error, and also uses the wrong verb tense (yesterday calls for the past tense was, not the present tense is). In choice d, extra words are added, and choice e repeats the passive voice error while unnecessarily dividing the sentence into two sentences. 

Choice b repeats the error and adds the unnecessary phrase that was different. Choice c correctly uses the active voice, but includes the conjunction while, making the sentence illogical. Choice d also corrects the passive voice issue, but uses the wrong verb tense (will order should be ordered). 

B. The following sentences contain incorrect verb forms, tense shifts, and double negatives. Correct any problems you see, and rewrite any sentences whose clarity or conciseness would be improved by using active rather than passive verbs. 

Past tense, passive voice Citations follow the... 

Practically any form of any verb can be made passive by addition of s. Before this s, the r of the present singular drops out an e preceding this r may also be dropped. Compound tenses are formed with auxiliary verbs much as in German and in English. 

The writer s choice of words will make it easier to relate emotion to plot. Direct, active words convey more feeling than indirect, passive words. Too many words can be a barrier as well. The conditional tense distances the... 

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