• Linguistics and Language -> Grammar and Syntax

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What are some disadvantages of using passive voice in academic writing?

Skip Mangeney

Well, as someone who has done their fair share of academic writing, I can tell you that there are definitely some downsides to using passive voice. For starters, it can make your writing sound really dry and impersonal. I mean, who wants to read something that sounds like it was written by a robot, right?

Another issue with passive voice is that it can make your sentences longer and more convoluted than they need to be. When you use passive voice, you often end up burying the important information at the end of the sentence, which can make it hard for your reader to follow along. Active voice, on the other hand, puts the focus on the subject of the sentence and makes it clear who is doing what.

Passive voice can also be problematic because it sometimes makes it hard to tell who or what is responsible for something. For example, if I write "The experiment was conducted," it's not clear who conducted the experiment. Was it me? Was it someone else? Who knows?

In addition, passive voice can make it harder to convey a sense of urgency or importance. If you write "Mistakes were made," it doesn't sound as urgent or important as "I made a mistake."

Of course, there are also some situations where passive voice is totally fine to use. For example, if you're writing a scientific paper and you want to remove yourself from the narrative, you might use passive voice to make it clear that the findings are not just your own personal opinion. And in some cases, using passive voice can also be a way to be more diplomatic or polite. For example, instead of saying "You made a mistake," you might say "A mistake was made."

Overall, though, I think it's important to be aware of the potential drawbacks of using passive voice and to use it sparingly. After all, academic writing should be clear, concise, and engaging, and passive voice doesn't always fit the bill.