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RULE: 3.5 Do not use the past participle of a verb with a helping verb to make a complex verb.
Do not use the past participle with a helping verb (such as "can", "must", or "will") and a form of the verb "TO BE" to make a complex verb.
Example:
WRITE: ...you can adjust
NOT: ...can be adjusted.
Example:
WRITE: ...will adjust or ...adjusts
NOT: ...will be adjusted
Example:
WRITE: Adjust the...
NOT: ...must be adjusted
The Active Voice
RULE: 3.6 Use the active voice. Use only the active voice in procedural writing, and as much as possible in descriptive writing.
NOTE: Refer also to Section 5, Procedures, and Section 6, Descriptive Writing.
What is "active" or "passive" voice?
In the active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action of the sentence ("A" does "B"). In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action ("B" is done by "A").
Example:
ACTIVE: The side stay holds the main gear leg.
PASSIVE: The main gear leg is held by the side stay.
Example:
ACTIVE: The manufacturer made the procedures the same to decrease the maintenance time.
PASSIVE: The procedures have been made the same by the manufacturer to decrease the maintenance time.
In each of the passive examples, you can ask the question "by whom or what?"
The main gear leg is held Uby the side stayU.
The procedures have been made the same Uby the manufacturerU to decrease the maintenance time.
How Can You Tell If the Text Is Passive?
The best test for the passive voice is the question "By whom or what?" (the agent). If your text gives you an answer to this question, then it is written in the passive voice.
The second and confirming test for the passive is the way the text is written. Even if there is no "by" phrase within the sentence, a passive construction may exist. You can see from the two examples above that we write the passive voice by using some form of the verb UTO BE plus the past participleU of the main verb:
is held
have been made
How Do You Change a Passive Construction to the Active?
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