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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Passive or active?
Passive or active?
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Minka
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Passive or active?
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Hello!
I would like to ask for help related to the use of the passive voice.
There is this exercise with the instructions "Choose the better option."
One of the examples was: They were driving too fast. a) The police stopped them b) They were stopped by the police. Now which of the two is better and WHY?
Thank you so much. |
16 Oct 2016
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ueslteacher
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if it �s a news report, then passive would be a better choice as it �s more formal... Also with the passive the focus is more on the fact that it happened to "them", I guess...
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16 Oct 2016
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Minka
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Thank you.
The link doesn �t work though (404...). I �m still not sure how to explain to my students that one is better than the other as such. I �m not sure I believe that myself.  |
16 Oct 2016
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Gi2gi
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Minka, I would be confused, too. From the options you have provided either would be correct and whether one would be "better" than another is a matter of style or a very "fine" "rule"/reasoning that resides in the shrewd minds of the test compilers :) . I �ve heard some stylists maintain that "the passive is always a bad choice"... but... who cares?! Sophia gave some nice views why one might feel inclined to choose the option (b).... Anyway, if I were given the same test I would just roll my eyes in despair :/
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16 Oct 2016
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Minka
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Thank you so much, both of you :D |
16 Oct 2016
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yanogator
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I agree with Sophia and Giorgi, and definitely say that the passive is sometimes the best choice. In the US, at least, we use the passive more often in this situation. I think it is, as Sophia said, it puts the focus on the speeders, rather than on the police. That choice isn �t necessarily "better", just what we do naturally. Bruce |
16 Oct 2016
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Tere-arg
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Both are grammatically correct. The active one (a) is more usual when speaking/informally while the one in passive voice is commonly used in reports/news or any formal written text. |
16 Oct 2016
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ueslteacher
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sorry about the link:( anyways, it was just a link to search results of googling "when is passive a better choice" |
17 Oct 2016
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Minka
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Never mind :)
I appreciate your help. |
17 Oct 2016
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