BOLD Educational Software Avoiding Passive Voice in Scholarly Language

Passive voice occurs when the subject is receiving the action of the verb. In active voice, the subject of the sentence is DOING the action. Many times when correcting passive voice, editors have difficulty because they do not know WHO is doing the action. As an author, you need to be sure that every sentence is clear.

See pages 73 and 81 of the 6th edition of the APA Publication Manualregarding avoiding passive voice and
page 77 for examples of appropriate uses of passive voice.

Directions: Click on "Practice" and a sentence will appear in the top text-area. Insert commas or remove commas (if necessary) according to APA guidelines. When you are finished, click on "Correct APA Style" to find out how to correctly punctuate the sentence according to APA guidelines on pages 78-80 of the APA Publication Manual. After you've checked the correct punctuation, click on the "Explanation" to find out why the sentence was punctuated the way it was.

---

1.  

    

---

2.  

    

---

3.  

    

---

4.  

    

---

5.  

    

---

6.  

    

---

7.  

    

---

8.  

    

---

9.  

    

---

Need a professional editor? Contact us at editing@bold-ed.com

 

Copyright BOLD Educational Software 2010
by Diane M. Dusick, Ph.D.
All Rights Reserved