The Passive Voice Should not be Used

Never fully understood why the use of the passive voice set off so much wrath and agitation. My English instructors frowned upon it, to put it mildly, but nobody ever explained to me in concrete terms why.

Some of my instructors were more passionate about it than others. One instructor banned the use of it all together, and my papers always came back bleeding with corrections.

The passive voice is said to compromise clarity. Okay, I just used it, so hit me.

I used it because at issue here is the passive voice, not necessarily the identity of its detractors. People in general state that as an argument against using the passive voice, and who says it is of secondary importance. So in this case, converting the sentence to the active voice above will lead to confusion, not specificity.

More than two decades have passed since my high school years, and now I have garnered enough courage to ask why. It was not my place to ask questions at the time as a new arrival to the country with less than two years of English under his belt.

One instructor had me revisit every sentence with the passive voice and replace am, is, are, was, or were with get or got. So the title of the blog would be "The Passive voice should not get used."

Any attorneys out there accepting clients interested in suing for educational malpractice?

On a similar note, speaking with clarity posed a even greater challenge. Besides the usual l's and r's that Asians are prone to butchering, one of the most difficult words to pronounce was the word beach, and enunciating that word was a _____. Well, you will see.



"I am going to the b*tch"
"Watch your language, David."

"No, the beeeaaaaaach. Spelled B.E.A.C.H"
"Oh. Sorry. Which one? Redondo?"

"No"
"Santa Monica?"

"Yes. That b*tch"