Excerpt from
My first trip to Boston will always be remembered by me.
I shall always remember my first visit to Boston. (Better)
There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground.
Dead leaves covered the ground.
At down the crowing of a rooster could be heard.
The cock's crow came with dawn.
The reason he left college was that his health became impaired
Failing health compelled him to leave college.
It was not long before she was very sorry that she had said what she had.
She soon repented her words.
However, if using passive voice can enhance the clarity or conciseness of the sentence, we should choose passive voice.
Note, in the examples above, that when a sentence is made stronger, it usually becomes shorter. Thus, brevity is a by-product of vigor.
For conciseness:
Remove the wordy terms
They speak Spanish in Brazil. ("they" = wordy)
Spanish is spoken in Brazil.
Emphasize the Object
A taxi driver found your wallet
Your wallet has been found (by a taxi driver).
For clarity:
Use same subject for compound sentence (Switzerland and Finland)
Switzerland managed to stay out of WWII, but Germany invaded Finland early on.
Switzerland managed to stay out of WWII, but Finland was invaded by Germany early on.
Bill Clinton had been lying outrageously to the American public. Kenneth Starr, however, forced him to tell the truth.
Bill Clinton had been lying outrageously to the American public. However, he was forced to tell the truth by Kenneth Starr.
Bill Clinton had been lying outrageously to the American public but was forced to tell the truth by Kenneth Starr.
Although the doctor ordered him not to smoke, the patient kept on smoking.
Although ordered by the doctor not to smoke, the patient kept on smoking.
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