Quote:
Originally Posted by Marcio_Osorio
Karen, yes, I'd very much like to have that formula. As a civil servant, rather an ofício- or "officialese"-writing bureaucrat working for a government-owned public hospital, I have had to type "ofícios" (official letters and memos) riddled with passive voice constructions indiscriminately using many forms of the verb to be for nearly 13 years in a row. My boss will not let me rewrite the officialese using the active voice.
BTW I do not use English in ofícios. |
Karen, I'd enjoy looking at your memos, too, if you wouldn't think that too forward of me.
Marcio - I practice engineering for a living. I've almost given up eliminating the passive in official communications. Sometimes you need to emphasise the action rather than the actor, and passive voice does that in a way that people feel comfortable with. Your boss may also fear liability - when a sentence clearly identifies the actor, you know whom to blame.
