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Mike W wants to know when it is appropriate to use passive voice,
especially mixing passive with active voice in his writing.
I'm not sure I know how you're mixing your voices. I would tend not to
do that, and I would tend not to recommend it to others.
If I were mixing voices, I think I might do so in a chapter where it
isn't necessary to assign action to an agent. Some people don't like to
cast a sentence such that a computer system (considered by many to be
inanimate--but don't tell mine that; it won't like it) is actively
doing something. For example, "The system displays" vs. "is displayed
by the system." Seems rather quirky to me.
However, the overall rule that I use--and you're welcome to it if you
want--is that I use passive voice when it is meaningless to assign
agency to an action.
If you ARE going to mix them, be careful not to give the reader
whiplash.
I remain one who thinks the passive voice IS useful at times. <g>
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