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I personally hate displayed as it reminds me of a store putting an item
on display. My thinking is that shown or appears is better. Shown may be
quite informal whereas appears could be formal.
Michael Ronquillo
Technical Writer - Equitrac
1-800-472-9532 x2334
mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mronquillo=equitrac -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Michelle Vina-Baltsas
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2008 10:52 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: active vs. passive voice
I've read many threads on this listserv related to the use of "appears"
vs. "displays" or "is displayed". During a meeting yesterday, with my
fellow tech writers, we had a heated discussion about whether we should
use "is displayed" or "displays" when writing a result (For example,
"Select the XYZ button. The EXY dialog box is displayed.") One writer
insisted that the use of "is displayed" should not be used because it
is
in the passive voice. To be honest, my head was spinning so quickly that
I
decided to refrain from offering my opinion. I did tell them I'd
investigate though.
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