RE : active vs. passive voice, or epithet?

[Yves JEAUROND <jingting -at- rogers -dot- com>]

For sure, saying "the window displays" is an error in syntax.
  It's a transitive verb. One needs to display something.
  "The SW displays the window."
  "The window displays data."
   
  "The window displays." is not English.
   
  As for the other choices, the other posts give good answers.
  Just take care of confusing passive voice and epithet.
  "The window is big, blue, shiny, displayed and functional."
  No passive form there.
   
  Regards,
   
  YJ
   
  

Michelle Vina-Baltsas <Michelle_Vina-Baltsas -at- datascope -dot- com> a écrit :
  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. 

Is the use of "is displayed" passive voice?

Thank you,
Michelle
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