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Subject:Re: another passive voice question From:mpriestley -at- VNET -dot- IBM -dot- COM Date:Tue, 29 Nov 1994 15:58:52 EST
Darcey Harding writes:
>I have to say,
>"I added the broth to the 125ml flask. I harvested the cells. I purified the
>urease. I applied the extract to the DEAE-cellulose...""
>sounds AWFUL, no matter HOW varied I try and make it.
I think a case could be made for using the passive voice here. The important
things are those being done, not the doer. If you were writing a series of
instructions, or needed to clarify who was doing the purifying/applying/etc.,
then active voice would be more appropriate.
Question: would it be appropriate, instead of using passive voice, to set it
up as a series of steps, and elide the "I" in each case? With accompanying
illustrations, it might go over all right:
1.Added broth to flask.
2.Harvested cells.
3.Purified the urease.
4.Applied extract...
Mind you, I'm strictly software, and I haven't touched chemistry since
highschool, so I'm lacking understanding of both subject and audience :-(
Hope it helped anyway,
Michael Priestley
mpriestley -at- vnet -dot- ibm -dot- com
Disclaimer: speaking on my own behalf, not IBM's.
