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Subject:Re: Is passive voice ever OK? From:Vicki Rosenzweig <murphy!acmcr!vr -at- UUNET -dot- UU -dot- NET> Date:Wed, 30 Nov 1994 09:09:31 EST
"XYZ software is considered to be the leading bean-counting product
on the market today" is exactly the sort of thing I consider a
_misuse_ of the passive voice. In this case, it does matter to the
reader _who_ considers it such: does this mean the editor of _PC
Week_ loved it? Does it mean it sold more copies than any other
bean-counting software? Or does it just mean that the XYZ Inc. marketing
department is thrilled with its latest product? If I'm considering
buying a bean-counter, I might be influenced by the first or second,
but not (if I know what it means) by the third.
Vicki Rosenzweig
vr%acmcr -dot- uucp -at- murphy -dot- com
New York, NY
