Re: Passive activity, voice-wise

[Kent Newton <KentN -at- METRIX-INC -dot- COM>]

If I'm not mistaken, *has demonstrated* is the present perfect tense and
not passive voice.  In this case, the sentence indicates that the
experimental evidence has, at some indefinite time in the past,
demonstrated the facts -- not that the experimental evidence was
demonstrated by the fact.

Kent Newton
Senior Technical Writer
Metrix, Inc.
kentn -at- metrix-inc -dot- com

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From:  TECHWR-L[SMTP:TECHWR-L -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu]
Sent:  Thursday, January 25, 1996 6:30 PM
To:  Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
Subject:  Re: Passive activity, voice-wise

Entirely in active voice?

"Experimental evidence *has demonstrated* ...."

Loryn Jenkins
CONTRACT TECHNICAL WRITER
TEKRITE LIMITED


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From:  Thom Remington <remingtf -at- dssrv01 -dot- ds -dot- dupont -dot- com>
Sent:  Thursday, January 25, 1996 11:39
To:  Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L <TECHWR-L -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu>
Subject:  Passive activity, voice-wise

Passive voice has its place. I maintain that a good writer can use
passive
voice and make it work clearly, just as a bad writer can inadvertantly
make
active voice as clear as mud. Consider the following example, written
entirely in active voice:

Experimental evidence has demonstrated that the diurnal introduction into
the alimentary system of a single example of any of a variety of species
of
pomes has an ameliorative effect for the dread felt by iatrophobes, by
rendering the necessity of proximity of the object of such iatrophobia
that
much less likely.

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Thom Remington
DuPont External Affairs Technical Publications
Wilmington Delaware

Opinions expressed are mine alone.