The passive versus active voice thing is something i have only recently become aware of - it seems that i predominantly use the passive voice which, evidently, is not ideal. I'm a bit of a grammar pleb, so it's not surprising i fall into this trap. But it's very annoying... (almost as annoying as the fact that my research is about affecting affect and the effect that something has on affect. Grammar fail).

Am i the only one who uses passive voice a lot? Particularly when discussing previous work in the lit review? I swear, almost every sentence appears to be passive rather than active. And how bad do you think this is?

I recently had a book chapter accepted (before i knew about the passive/active thing) and no one mentioned it to me - in fact, it was accepted without revisions. Though, i'm now concerned because my sup didn't read the paper before it went in and given it was accepted without revisions, didn't feel a need to look at it afterwards either.

My concerns here aren't because i've been told it's bad by my sup - but because i've found things on the internet about it - Word flagged up a couple of instances of it, so i did further research and now i'm massively worried...

Please, calm my nerves! I hate grammar. A lot. :-s

Not sure if this is of help or not but I haven't a clue whether I write in a passive or active voice but it doesn't concern me because it's never been flagged up. Take a step back, your supervisor hasn't made any reference to it in terms of your writing and so maybe it's not the issue you think it is.

That does help actually. I think i'm probably worrying about something unnecessary at this point. I should really be focusing on getting this blaming thing written in any sort of voice, passive or not, before i can go for christmas. Rather than correctly something that already makes sense to me :-)

I guess my only concern is that my sup has never really read anything i've written before properly, so not sure it would come up. But meh. Wait and see.

Focus now. Must focus.

I wouldn't be guided by Word on this matter. If you're that concerned (and I don't think you should be) ask someone who you think will give you an honest opinion on your writing. I'm not entirely convinced my supervisors read much of what I wrote but think they had a good sense of my writing style. Focus and be calm!

Hi FrogPrincess,

I tend to write in the passive voice when organizing my thoughts, but try to rearrange (some) sentences when editing as it can make things flow better. A lot of the time it really is as simple as moving the end of the sentence to the beginning. I think the passive voice is a natural urge; we generally speak with gradual explanations rather than outright assertions.

I wouldn't be too worried about it if no-one has brought it up. I agree that the literature review is easier to write with a passive voice. I think phrasing sentences differently can help give impression you are more in control of the material. But if you're being critical rather than simply reporting then I'm sure that will come across anyway.

That's great news about your book chapter being accepted! I would take that as a very positive sign that your 'voice' is up to scratch. (up)