Comments on: #5OnFri: Five Basics That Will Sharpen Your Writing https://diymfa.com/writing/five-basics-that-will-sharpen-your-writing/ Tools & Techniques for the Serious Writer Wed, 04 Feb 2015 16:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: DIYMFA https://diymfa.com/writing/five-basics-that-will-sharpen-your-writing/#comment-1660 Wed, 04 Feb 2015 16:25:00 +0000 https://diymfa.com/?p=14292#comment-1660 Great point on the passive, but I think I get what Kat is getting at and it’s a subtle distinction. The example she gives, while not strictly passive voice in the grammarian sense, is what many authors colloquially call “passive writing” because the verb has lost its punch. When you shift from a present tense or straight-up past tense (sometimes called the “perfect past”) to a gerund, subjunctive, or imperfect past tense the verb loses that “verb-y-ness” that it otherwise has and gives the verb that active feel. Gerunds, subjunctives, etc. end up feeling less “active” even though in the grammarian sense, thy are still considered the active voice.

You’re right that strictly speaking the example above is not the passive voice, but many times writers refer to this type of writing as passive in a sort of writer’s jargon.

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