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Microsoft® Manual of Style, Fourth Edition
book

Microsoft® Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

by Microsoft Corporation
January 2012
Beginner
464 pages
14h 4m
English
Microsoft Press
Content preview from Microsoft® Manual of Style, Fourth Edition

Voice

Voice refers to the relationship between the grammatical subject of a sentence and the verb. In active voice, the person or thing performing the action of the verb is the grammatical subject. In passive voice, the receiver of the action is the grammatical subject.

In general, active voice should predominate. Passive voice is not a grammatical error, but it has the greatest impact when you use it sparingly.

International considerations

International considerations

Passive voice can be a problem for localization. Some languages use passive voice rarely, if at all, so the translation can end up sounding stilted or unnatural.

It is all right to use passive voice in the following situations:

  • To avoid a wordy or awkward construction.

  • When the subject ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780735669833Purchase book