Hi forum,
Suppose we are stuck in a question and we are down to 2 options such as:
Case I
Option 1 Active voice, ambiguous and redundant
Option 2 Passive voice, clear and concise
Case II
Option 1 Active voice, grammatically correct with clear meaning
Option 2 Passive voice grammatically correct with clear meaning
Thanks!
Active vs Passive
This topic has expert replies
Hi,
I believe you should go with Option II in 1st question and Option I in the 2nd question. As there is no hard and fast rule that sentences should be in active voice only. If Passive voice is clearer then we should choose it.
Br,
Vishnu.
I believe you should go with Option II in 1st question and Option I in the 2nd question. As there is no hard and fast rule that sentences should be in active voice only. If Passive voice is clearer then we should choose it.
Br,
Vishnu.
GMAT/MBA Expert
- [email protected]
- Elite Legendary Member
- Posts: 10392
- Joined: Sun Jun 23, 2013 6:38 pm
- Location: Palo Alto, CA
- Thanked: 2867 times
- Followed by:511 members
- GMAT Score:800
Hi vinay1983,
The correct answers to GMAT SCs tend to be written in the Active voice (because THAT's how you're supposed to write). There are some situations though in which the passive voice is considered acceptable, but you won't see them too often on the GMAT.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
The correct answers to GMAT SCs tend to be written in the Active voice (because THAT's how you're supposed to write). There are some situations though in which the passive voice is considered acceptable, but you won't see them too often on the GMAT.
GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich
- vinay1983
- Legendary Member
- Posts: 643
- Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 4:27 am
- Thanked: 48 times
- Followed by:7 members
@ vishnumvishnum wrote:Hi,
I believe you should go with Option II in 1st question and Option I in the 2nd question. As there is no hard and fast rule that sentences should be in active voice only. If Passive voice is clearer then we should choose it.
Br,
Vishnu.
Precisely the reason why I mentioned this. No offence to you, but I wanted this clarified. This is usually the case in GMAT.
Thank you Rich!
You can, for example never foretell what any one man will do, but you can say with precision what an average number will be up to!
- KapTeacherEli
- GMAT Instructor
- Posts: 578
- Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2009 6:00 pm
- Thanked: 136 times
- Followed by:62 members
Rich has it.
I do want to point out one common area where the GMAT will use passive voice: in correcting modification errors. Often times, a passive-voice sentence is the only way you've got to put the right noun near the right modifying phrase! You can read a little more in this blog here, which may help.
Best,
I do want to point out one common area where the GMAT will use passive voice: in correcting modification errors. Often times, a passive-voice sentence is the only way you've got to put the right noun near the right modifying phrase! You can read a little more in this blog here, which may help.
Best,