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Passive vs. Active

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Passive vs. Active

by MoYassen23 » Wed Feb 20, 2013 3:14 pm
Passive --- This CAT was taken under the worst of possible conditions.

Active --- I took this CAT under the worst of possible conditions.

Am I correct in my application of the passive vs. the active voice?

The active voice is preferred to the passive voice because "This CAT was taken under the worst of possible conditions" can be construed as "Someone took the CAT".

Did I use the correct reasoning?

Is the word "reassess" redundant?
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by David@VeritasPrep » Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:37 pm
The active is preferred to the passive - all other things being equal.

You want to begin with Logic and Grammar. Things like Singular vs Plural, proper timeline (verb tense, misplaced modifiers, etc. Parallelism and proper comparisons come in at this level as well.

The second level of scrutiny is that the clearer and more specific answer is preferred. This is where the pronoun that is vague - such as the use of "he" that could refer to more one person - comes in.

Finally, we want the answer that is more to the point and not redundant. It is at this level that active versus passive really comes in. Passive is usually longer, wordy, and not preferred.

By the way, I would say "I took this CAT under the worst possible conditions" no need for "of." Worst possible is modifying conditions. "Worst conditions possible" would work as well.

I do not think that "reassess" is redundant. It means to assess again, as I am sure that you know.
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by EducationAisle » Thu Feb 21, 2013 12:06 am
MoYassen23 wrote:Passive --- This CAT was taken under the worst of possible conditions.

Active --- I took this CAT under the worst of possible conditions.
We should also appreciate why Active is preferred over Passive. In your passive voice construct, it is not clear at all as to who took CAT. The doer of the action is completely concealed. Hence, this is not preferable.
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by David@VeritasPrep » Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:21 am
Very true!

That is why I use my "5 categories of Elimination" on sentence correction. Passive voice can be unclear/ not specific and it can also be awkward and wordy. However, I do like to wait until after I have eliminated choices for logic or grammar errors first, since the passive voice could be used in the correct answer if the other choices have more substantial errors. Maybe not the exact example used here...But something like "Taxes are immediately collected by the IRS on all substantial lottery winnings" could easily be part of a correct answer if the other answers have grammar errors, etc.
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by ceilidh.erickson » Fri Feb 22, 2013 1:18 pm
Generally speaking, it's best not to even think about passive v. active unless you've exhausted all other grammar and meaning differences. Questions that simply come down to a passive/active distinction are very, very rare, and plenty of correct answers on the GMAT will include passive voice.

You're correct in your analysis of what passive and active voice are, and it's something that you may want to keep in mind in your essay writing. Don't use it to eliminate answers on SC, though, unless nothing else is wrong.

More on passive voice here: https://www.beatthegmat.com/william-shak ... tml#581346
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