Page 45 - Today’s Business Communication; A How-to Guide for the Modern Professional

34 TODAY’S BUSINESS COMMUNICATION

than active voice sentences. For example, Reggae singer–songwriter Bob
Marley wrote the following lyrics in active voice.

Active: I shot the sheriff�

We know the sentence is active because the actor (I) appears in the sen-
tence before the action (shot). This sentence answers very clearly the ques-
tion, Who did what? The same sentence written in passive voice would
look like any of the following.

Passive 1: The sheriff was shot by me�
Passive 2: The sheriff was shot�

These sentences do not answer as clearly the question, Who did what? In
fact, the second sentence does not identify the shooter at all. Also, you
should notice how passive sentences place the emphasis on the object of
the action (the sheriff) instead of the actor (I).
Can you think of times when you might prefer to use passive voice?
If you are the defense attorney representing the shooter, you would
probably prefer passive voice sentence number two. In that sentence, your
client isn’t even mentioned. So, although you should try to use active voice
as much as possible, there are times when passive voice has its advantages.
In fact, when you use passive voice sentences, you are not committing an
error; you are making a stylistic choice. Choose wisely. Prefer active voice.

Write Short Sentences

As you can see in Figure 3.5, there are four types of sentences: simple,
compound, complex, and compound-complex. Longer sentences are
more difficult for readers to understand and increase the likelihood of
committing one or more errors in grammar and mechanics. Therefore,
your readers will appreciate your use of short, simple sentences.
Use simple sentences as frequently as possible without reducing
your document’s readability. For most adults, children’s stories have
low readability because they rely heavily on simple sentences. The other
three sentence structures have their place. They can enhance a docu-
ment’s readability. They can make a more powerful point by combining
two simple sentences that work better as one sentence. In fact, complex