Some English teachers actively encourage their students to depend on active voice, while others allow their students to depend on passive voice. What’s the difference, and why is the difference important?
一些英語(yǔ)教師積極鼓勵(lì)學(xué)生使用主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài),而另一些教師則允許學(xué)生使用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)。主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)和被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的區(qū)別是什么?這些區(qū)別為什么如此重要?

Active voice appears in sentences such as, “The detective discovered that the manager was a thief.” Passive voice appears in sentences such as, “It was discovered that the manager was a thief.”
使用主動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的句子例如“The detective discovered that the manager was a thief.”(偵探發(fā)現(xiàn)經(jīng)理是小偷),而使用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的句子則是“It was discovered that the manager was a thief.”(經(jīng)理被發(fā)現(xiàn)是小偷)。

Why would someone use passive voice in a sentence like that? Because they want to call the manager a thief, but are afraid to say why!
為什么有人會(huì)在這種句子里使用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)?因?yàn)樗麄兿胝f(shuō)經(jīng)理是小偷,但是害怕說(shuō)出原因!

Passive voice is common in scientific papers, because it lets the writers avoid using the words?I?or?we, to avoid saying where their ideas came from. That’s why some teachers think that passive voice sounds more educated. Usually, though, it’s simply less definite. It might (or might not) fool your teacher, but in the real world, when they have something to say, even scientists don’t have the luxury of not being definite.
被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)在科學(xué)論文中很常見(jiàn),因?yàn)樗梢宰屪髡弑苊馐褂肐、me等詞來(lái)表明的想法的出處。這就是為什么有些教師認(rèn)為被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)聽(tīng)起來(lái)更文雅。盡管如此,使用被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)的句子往往含義更不明確。它也許可以(也許不能)從你的老師那里蒙混過(guò)關(guān),但是走向社會(huì)后,當(dāng)人們想說(shuō)點(diǎn)什么時(shí),就算科學(xué)家們也沒(méi)有含糊不清的權(quán)利。

In business writing, sentences make the most sense when the subject comes first, followed by what the subject is doing. So make sure passive writing is not reducing the efficiency of your words.
在商業(yè)寫(xiě)作中,主語(yǔ)開(kāi)頭,后面接主語(yǔ)的動(dòng)作,這樣的句子最合乎常理。因此,千萬(wàn)別讓被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)削弱文章的效果。

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Daily Writing Tips是由數(shù)位英美寫(xiě)作專(zhuān)家維護(hù)的博客。每日更新文章,介紹從語(yǔ)法到詞匯應(yīng)用等英語(yǔ)知識(shí)。滬江英語(yǔ)獲得翻譯和發(fā)布授權(quán),請(qǐng)勿轉(zhuǎn)載。