Conversations with Tyler cover image

Steven Pinker on Language, Reason, and the Future of Violence (Live at Mason)

Conversations with Tyler

00:00

The Passive Voice in Writing

The passive voice in writing, it has its underrated, well underrated in the following sense. You open up any style manual and it one of the first bits of advice is, don't use the passive. If you're already talking about something that is done to then that's the logical way to begin the next sentence. And the passive voice makes that possible - look at a mime in the park being pelted with zukine ah. The two most famous style guides in the english namely orwell's politics in the english language and strunk an whites, the elements of style,. both accidentally use the passive in the very sentence in which they say, don’t use the passive

Transcript
Play full episode

The AI-powered Podcast Player

Save insights by tapping your headphones, chat with episodes, discover the best highlights - and more!
App store bannerPlay store banner
Get the app