In defense of the passive voice.
In defense of the passive voice.
复制标题
为被动语态辩护。
作者：
F. Ferreira
科学文章的作者熟悉避免使用被动语态的建议。规定主义者认为被动语态会导致臃肿、间接甚至回避的写作，他们建议改用主动语态。本文针对这些指控为被动语态辩护，并认为这一建议是错误的。本文首先总结了被动结构及其形式的多样性，其中许多形式在被动语态所谓的缺陷的讨论中并未得到重视，然后总结了为什么一些规定主义者批评其使用。根据心理语言学研究的结果，描述了使用被动语态的三个动机：首先，被动形式可以让作者保持话题的连续性并符合既定的新的沟通原则； 2、说话者使用被动语态来容纳容易理解的概念；第三，被动句在交际上并不等同于主动句，因此主动句的释义有时会扭曲作者的信息。避免被动句的建议的另一个问题是，人们很难正确识别它们，并且往往依赖于经常诊断其他不相关的语法结构的肤浅线索。正如针对分裂不定式、搁浅介词和单数的规则已被放弃一样，对被动语态的禁止也应如此。作家不应回避语法完美且有用的结构，而应努力使用所有可用的语言工具来创作清晰而优雅的散文。 （PsycINFO 数据库记录 (c) 2020 APA，保留所有权利）。
Writers of scientific articles are familiar with the advice to avoid using the passive voice. Prescriptivists argue that the passive leads to bloated, indirect, and even evasive writing, and they recommend that the active form be used instead. This article defends the passive voice against these charges and argues that this advice is misguided. The article begins with a summary of the passive construction and the diversity of its forms, many of which are not appreciated in discussions of the passive voice's purported flaws, and is then followed by a summary of why some prescriptivists criticize its use. Three motivations for the use of the passive voice based on findings from psycholinguistic research are then described: First, the passive form allows writers to maintain topic continuity and conform to the given-new principle of communication; 2nd, speakers use the passive voice to accommodate concepts that are accessible; and 3rd, passive sentences are not communicatively equivalent to actives, and therefore active sentence paraphrases will sometimes distort the writer's message. An additional problem with the advice to avoid passive sentences is that people have trouble correctly identifying them and tend to rely on superficial cues that often diagnose other irrelevant grammatical constructions. Just as rules against split infinitives, stranded prepositions, and the singular they have been abandoned, so too should the prohibition against the passive voice. Instead of shunning a perfectly grammatical and useful construction, writers should strive to generate prose that is clear and elegant, using all the linguistic tools at their disposal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
DOI：
10.1037/0278-7393.19.3.528
发表时间：
1993-05-01
影响因子：
2.6
作者：
TRUESWELL, JC;TANENHAUS, MK;KELLO, C
通讯作者：
KELLO, C
DOI：
10.1016/s0079-7421(08)00006-6
发表时间：
2008-01-01
期刊：
PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING AND MOTIVATION: ADVANCES IN RESEARCH AND THEORY, VOL 49
影响因子：
--
作者：
Ferreira, Victor S.
通讯作者：
Ferreira, Victor S.
DOI：
10.1037/0278-7393.16.4.555
发表时间：
1990-07-01
影响因子：
2.6
作者：
FERREIRA, F;HENDERSON, JM
通讯作者：
HENDERSON, JM