Question

The phrase “it has been noted that” is an example of ________.

Question 1 options:

wordiness

imperative construction

a passive construction

redundancy

Answer 1

Ans. a passive construction.

The passive construction is made when the object of the action is changed into the subject of the sentence. Therefore, whatever/whoever is acting in the sentence no longer remains its grammatical subject.

Example:
Active form: Why did the hen cross the road?
Passive form: Why was the road crossed by the hen?

In the example above, we can see that the hen is the performer of the action. But in the passive form of the statement, “road” has been made the grammatical subject.

The use of passive voice or passive construction is entirely acceptable and appropriate in cases when:

a. The actor is unknown or is irrelevant.
b. The writer or speaker wants to be cautiously unaware of who should be carrying the responsibility (for instance in the sentence “Mistakes were made”).
c. Speaking about a general tooth (for instance in the sentence “rules are meant to be broken”).
d. Emphasizing on a certain thing or person.
e. Writing in a certain scientific genus where the passive voice has been traditionally used, as in the case of scientific research papers and lab reports (of instance in the sentence “sodium carbonate was dissolved in water”).

However, passive construction creates ambiguity about who is carrying the responsibility for action and hence should be avoided in academic writing as well as business writing in inappropriate areas.

Active construction is considered to be superior to passive construction and voice as it is more direct and the reader can know what/who acted, what the action was, and what/who was acted upon, sequentially. This way the processing of information becomes easier for the reader.

Business documents and writings frequently use passive voice/constructions such as in form of phrases “it has been noted that”, “it has been decided that”, and “it has been recommended that” among others. These phrases may reduce/eliminated with a least on no rewriting of the remainders that contain them.

Consider the example:

Passive construction/voice: It has been noted that employees have been using their laptops at the workplace.
Improved and Active construction/voice: Employees have been using their laptops at the workplace.