Quote:
Originally Posted by baqarah131  In actual use, avoid the passive whenever you can.
Active verbs are clearer, more direct. |
This is true in literary English. But very often, in news articles, accident reports, technical documentation and so on, the passive is used whenever the identity of the agent is either unknown or unimportant.
"Somebody had shot Mr Jones." -> Murder mystery novel
"Mr Jones had been shot." -> Newspaper report