Active vs. passive voice?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

Michelle Vina-Baltsas wonders: <<I've read many threads on this  
listserv related to the use of "appears" vs. "displays" or "is  
displayed". During a meeting yesterday, with my fellow tech writers,  
we had a heated discussion about whether we should use "is displayed"  
or "displays" when writing a result (For example, "Select the XYZ  
button. The EXY dialog box is displayed.")>>

Actually, I prefer "Click the XYZ button to display the EXY dialog  
box" or its inverse: "To X, click Y". Simpler and clearer, and you're  
not making any predictions about whether the dialog will actually  
appear. Sometimes, best intentions notwithstanding, it doesn't.

Also, you don't select buttons: you click them. Only checkboxes and  
radio buttons should be selected in a dialog (or items from dropdown  
menus). It's an important distinction: selecting something merely  
chooses it as a parameter of what happens next, but clicking a button  
triggers an immediate action.

<<One writer insisted that the use of  "is displayed" should not be  
used because it is in the passive voice.>>

Yes, it's passive, and I'll avoid getting into the whole transitive/ 
intransive verb issue here. Passive voice is not inherently wrong,  
particularly since the alternative is to constantly say "the software  
then displays..." or similar wording. You can do that too, but  
really, there are better solutions.


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