Voz activa frente a voz pasiva en la escritura académica

Activa (por defecto):

Agente + verbo + objeto. Forma de ejemplo: We interviewed 40 nurses.

Pasiva (a propósito):

Receptor + be + participio pasado (+ by agente). Forma de ejemplo: Participants were randomly assigned to conditions.

Artículo APA en solitario:

Usa I para tu propio trabajo: I coded the transcripts.

Artículo APA en coautoría:

Usa we para las autoras y los autores juntos: We coded the transcripts.

No escribas:

The researcher coded the transcripts. / It was found that…

Both the active and the passive voice are permitted in APA Style. However, writers often overuse the passive voice.

Use the active voice as much as possible to create direct, clear, and concise sentences, especially when you are writing about the actions of people.

Use the passive voice when it is more important to focus on the recipient of an action than on who performed the action, such as when describing an experimental setup.

Activa:

the children ate the cookies

Pasiva, agente nombrado:

the cookies were eaten by the children

Pasiva, agente omitido — la advertencia de APA:

the cookies were eaten

did the children eat the cookies, or was it the dog?

form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice

Why was the road crossed by the chicken?

The chicken es quien cruza, pero road es el sujeto gramatical. La forma activa familiar pone primero al agente: why did the chicken cross the road?

Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy. Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences.

• La voz pasiva no es un error gramatical. Es una elección de claridad.
• Un verbo to be no es automáticamente pasivo. "John is a good student" describe un estado.
• La primera persona no es automáticamente activa. Puedes escribir una oración pasiva en primera persona.
• "Never use the passive" es en sí un mito. Algunas oraciones quedan más claras así.
• Los correctores gramaticales solo captan una fracción de las pasivas, porque no están marcando un error.

Pasiva en primera persona de UNC:

I was hit by the dodgeball.

Estado de UNC (no es pasiva):

John is a good student

To create direct, clear, and concise sentences, especially when you are writing about the actions of people, use the active voice.

Ejemplo activo del material:

Health department officials reported data on the spread of the COVID-19 Pirola variant.

Par de aula del mismo material:

The teacher gave scratch paper to the students before they took their test.

The scratch paper was given to the students by their teacher before they took their test.

Material didáctico de APA Style (montaje experimental):

The soil quality experiment was conducted in three stages—each stage judging the improvement of the soil when infused with a substantial number of unknown organic ingredients.

UNC, enfatizar el objeto:

One hundred votes are required to pass the bill.

UNC, quien vierte es desconocido:

Over 120 different contaminants have been dumped into the river.

UNC, la lectora o el lector no necesita a la obstetra:

Baby Sophia was delivered at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

Use first-person pronouns in APA Style to describe your work as well as your personal reactions.

Correcto, autora o autor en solitario:

I explored treatments for social anxiety.

Do not use the third person to refer to yourself.

Evita:

The author explored treatments for social anxiety.

We editorial que debes evitar:

We often worry about what other people think of us.

We especificado:

As young adults, we often worry about what other people think of us.

Many writers believe the “no first-person” myth, which is that writers cannot use first-person pronouns such as “I” or “we” in an APA Style paper.

However, APA Style has no such rule against using first-person pronouns and actually encourages their use to avoid ambiguity in attribution!

It represents a continuation of a long-standing APA Style guideline that began with the second edition of the manual, in 1974.

If you did something, say, “I did it”—there’s no reason to hide your own agency by saying “the author [meaning you] did X” or to convolute things by using the passive “X was done [meaning done by you].”

UNC, la primera persona aclara quién exploró:

In studying American popular culture of the 1980s, the question of to what degree materialism was a major characteristic of the cultural milieu was explored.

Revisión de UNC:

In our study of American popular culture of the 1980s, we explored the degree to which materialism characterized the cultural milieu.

UNC, suprime el anuncio de creencia:

I think that Aristotle’s ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases, or at least it seems that way to me.

Revisión de UNC:

Aristotle’s ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases.

Let the first-person singular be, instead, a tool that you take out when you think it’s needed and that you leave in the toolbox when you think it’s not.

Los casos de Kandel para sacarla: narras un hallazgo, describes cómo das clase, discrepas de otra estudiosa o de otro estudioso sin reclamar la verdad absoluta, o necesitas I para permanecer claro y directo. Sus casos para dejarla en la caja de herramientas: I aparece tan a menudo que resulta molesto, y rellenar una postura ya obvia con "I believe" o "it seems to me."

Write clear and direct sentences. Using the active voice (‘we performed the experiment...’) typically helps readers better understand concepts and results described in a paper.

We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribose nucleic acid (D.N.A.). This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest.

Ciencia pasiva (UNC):

A number of things are indicated by these results.

Activa sin we:

These results indicate a number of things.

Oración clínica pasiva (UNC):

The balloon is positioned in an area of blockage and is inflated.

Clínica o clínico nombrado:

The surgeon positions the balloon in an area of blockage and inflates it.

Agente ausente (UNC):

Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death in the United States.

Investigadoras e investigadores nombrados:

Researchers have concluded that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

Pasiva perezosa (UNC):

The working class was marginalized. African Americans were discriminated against. Women were not treated as equals.

Trabajo de antropología de UNC, agente ausente:

A new system of drug control laws was set up.

Institución nombrada:

The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party set up a new system of drug control laws.

Resumen de argumento que oculta a la novelista o al novelista:

Tom and Huck are portrayed as…

Agente nombrado:

Twain portrays Tom and Huck as…

Crítica o crítico nombrado:

Anderson argues that…

Ejemplo de UNC sobre la Odisea, agente ausente:

When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

Revisión de UNC:

After suitors invaded Penelope’s house, she had to think of ways to fend them off.

UNC / el objetivo de Orwell:

Mistakes were made.

La oración de Exxon de UNC:

The Exxon Company accepts that a few gallons might have been spilled.

CMOS Q&A, Usage and Grammar #198 (banner de la 18.ª edición):

Although it’s good to avoid excessive use of the passive voice, and it’s especially important to avoid using it to hide who has done something (“Lies were told”), the best writing usually involves regular use of the passive, and it would be a mistake to root it out as a policy.

CMOS Q&A, Usage and Grammar #185 (banner de la 18.ª edición):

The idea that the passive must be avoided is a superstition that language professionals long ago abandoned, although the prohibition remains popular.

CMOS Q&A #185 sobre mezclar voces:

in good writing a mix of active and passive is essential for variation and eloquence, as you will find in any classic of English literature. (Strunk and White use the passive throughout The Elements of Style after famously recommending against it.)

Material APA, pasiva → activa:

The scratch paper was given to the students by their teacher… → The teacher gave scratch paper to the students…

APA Style, pasiva → pregunta:

the cookies were eaten → Who ate them? If you know, write the children ate the cookies.

UNC, ciencia activa sin we:

A number of things are indicated by these results. → These results indicate a number of things.

Forma de Nature:

The experiment was performed… → we performed the experiment...

Modificador colgante (CMOS 18 §5.119 señala el patrón):

Plantilla, no una fuente: Using qualitative methods, the study was conducted. → Using qualitative methods, we conducted the study.

1. Busca be + participio pasado. Si están los dos, tienes una candidata, no una reescritura automática.
2. ¿Hay una acción? Si el verbo solo nombra un estado ("the argument is sound"), para. Eso no es pasiva.
3. ¿Quién o qué realiza la acción? ¿Están en la casilla del sujeto, al final detrás de by, o faltan?
4. ¿Una lectora o un lector justo preguntaría quién? Si sí, y lo sabes, escribe la oración activa.
5. ¿Estás ocultando una decisión, un error o un agente político? Si sí, reescribe. "Mistakes were made" es el caso de prueba.
6. ¿Estás resumiendo a una crítica, a un crítico o a una novelista o un novelista? Pon el apellido delante del verbo.
7. ¿El temario o la revista exige Methods en pasiva? Obedece esa regla local; no la exportes a la discusión.
8. En un trabajo APA que escribiste sola o solo, ¿escribiste we o "the researcher"? Cámbialos a I.
9. ¿Un corrector gramatical marcó cada is? Ignora los que no sean be + participio.