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Comment by hp6 | Hacker News Reader

PASSIVE VOICE: Thomas Jefferson’s support of the new Constitution was documented in a letter to James Madison. ACTIVE VOICE: Thomas Jefferson documented his support of the new Constitution in a letter to James Madison.

IMO the passive voice makes much more sence for this example.

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Passive doesn't just sound better in the example, it's objectively correct.

Jefferson wasn't attempting to document anything. That wasn't the action he was taking at all. We only consider it documented after the fact; it's completely incidental to what he was trying to accomplish.

Therefor, only the passive voice describes what occurred. The only people actively documenting anything are those who deliberately set out to create documentation of events (and I think they might all be assholes, as a rule... so maybe he was actively documenting?).

Imo, the difference is in the focus. The passive voice version makes the "support of the new constitution" the most important thing the sentence is about. The active voice makes "Thomas Jefferson" the most important thing the sentence is about.

So, it really depends on what the rest of the paragraph is supposed to be about.

Which is why the blanket aversion many style guides have to the passive voice makes no sense. Use it when it makes sense to use it, obviously. Often, the subject of the verb really is of little importance, particularly in formal accounts of events

It depends on whether Thomas Jeferson wrote the letter or someone else.

a letter sent to James Madison documented Thomas Jefferson’s support of the new Constitution. ?

Maybe

  documented
    sent
      letter
        a
      James Madison
        to
    Constitution
      the
      new
      of
        support
          Thomas Jefferson's

???

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