RE: passive vs active voice in May 9 Proposed reorganization

David,
Great job pointing this out.  You have a good concept there, however any
connotation of the verb "to be" is passive.  Therefore, the following
verbs and connotations are passive:

am
is
are
was
will be
were
have been
has been
had been
can be
could be
be
being
been
had
have
has
do
did
does
could
should
would

Passive verbs are often preceded by helping verbs (is, am, are, were,
was, been) or followed with by.

Therefore,

Active (this is passive because of the verb are)

1-C3   [1.3]  All content and structure are [separate or separable from]

available independently of presentation.

Truly Active Voice
Provided conventions separate the content and structure elements from
the presentation elements.


Active (this is passive because of the verb is)

2-C1   [2.1]   Ensure that all of the functionality is operable at a 
minimum through a keyboard or a keyboard interface.

Truly Active Voice
All functionality operates from the keyboard or through a keyboard type
interface.


Active (this is passive because of the verb are)

4-C2   [5.2]   Ensure that technologies relied upon by the content are 
declared and widely available.

Truly Active Voice
The content relies upon declared and widely available technologies.


Each of the adaptations noted above rely upon the active voice of verbs
without the use of "to be" verbs.  "To be" verbs cause ambiguity and
therefore cause passivity in the message relayed through the sentence.
Either the subject acts upon the object in present time or in the past.

Lee

Received on Thursday, 29 May 2003 18:31:14 UTC