The Problems, and Positives, of Passives: Exploring Why Controlling Passive Voice and Nominalizations Is about More than Preference and Style
![handle is hein.journals/jalwd19 and id is 105 raw text is: ARTICLE
The Problems, and Positives,
of Passives
Exploring Why Controlling Passive Voice
and Nominalizations Is About More Than
Preference and Style
Jacob M. Carpenter*
Introduction
Passive voice and nominalizations are among the worst writing
weaknesses.1 Passages written with passive voice and nominalizations,
compared to the same passages rewritten in the active voice, are often
slower to read, harder to read, harder to comprehend, harder to remember,
less concise, less familiar feeling, and less engaging.2 When writing briefs,
attorneys strive to explain legal analysis as clearly, effectively, and persua-
sively as possible. Yet attorneys commonly impede the reader by using
passive voice and nominalizations excessively in their briefs.-
Though many textbooks, bar-journal articles, and professional-
development speakers advise attorneys to prefer active voice over passive
voice and to avoid nominalizations, the topic typically receives only a
* Jacob M. Carpenter is a Professor of Legal Writing at Marquette University Law School. I would like to thank my research
assistants-Jason Sausser, Kevin Galezewski, and Kyle Frank-for their help. I thank the Marquette University Law School
administration for supporting my work on this article. I would also like to thank the journal editors, especially Joan Ames
Magat, for helpful insights and suggestions for the article.
1 Lloyd R. Bostian, Dysfunctional Pseudo-Elegance: Why Passive and Nominal Writing Fails, 65 J. APPLIED COMMC'NS 32,
32 (1982).
2 See section II, infra, for a discussion of studies that have demonstrated these impediments.
3 PETER M. TIERSMA, LEGAL LANGUAGE 75, 206 (1999). Tiersma states that [l]egal language is often excoriated for overre-
liance on passive constructions. Id. at 75 (citing Edward Finegan, Form and Function in Testament Language, in LINGUISTICS
AND THE PROFESSIONS 113, 118 (Robert J. DiPietro ed., 1982)); RISTO HILTUNEN, CHAPTERS ON LEGAL ENGLISH: ASPECTS
PAST AND PRESENT OF THE LANGUAGE OF THE LAW 76 (1990) (noting that the passive is very common in legal English).
Professor Linda Edwards stated that most legal writing ... relies far too much on verbs in the passive voice. LINDA H.
EDWARDS, LEGAL WRITING AND ANALYSIS 283 (4th ed. 2015). Edwards noted that because so many cases students read are
infected with passive voice, students will have to struggle against developing the habit themselves. Id.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jalwd19&div=8&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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