Passive Voice
Definition
A syntactic construction in which the grammatical subject receives the action rather than performs it ('a notice shall be given' rather than 'the landlord shall give notice'). Legal drafters use it to avoid naming obligated parties, sometimes deliberately, sometimes out of habit.
- Field
- Legal drafting, plain language reform
- Structure
- Subject receives rather than performs the action
- Effect
- Can obscure the obligated party
Common questions
Why do plain-language reformers criticize passive voice in legal drafting?+
Passive constructions can obscure who is actually required to act, forcing a reader to infer responsibility rather than stating it directly, which reformers treat as a barrier to clear, enforceable drafting.
Is passive voice always a drafting flaw?+
No. It can be a legitimate choice when the actor is genuinely unknown or irrelevant to the obligation, but overuse or use to deliberately obscure an obligated party is what reformers target.
Related terms
- Archaism
- Words and phrases that were standard in earlier English but have since fallen out of common use: 'hereinafter', 'aforesaid', 'witnesseth', 'whereas'. They...
- Deliberate Vagueness
- Intentional use of imprecise language to leave interpretive flexibility or to allow political compromise. Terms like 'reasonable', 'material', 'promptly', and 'substantial' are...
- Idiolect
- The language variety specific to an individual, comprising their characteristic vocabulary, syntactic preferences, spelling habits, punctuation patterns, and discourse-level style. Authorship attribution...
- Nominalisation
- The conversion of a verb or adjective into a noun form (e.g. 'make a determination' instead of 'determine'; 'give consideration to' instead...
- Plain Language
- Writing that the intended reader can understand on first reading, without special training. Plain-language guidelines favour short sentences, active voice, everyday vocabulary,...