Communicating in Mechanical Engineering

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In the past, many engineers stressed that the passive voice should be used in writing. However, this trend is changing. Some instructors, publications and industries now accept the active voice in written documents. To differentiate between the two, consider the following:

1. I used the electric identifier to solve the problem.
2. The electric identifier was used to solve the problem.

The first sentence is in active voice. It stresses who completed the work, "I." The second sentence is in the passive voice. It stresses the work completed, "The electric identifier was used." Typically, if you use a first person pronoun (I, we) you are writing in active voice. Always be sure you know which voice you should use in your writing.