Why does formal writing avoid naming who did what?
The passive voice reverses the usual sentence structure: instead of saying who performed an action, it focuses on what was done — and often omits the actor entirely. Active: “Boeing confirmed the deal.” Passive: “The deal was confirmed by Boeing.” In formal prose the agent (by Boeing) is usually dropped, since the action or outcome is the point, not who carried it out.
Continue reading Structure: ‘The passive voice in formal writing’