Wise Owl Style Guide
Rule 1: Use the Active Tense
The passive tense should be avoided at all cost! Here are some good and bad examples of simple instructions:
| Bad Sentence | Better |
|---|---|
| A chart will be created in Excel | Excel will create a chart |
| Your paragraph will now be centre aligned on the page | Word will centre align your paragraph on the page |
| Good form design will be appreciated by users of your system | Users of your system will appreciate good form design |
Changing the passive tense into the active makes sentences shorter and easier to understand!
