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"Passive" is a case, not a voice, and it doesn't exist in English. The error has been so widely perpetuated (including by Stephen King and in a Wikipedia listing for "passive voice"), that it seems almost hopeless to try to correct it.

Even so, I never use the phrase and say something "passive constructions" instead.

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Janice Harayda
Janice Harayda

Written by Janice Harayda

Critic, novelist, award-winning journalist. Former book editor of the Plain Dealer and book columnist for Glamour. Words in NYT, WSJ, and other major media.

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