• Use the active voice as much as possible in scholarly writing (APA, 2010). According to the literary writer Ross-Larson (1982), “If the subject acts, the voice is active. If the subject is acted on, the voice is passive” (p. 29). In addition, a sign of passive construction is some variation of an auxiliary verb, such as was. Examples include will be, have been, and is being. Writers can use the passive construction when the person acting can logically be left out of the sentence and when what is acted on is the subject of the rest of the paragraph (RossLarson, 1982). • Use strong active verbs appropriate for the passage. Lazy verbs are those that lack action, commonly called “to be” verbs, such as is or was, or verbs turned into adjectives or adverbs.