We here in the West have grown up being taught to eschew passive verbs in favour of active verbs. A brief, simple lesson in grammar can help clarify this.
Quick grammar primer
In English, I might say "the ball was kicked by Jennifer." Look at the pieces of this sentence:
- the subject, the person doing the action, is Jennifer;
- the action being done, the verb, is kicking or, specifically, (was) kicked;
- the object, the thing being done to by the action, is the ball.
And, hey, free bonus - this provides simple clarification on when to use "who" vs. when to use "whom" - "who" is the subject, the one doing something; "whom" is the object...so, I can ask "Who (the subject) is speaking?" or "To whom (the object) am I (the subject) speaking?" but not "Who am I speaking to?" But I digress...
Note, the order of the pieces - object, verb, subject. And we here in the West do not like this.
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