When to Use the Passive Voice

Below is an explanation of when to use the passive voice in writing. It is adapted from a post at www.grammarly.com. If you want to read the original, click on the link at the end of this post. Otherwise, you can read my lightly edited version right now:

When to use the passive voice

There are times when the passive voice does a better job of presenting an idea, especially in certain formal, professional, and legal discussions. Here are three common uses of the passive voice: 

1 Reports of crimes or incidents with unknown perpetrators

     My car was stolen yesterday.

If you knew who stole the car, it probably wouldn’t be as big a problem. The passive voice emphasizes the stolen item and the action of theft. 

2 Scientific contexts

     The rat was placed into a T-shaped maze.

Who places the rat into the maze? Scientists, duh. But that’s less important than the experiment they’re conducting. Therefore, passive voice is used.

 3 When you want to emphasize an action itself and the doer of        the action is not as important:

     The president was sworn in on a cold January morning.

How many people can remember off the top of their heads who swears in presidents? Clearly the occasion of swearing in the commander in chief is the thing to emphasize here. In each of the above contexts, the action itself—or the person or thing receiving the action—is the part that matters. That means the performer of the action can appear in a prepositional phrase or be absent from the sentence altogether.

 Adapted from:

LINK: Writing in the Passive Voice at Grammarly.com

Game--Identify Parts of Speech at Grammar Gorillas Website

Do you need to review what a noun is, what a verb is, what an adjective is, etc.? Can you identify these parts of speech in a sentence? Try playing this short game at Grammar Gorillas. You can choose beginning level (identify the noun or verb only) or advanced level (identifying all 8 parts of speech).

My suggestion: Click on the link below. Click "Play Now," then choose either beginner or advanced level and play the game. Each question tells you to click on a specific part of speech (noun, verb, etc.).

LINK: Parts of Speech Game at Grammar Gorillas

Prewriting Methods

Do you fear writing? Find out different ways to break through your fear and begin a writing assignment by clicking the link below:

LINK: How to Begin Writing--Prewriting Methods

     

Vocabulary for Wild Weather (Tornadoes)--Reading Explorer 1

For the class at ALC (Rock Island building), here is a link to vocabulary flashcards for the story we read on Wild Weather (tornadoes). You can just study the words, or you can play games and take quizzes that use the words and definitions.

LINK: Wild Weather Vocabulary (Tornadoes) at Study Stack 

Read More About Using Semicolons for Punctuation

Read about the semicolon by clicking the link below:

LINK: How to Use Semicolons

Non-Action Verbs Practice

Here is a nice explanation of non-action verbs at ESLGold.com:

(This website has a lot of ads, so you have to scroll down to look for the grammar lesson)

"Some verbs cannot be used in the progressive tenses. They are called non-action verbs. Non-action verbs indicate state, sense, desire, possession, or opinion."

This explanation is followed by a list of non-action verbs and examples of how to use these verbs in sentences.There is also a list of verbs that have both action and non-action meanings, such as have, look, and think. Often these verbs require a preposition when they are used as action verbs in the present progressive tense:

John is thinking about his girlfriend.
I am looking at a beautiful sunset.

My Suggestion: Read the short explanation of non-action verbs at the first link below, then click on the second link to try some exercises at a different website:

LINK: Non-Action Verbs Explanation at ESLGold 

LINK: Non-Action Verbs Practice Exercise