Passive voice stood out to me the most this week. I think that I write in a passive voice quite often. I have always felt like something doesn't quite seem right but I never could identify it. Now I have realized that the problem is passive voice. The book states, "Voice refers to the form of the verb....In passive voice, the person or thing performing the action becomes instead the object of the sentence; it does not act, but is acted upon.". To avoid using a passing voice the clearest way to write a sentence is subject-verb-object. Here is an example of active voice from the book.
He photographed the homeless teens.
Here the subject (person) is performing an action (photography) on the recipients of his his actions (the homeless teens). This sentence fits the subject-verb-object form making it an active sentence. Here is an example of passive voice from the book.
Photographs were taken of the homeless teens.
This time instead of the subject acting on the object the object is being acted upon. This sentence drops the subject and passively lets us know that the object was being acted upon but it doesn't tell us by whom.
It is kind of hard to explain it but as I read I can see the difference. I think that subject-verb-object form is going to help me out the most in my own writing.
Editing mistake of the week
I was watching some random videos on Youtube the other day and saw a video on tattoo fails. Here is a picture of my favorite one.
I don't have any tattoos and I never plan on getting any but if you are going to get them make sure you proof read. Now this guy has to live with poor grammar on his arm forever. Just remember that even though editing is hard Don't never don't give up.
I also really liked learning about the difference between active voice and passive voice. You did a great job explaining it. I think many times people think that using passive voice sentences might sound more profound, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes it is easier to just read it in active voice. I also liked your editing mistake. I have seen tattoos with either spelling errors or grammatical errors and it makes me wonder if they even realize what mistake was done. Quite comical!! It would drive me insane.
ReplyDeleteI love this picture because I really don't understand why people cannot grasp the concept of double negatives. I wonder if he knows this tattoo actually means people should give up.
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