Stop! Grammar time.

Prasoon, S. (2015). English grammar and usage: Read swiftly, speak fluently and write correctly. New Delhi: V & S Publishers, [97]. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e700xww&AN=1586151&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-97

This resource can be found here. It is part of our online nonfiction collection of items that you have free access to with a library card. All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of this page, and log in.

In this Grammar Time, I would like to look at passive voice. However; the example from above also mentions transitive verbs. So I think we should start there. 

A transitive verb is a verb that takes or demands an object be given to a subject (person or thing). When you look at the sentence that contains transitive verbs, the object (another noun in a sentence, but one that has actions done to it, not like subjects discussed in an earlier post where they cause the action) comes directly after the verb:

Sally kicked Sam.

The dog barked at me.

Terry eats ice cream every day.

Laverne wants Shirley, but Shirley doesn't notice her.

In the above examples, the words in purple are the transitive verbs. The words in red are the objects directly affected by the verb: the verb is demanding or transferring what it does to an object (person or thing).

Everyone still on board? 

Now, passive voice. This is something you might have seen working in any kind of electronic document. The squiggly line underlines your sentence and says 'passive voice', and never quite offers up how to fix it. Or even if you should fix it (I'll get to that later).

What is passive voice? Passive voice is when you kind of turn your sentence around so that the object in your sentence becomes the subject. If you would like examples, visit this link here. Your Dictionary also have an option to look at a very solid PDF of examples and definitions of passive and active voice on this page (active being the way we learnt our basic sentence structures previously).

Is the passive voice a little clearer? 

We all do this in every day language and in our writing. It also doesn't mean, that just because squiggly lines are there, that the sentence is incorrect or shouldn't be used:

Booher, D. (2013). Write to the point. United States: Dianna Booher, [24]. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e700xww&AN=580210&site=ehost-live&ebv=EK&ppid=Page-__-24

In this resource, changing sentences so that some are passive are good for variations in your writing. It is not recommended for essays or academic writing; but letters, emails, creative writing, passive voice can work well here.

So do not always be disheartened when you see this popping up in what you are doing. It doesn't make it incorrect. It is just a different way to write a sentence that can help vary pace or add variety to the paragraph.

Stop! Grammar time.

Grammar and usage. (2011). Irvine: Saddleback Educational Publishing, 8. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e700xww&AN=435827&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_8

This resource can be found here. It is part of our online nonfiction collection of items that you have free access to with a library card. All you have to do is scroll down to the bottom of this page, and log in.

Remember that sentence work we started here? Well, we are going to break it down even more. A sentence is a full thought that contains the 'who' and 'what they did'. Sentences do this by dividing into a subject and a predicate.

Let’s start with subject. The subject in a sentence is a noun that names a person, place or thing. A noun can be a name like Bob; a word that defines an animal or object like cat, dingo or chair; a place like Blue Mountains, Hollywood or forest; a feeling like fear, happiness or anger; a quality like laughter, plumpness or strength; or even something more abstract like biology, holiday or friendship (abstract because these aren’t tangible [able to touch and see them] nouns).

That is so many different types and examples!

It can be very confusing understanding even that little list; so we will go into more detail of nouns in another post; but for now, this list is a good example for working through sentences.

The predicate in a sentence tells a reader what the subject (noun) does or is. This means a predicate is a verb. Before I give you examples of predicates: there are two kinds. There are the action verbs (also known as doing words) that show action; and there are linking verbs that show “what is or seems to be”. When thinking about these two types of verbs; action verbs are much more recognisable: running, flew, ducked, steaming. Linking verbs are harder to spot: is, are, seems, appears, was, must, should.

So, let’s have a look at some examples and hopefully clear this up even more.

The boy jumped.

Boy is the subject because it relates to a person and jumped is the verb because the person is doing something; e.g. jumping.

The cat sat on the mat.

This is a sentence everyone hears about. In this short sentence the subject, or noun, is cat. Sat is the verb because the cat has done something; it has performed an action. Mat is also a noun, but because it follows the verb (remember verbs are doing words) and so is receiving action, not doing or completing an action, it becomes an object within the sentence.

The chair is in the kitchen.

In this short sentence the subject, or noun, is chair. Is, is the linking verb because it does not show an action; instead it links the subject with the object, which is kitchen.


And so that is sentences; at least short ones. Easy? We use them everyday; but maybe breaking it down shows how complex they can be so we can build on them and create new ones.