✍️ Day 14: Emphasizing Ideas with Active & Passive Voice
� Understanding Voice
Voice refers to the relationship between the subject and the verb in a sentence.
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Active Voice: The subject performs the action.
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Example: The chef cooked the meal.
Passive Voice: The subject receives the action.
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Example: The meal was cooked by the chef.
� Why Use Active Voice?
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It is clearer, more direct, and more concise.
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It keeps the focus on the doer of the action.
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Often preferred in academic and professional writing.
✅“The researcher conducted the experiment.” ❌“The experiment was conducted by
the researcher.”
� When to Use Passive Voice
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When the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious:
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The documents were stolen. (We don’t know who stole them.)
To emphasize the action/result, not the actor:
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The vaccine was developed in record time.
� Converting Sentences Between Voices
Structure of Passive Voice: [Be verb] + past participle + (by + agent) Active: The
engineer designed the system. Passive: The system was designed by the engineer.
Common passive verbs: is, was, were, are, has been, had been, etc.
✍️ Activity: Rewrite into Active Voice
Original: The report was written by the team. Active: The team wrote the report.
Original: The rules were ignored by the students. Active: The students ignored the rules.
✍️ Day 15: Writing with Clarity & Precision
� Avoiding Wordiness and Redundancy
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Wordiness clouds meaning and slows readers.
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Wordy: In order to be able to attend, you must first register.
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Concise: To attend, you must register.
Redundancy involves using unnecessary repeated ideas:
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Each and every, true facts, basic fundamentals → all are repetitive.
� Tips to Reduce Wordiness:
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Eliminate filler phrases: in the process of, due to the fact that, has the ability to
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Replace long phrases with single words:
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at this point in time → now
in the event that → if
� Using Precise Vocabulary
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Vague: thing, stuff, a lot, somehow
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Precise: report, supplies, significantly, unexpectedly
Examples:
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Vague: She did a lot of work.
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Precise: She completed three detailed financial reports.
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Vague: It was a bad result.
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Precise: The experiment failed due to contamination.
✍️ Activity: Concise Rewriting Challenge
Original: Due to the fact that the meeting was canceled, we will not be gathering. Concise:
Because the meeting was canceled, we won’t gather.
Original: There are a lot of people who think that change is necessary. Concise: Many
people think change is necessary.
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� Quiz: Day 14 & 15 – Active/Passive Voice + Clarity & Precision
SECTION A: Multiple Choice (10 marks)
Choose the most appropriate answer.
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2.
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5.
Which of the following is an example of passive voice?
a) The teacher praised the students.
b) The students wrote the essay.
c) The essay was written by the students.
d) The students will present tomorrow.
Which sentence best uses active voice?
a) The proposal was approved by the board.
b) The board approved the proposal.
c) The proposal had been approved.
d) It was the proposal that the board approved.
What is the main reason to use active voice?
a) To hide the subject
b) To make writing more vivid and direct
c) To sound more formal
d) To meet the word count
Which phrase contains redundancy?
a) End result
b) Accurate report
c) Monthly budget
d) Sudden change
Which of the following is most concise and clear?
a) Due to the fact that he was late, the meeting was delayed.
b) Because he was late, the meeting was delayed.
c) In light of his tardiness, the meeting experienced a delay.
d) The meeting, on account of his lateness, did not start on time.
SECTION B: Rewrite into Active Voice (10 marks)
Rewrite each sentence to use active voice.
6.
The song was sung beautifully by the child. →
___________________________________________________
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7.
The house was built by a team of skilled workers. →
___________________________________________________
8.
The error was discovered by the accountant during the audit. →
___________________________________________________
9.
The prizes were distributed by the head teacher. →
___________________________________________________
10. The documents were filed by the assistant. →
___________________________________________________
SECTION C: Concise Rewriting (10 marks)
Rewrite the following sentences to improve clarity and remove wordiness.
11. At this point in time, we are not in a position to make a decision. →
___________________________________________________
12. There are a lot of different kinds of options available. →
___________________________________________________
13. In order to be successful, it is necessary that you work hard. →
___________________________________________________
14. The reason why she left was because she had other responsibilities. →
___________________________________________________
15. He made a decision to terminate the employee due to the fact that he was often late.
→ ___________________________________________________
SECTION D: Vocabulary Precision (5 marks)
Replace the underlined word(s) with a more precise option.
16. She brought some stuff for the meeting. → She brought some ________________ for the
meeting.
17. The team had a lot of challenges. → The team had ________________ challenges.
18. It was a bad performance. → It was a ________________ performance.
19. He said something that made no sense. → He said ________________ that made no
sense.
20. We need to fix this thing quickly. → We need to fix this ________________ quickly.
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