Today’s Agenda
• Daily Starter
• Writing Clear Sentences
• Dangling Modifiers
• Homework
• Here
• Continue work on research paper
Daily Starter
• Write five sentences about your favorite mythical creature.
Check to make sure you are using active voice!
Passive Voice
• Active Voice: the subject performs the action and is the
main focus of the sentence.
• Arnold kicked the ball.  Subject performs the action.
• Passive Voice: the focus is on what happened to
something.
• The ball was kicked by Arnold.  Object receives the action.
• Grammatically correct but dull in style since action is not
stressed. AVOID!
Passive Voice
• Zombie Tip: if you can insert "by zombies" after the verb
and the sentence still makes (marginal) sense, the
sentence is passive. If you can't, it is active.
For example:
She was killed [by zombies].  Passive Voice
Zombies killed [by zombies] her.  Active Voice
Passive Voice
• Flip-Flop Tip: Turn passive voice sentences into active
voice sentences by flip-flopping what comes before and
after the passive verb.
Passive:
A plane was taken to Chicago by our family.
Tip Applied:
Our family took a plane to Chicago.
Let’s Practice!
1.
A rake was carelessly left in the yard by the gardener.
2.
This computer was used by me.
3.
Supper was prepared by Jim.
4.
In Japan, only major streets are provided with names by cities.
5.
Until 2008, the sale of the energy drink Red Bull was prohibited by
France.
6.
Television advertisements for wine are banned by France’s
government.
Your Turn!
1.
The tuition increase was announced by the college president.
2.
On Tuesday, a dormitory was destroyed by a massive fire.
3.
Everyone has been affected by the recession.
4.
In 1993, the rapper LL Cool J was invited by President Clinton to
perform at the presidential inaugural gala.
5.
In a 1940 edition of Look magazine, winter sportswear was
modeled by future president Gerald Ford.
Your Assignment
• Compare the text of a daily newspaper and a textbook.
Count the number of time passive voice is used.
• What uses the passive voice more often, textbooks or
newspapers? Why do you think this is the case?