Active/Passive Verbs

Prepositions
Shifts
Pronoun & Antecedent
Agreement
Pronoun Reference & Case

ENG101_SP15

What is a verb?
Word that shows action or state of being
Run, swim, jump, be, appear, seem, feel
There are numerous verb tenses:
Present tense, past tense, future tense, present
perfect tense, past perfect tense, future perfect
tense, present progressive, past progressive, future
progressive, present perfect progressive, past
perfect progressive, future perfect progressive,
emphatic

When should you use present tense?

Present action
I want to eat pizza right now.

Action that happens over and over

I eat pizza almost every day.

Scientific facts and other things that are always

true (literature included)
Eating twenty-five pizzas a day is not good for you.

Passive voice

Less dynamic
Downplays or ignores doer of action

The ball was hit and a run was scored.The score was
kept and eventually the game was won. Strong
emotions were felt by the fans and much applause
was heard.

It is okay to be passive when...

The doer of action is unimportant or unknown

School is canceled today! (Who cares who canceled it?)

You want to be polite or avoid sounding bossy

Your application was rejected.

It is okay to be passive when...

You want to emphasize that thing youre talking

about more than the person performing the
action
This big blue ribbon will be given to the winner.

You are writing in an impersonal, scientific

manner
The mice were separated into two groups.

What is a preposition?

Word used to show a relationship between

noun/pronoun and another word in the sentence

Tell us something about where something is, when

something happens, shows some other type of
relationship between two things

About, above, after, around, at, before, beneath,

between, by, down, for, from, in inside, of, off, on,
opposite, since, through, throughout, to, underneath,
up, with, without

Is it good writing to end a sentence in a

preposition?
Change words to not end in preposition...if it
sounds normal...if not, rewrite the sentence
completely
A senator is someone most people look up to.
A senator is someone to whom most people upwardly
look.
Most people look up to a senator.

Try it...
Notice the ease Harley hits the ball with.
Notice the ease with which Hartley hits the ball.

Eliminate distracting shifts

These distract or confuse readers
Point of view
Verb tense
Mood or voice
Indirect to direct questions/quotations

Make the POV consistent in person

& number
First person emphasizes writer
Good for informal letters and writing based on
personal experience
Second person emphasizes reader
Good for giving advice or explaining how to do
something
Third person emphasizes subject
Best for formal academic and professional writing

Make the POV consistent in person

& number
One week, our class met in a junkyard to practice rescuing
a victim trapped in a wrecked car. We learned to
dismantle the car with the essential tools. You were
graded on your speed and your skill in extricating the
victim.
One week, our class met in a junkyard to practice rescuing
a victim trapped in a wrecked car. We learned to
dismantle the car with the essential tools. You were
graded on your speed and your skill in extricating the
victim.

Maintain consistent verb tenses

Consistent verb tenses clearly establish time of the
actions being described
Which sentence is incorrect?
A. She caught the ball and then throws it to the catcher for
the out.
B. She caught the ball and then threw it to the catcher for
the out
C. She catches the ball and then throws it to the catcher
for the out.
A. She caught the ball and then throws it to the catcher for
the out.

Maintain consistent verb tenses

When writing about literature or current research, use
present tense
A. Research showed that the Great Pyramids were built
before wooly mammoths became extinct.
B. Research shows that the Great Pyramids were built
before wooly mammoths became extinct.
B.

Make verbs consistent in mood &

voice
Three moods in English
Indicative is used for facts, opinions, questions
Imperative is used for orders or advice
Subjunctive is used to express wishes or conditions
contrary to fact
A.The officers advised us against allowing anyone into our
homes without proper identification.They also suggested that
we alert neighbors to our vacation schedules.

B.The officers advised us against allowing anyone into our

homes without proper identification. Also, alert neighbors to
our vacation schedules.
A.

Avoid sudden shifts from indirect or

direct questions or quotations
Indirect question: Alex asked whether the potatoes
were ready and whether he could cut them for the
salad.
Direct question: Are the potatoes ready and can I cut
them for the salad?

Avoid sudden shifts from indirect or

direct questions or quotations
Which of the following is incorrect?
A. My instructor asked whether I was prepared for the
course and have I bought myself a laptop.
B. My instructor asked whether I was prepared for the
course and whether I had bought myself a laptop
C. My instructor asked, Are you prepared for the course,
and have you bought yourself a laptop?
A. My instructor asked whether I was prepared for the
course and have I bought myself a laptop.

Avoid sudden shifts from indirect or

direct questions or quotations
A. Mother said that she would be late for dinner and asked
me not to leave for choir practice until Dad came home.
B. Mother said that she would be late for dinner and please
do not leave for choir practice until Dad comes home.
A. Mother said that she would be late for dinner and asked
me not to leave for choir practice until Dad came home.

Revising training

Underline all verbs to ensure that none of the

verbs shift

Ensure that there arent any shifts from a

statement to a question or vice versa

Pronouns

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

What is a pronoun?
Substitutes a noun
He, she, it, her, him, they, we, us, them
What is an antecedent?
Noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to
Isabela gave her dog its bath.
Zack gave his sister her doll.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Do not use plural pronouns to refer to singular
antecedents
Runners must train rigorously if he or she wants to
excel.
A medical student must study hard if they want to
succeed.
The recruiter may tell the truth, but there is much
that they choose not to tell.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun
closest to it.
It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors. I
grabbed my flashlight to begin the search and
listened for its purr.
What is purring?
The flashlight
It was pitch dark and my cat was still outdoors. I
grabbed my flashlight to begin the search and
listened for Magics purr.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun
closest to it.
While driving it at 200 mph around the North Pole,
Santa swerved to avoid hitting an elf and landed his
sleigh in a snowdrift.
What is it?
We dont know until the end of the sentence.
While driving his sleigh at 200 mph around the
North Pole, Santa swerved to avoid hitting an elf
and landed in a snowdrift.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

The pronoun almost always refers to the noun
closest to it.
Ive been to Canada, and I like them because they are
very kind to Americans.
Who are they?
Ive been to Canada, and I like the Canadians
because they are very kind to Americans.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Compound subjects joined by and always take a
plural referent.
Jones and Smith made their presentation.
With compound subjects joined by or/nor, the
referent pronoun agrees with the antecedent
closer to the pronoun.
Neither the director nor the actors did their jobs.
Neither the actors nor the director did his or her job.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Collective nouns (group, jury, crowd, team, etc.)
may be singular or plural, depending on meaning
The jury read its verdict.
The jury is acting as one unit.
The jury members gave their opinions.
The jury members are acting as twelve individuals.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

Indefinite pronouns are singular (anybody, anyone,
anything, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, neither, nobody, no one, nothing,
somebody, someone, something)
When someone has been drinking, they are likely to
speed.
When someone has been drinking, he or she is
likely to speed.
When drivers have been drinking, they are likely to
speed.
A driver who has been drinking is likely to speed.

Pronoun & Antecedent Agreement

People are who/whose
Things are which/that
She is a person that likes pie.
She is a person who likes pie.
There is the dog who ate my pie.
There is the dog that ate my pie.

Revision Checklist

Highlight all pronouns. Circle each pronouns

antecedent. Check to ensure that they align in
singularity and plurality. If an antecedent can not
be found, create one.

For Wednesday...

Narrative analysis rough draft due