Over time, writing in the active voice will become second nature. Let's explore several examples of active and passive voice to keep your passive voice tendencies a thing of the past. Active Writing Tips Before we explore a wealth of examples, let's review some.
You'll notice that, in the passive examples below, there are a few key words. Examples include:. is - is roamed; is viewed. was - was changed; was run. were - were eaten; were corroded Pay special attention to the subject in each sentence.
Is the subject performing the action? If so, you have a nice, clear sentence, written in active voice. In sentences containing passive voice, it's sometimes unclear what the subject is about. In fact, the subject often falls to the end of the sentence, instead of the beginning.
Active and Passive Voice Comparison As you read through the following example sentences, you'll start to become an active voice expert. Active Voice Passive Voice Harry ate six shrimp at dinner. At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry. Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah.
The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes. Sue changed the flat tire. The flat tire was changed by Sue.
We are going to watch a movie tonight. A movie is going to be watched by us tonight. I ran the obstacle course in record time. The obstacle course was run by me in record time. The crew paved the entire stretch of highway.
The entire stretch of highway was paved by the crew. Mom read the novel in one day. The novel was read by Mom in one day. I will clean the house every Saturday.
The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday. The staff is required to watch a safety video every year. A safety video will be watched by the staff every year.
Tom painted the entire house. The entire house was painted by Tom. The teacher always answers the students' questions. The students' questions are always answered by the teacher. The choir really enjoys that piece. That piece is really enjoyed by the choir. The forest fire destroyed the whole suburb.
The whole suburb was destroyed by the forest fire. The two kings are signing the treaty. The treaty is being signed by the two kings. The cleaning crew vacuums and dusts the office every night. Every night, the office is vacuumed and dusted by the cleaning crew. Larry generously donated money to the homeless shelter.
Money was generously donated to the homeless shelter by Larry. The wedding planner is making all the reservations. All the reservations are being made by the wedding planner.
Susan will bake two dozen cupcakes for the bake sale. For the bake sale, two dozen cookies will be baked by Susan. The science class viewed the comet. The comet was viewed by the science class. The director will give you instructions.
Instructions will be given to you by the director. Thousands of tourists visit the Grand Canyon every year. The Grand Canyon is visited by thousands of tourists every year. The homeowners remodeled the house to help it sell. The house was remodeled by the homeowners to help it sell. The saltwater corroded the metal beams. The metal beams were corroded by the saltwater.
The kangaroo carried her baby in her pouch. The baby was carried by the kangaroo in her pouch. Examples of Active and Passive Voice By YourDictionary The active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb.
It follows a clear subject + verb + object construct that’s easy to read. In fact, sentences constructed in the active voice add impact to your writing.With passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. It makes for a murky, roundabout sentence; you can be more straightforward with active voice. As such, there are many ways to change the passive voice to the active voice in your sentences.Over time, writing in the active voice will become second nature. Let’s explore several examples of active and passive voice to keep your passive voice tendencies a thing of the past.
23 Nov 2012 Updated 19 April 2016 WE use various tools and webapps that seem to produce the desired results with the least amount of time, money and effort. Apps arranged alphabetically by name under these headings:—. Readability (general). Readability (active vs.
Passive voices). Converters — Chinese Linguistics Fun We welcome suggestions for inclusion. READABILITY (GENERAL) THE CONCEPT See first the Readability statistics are a good practical estimation of the general reading level of documents (particularly technical ones). Different scores are computed using various formulas, so bear in mind they are machine estimations.
Most formulas rely on counting characters, words or sentences (the primary weakness of the method), but some indices consider syllables and complex polysyllabic words. Opinions vary on which statistic is the most accurate. Counting syllables is a more difficult process and harder to automate because the English language isn’t strictly ‘standards-compliant’! The best known indicators are:— Fleisch-Kincaid Reading Ease (FRE) score was invented for U.S. Air Force use in 1976. It is the world’s No.
1 most used and most quoted standard readability indicator, mainly because FRE functionality is built into every version of Microsoft Word. FRE is valid for use only with English-language texts.
FRE measures how easily an adult can read and understand a text by reference to. High scores mean easier readability. Fleish-Kincaid Reading Ease score bands 90–100 — Very Easy 80–89 — Easy 70–79 — Fairly Easy 60–69 — Standard 50–59 — Fairly Difficult 30–49 — Difficult 0–29 — Very Difficult or Confusing Fleisch–Kincad Grade Level (FGL) indicates the a person must have reached to be able to understand the text. For example, an FGL of 7 means that a 7th-grader will be able to understand the text.
The FGL score is always associated with the FRE score. Coleman–Liau Grade Level readability score gauges the grade level that an adult requires to read and understand a text. The formula relies on counting words (in character length) and sentence length (in words). It is applicable for use only with English-language text. Bormuth Grade Level readability score is designed to evaluate more academic documents, such as school textbooks.
It estimates the grade level that an adult requires to read and understand a text. Again, the formula relies on counting characters, words and sentences, and applicable for use only with English-language text. Automated Readability Index (ARI) relies on counting characters, words and sentences (like Coleman-Liau). THE ONLINE TOOLS Readability Formulas Free This direct-input online tool calculates the number of characters, words, sentences and syllables in your sample. The app plugs the numbers into 7 popular indices to show your sample’s readability and the grade level required from your audience to read it. The website also has for results in the Fry Graph, Raygor Estimate Graph, Spache Formula and New Dale –Chall Formula.
Standards Schmandards Free This online tool provides Fleisch –Kincaid readability statistics for Danish, Dutch, English, French, Spanish and Swedish copy. Read-able.com Free An online tool for testing whole webpages and direct input. Provides HTML codes for readability widgets for websites.
Active To Passive Voice
RFP Evaluation Centers, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Free RFP provides a variety of readability formulas for manual calculation and templates for producing Request for Proposal (RFP) letters. READABILITY (Active vs. Passive Voices) THE CONCEPT A text that’s low on (or devoid of) passive sentences provides for maximum reading flow and gives strength to exposed ideas, thereby easing the understanding and persuasion process. Aim for the lowest-possible passive content for best readability. Passive voice The active voice and passive voice are different tense formats for expressing the same idea. For instance, The flight was cancelled by the airline (passive) says the same thing as The airline cancelled the flight (active), but each describes different perceptions of the event. To be verbs (such as is, was and were) are typical of the passive voice.
Theoretically, a lower number of to be verbs indicates better writing. This is perhaps present in only less than 20% of sentences. The active voice is more direct, concise and engaging. ‘Direct’ is in the sense of open and uncomplicated.
Many people (even native English speakers) misunderstand ‘direct’ to mean bluntness, rudeness or inconsiderateness, or even simple-mindedness — it means nothing like that. Professional writers say it’s slightly harder to write in the active voice, but it gives much tidier results. Does it mean we have to ban passive sentences? Quite the opposite. Using the fewest possible passive sentences is good practice, even if only for stylistic quality. Whenever there’s a choice, simply avoid using a passive sentence and use an active one — as long as you won’t lose meaning (or introduce extra meanings) for it.
Text for emergency situations routinely uses the active voice to increase immediate understanding (all real-life examples):— This door must be kept shut at all times. (Passive) Keep door shut at all times. (Active) Cars parked in this area will be towed away without notice. (Passive) Cars parked here towed without warning. (Active) This way does not lead back to the platforms. (Passive: via Central MTR Station, 2013) No way back to platforms. (Active: same location, ca.
2003) The magazine must be pushed completely into the chamber with the left hand. (Passive) Push the magazine all the way into the chamber with your left hand. (Active) Your browser must have JavaScript enabled for it to work.
(‘semi’ Passive) Enable JavaScript in your browser to use. (Active) Works only with JavaScript enabled in your browser. (Active) So zero passive sentences mean perfection, right? Not really, but try to be near (but not necessarily equal) to zero passive content. Indeed, passive sentences aren’t always bad for readability. Sometimes they are useful for highlighting the passive nature of a fact or when it doesn’t matter who was responsible for the action:— He was overwhelmed by stress due to our tight deadlines. (Passive) More and more cars are made from composite synthetic materials.
(Passive) The Passive Sentences ratio is the percentage of passive sentences contained in a text, computed from the ratio of passive sentences over active sentences. THE ONLINE TOOL Aztekera.com Free This online tool tests out active vs. Passive content. Works only for English. CONVERTERS & TRANSLATORS Chinese JabTunes.com Free If you know how to ‘draw’ Chinese characters in roughly the right stroke order, then this website is a godsend.
Write the character on the left-hand panel with the mouse. Suggestions come up in the right-hand panel. The character you select outputs to the bottom panel for copypasting. Enable JavaScript in your browser for the webapp to work. MDBG.net Free Look up Chinese words in Chinese, Pinyin or English, or look up all of the Chinese words in a text sample.
Sometimes it’s a bit better than Google Translate. Interface isn’t user-friendly enough. CantoneseInput.com Free Type in the Cantonese sound of the word. Out comes the suggested Chinese characters. But if you can’t read or write Chinese, you won’t know which of the suggestions is the one you want. Yer pays yer money, yer pick yer goods.
Linguistics Project Modelino Free A straightforward online IPA converter from normal English into generic IPA. Maximum 700 words each time for guest users. Do multiple conversions for longer text. ForBetterEnglish.com Free GDEX is an experimental automatic collocations dictionary based on the Sketch Engine technology. Enter an English word to see available collocations and example sentences.
GDEX’s methods are described in. PhoTransEdit.com Free PhoTransEdit is a free online IPA converter that outputs either Received Pronunciation (BrE) or General American (AmE) transcription. 300 characters (not words). Fun speaklolcat.com Free Learn to speak lolcat — the language of all animals, not just cats, dogs, kittens and puppies. Communicate with your pet dog or cat.