Microsoft Word’s grammar check consistently places green squiggly lines underneath places where we have used the passive voice.  Double-clicking on those errors prompts a “Passive Voice (consider revising)” message from Word's grammar checker.

Often, this error is not understood, and therefore we ignore it.  It’s time to set the record straight.

We decided to take Microsoft up on its suggestion, and to try "consider revising". 

Subjects and Objects

Understanding the difference between objects and subjects will help you understand the passive voice.

This can be a tough challenge even for native English speakers. 

The key lies in the action of the sentence:   knowing who/what is performing (subject), and who/what is affected (object).    

Take the following example sentence:

S (Subject) = the person, place or thing that the sentence is about.  
        

                       Sam is the subject, because he performs the action.  

O (Object) = the person, place or thing which is affected by an event or action.
        

                       The cake is the object, because it is affected by the action.

The Normal Order of Things:  (S-V-O)

To tell the difference between S (subjects) and O (objects), it can be helpful to know that English is an SVO language.  This is a sort of code to describe the order of things.

In English, in most sentences, the order is:  Subject-Verb-Object, or SVO.

SVO Languages (a partial list): 

English, Kashmiri, Arabic, Finnish, Russian, Chinese, Bulgarian, Khmer, Luganda, Yoruba, Quiche, Javanese, Malay, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Swahili, and Hebrew

Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish, Norweigan, etc.) use the SVO format, but they switch to VSO when forming a question.

Romance languages (French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, etc.) mainly use the SVO format but have some exceptions.

Russian uses all possible formats - (SVO, OVS, SOV, OSV, VSO, VOS).  German is SVO/VSO. 

Basically, you can see that depending on your native language, adjusting to SVO format can be a big adjustment.  This can lead to grammatical problems, and over-usage of the passive voice.  It is also tricky for even native-English speakers, since most people don't "think" about the order in which things come in sentences. 

Star Wars fans? 

Here's another way of thinking about it, for native-English speakers.  If you've seen the movie Star Wars - think of how Yoda speaks.  He inverts the order of subjects and objects, and his sentences are a little jumbled and hard to understand at first.

Yoda Quote:   "Named must your fear be before banish it you can."

Yoda uses a different order than regular SVO English.  He uses a mix of patterns, including VOS.  Either way, Yoda's words are a bit confusing at first.  They require additional thought.  You don't want the same for your writing; the goal is clarity and boldness, not (*link) ambiguity or lengthy contemplation. 

This is where "voice" comes in.

Voice:  Focus on the Action!

Remember, as we saw above, English uses the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order, or pattern.

Active Voice = active subject 

In an active sentence, a subject performs a verb which affects an object.  (SVO-order;  correct English)

Passive Voice = passive (inactive) subject

In a passive sentence, an object receives a verb's action, which is performed by a subject. (OVS-order; passive English)

ACTIVE VOICE:

        Sam baked the cake.

In this sentence, the subject is Sam. 

We know this from paying attention to the action: The subject (Sam) performs the action (baking), on the object (the cake).

This is a standard, active sentence.  

PASSIVE VOICE:  

The cake was baked by Sam.

Here, the subject/object roles are reversed.  Now, the subject is the cake.

We know this because the sentence is about the cake.

Because the subject is being acted on (by the object), instead of being the acting agent, this sentence is passive.

What the Passive Voice Looks Like

The passive voice is formed by joining:
    

            (am, is, was, were, are, or been)

This is not the only way to spot the passive voice.  There may be a “by the . . .” phrase following the verb.  

Here are some examples of sentences in both active and passive forms:

Active	Passive
Dan kicks the ball.	The ball is kicked by Dan.
This store sells chocolate.	Chocolate is sold by this store.
My friends gave me a present.	A present was given to me by my friends.

Notice that the active sentences follow the SVO pattern, while the inactive sentences show a OVS pattern, like in the "A cake was baked by Sam" examples above.

3 Steps for "Activating" the Passive Voice:

1.)  LOCATE the agent

AGENT =  the person/thing in the phrase/sentence getting something done; the actor, or the performer of the verb

 

2.)  RELOCATE the agent to the beginning of the phrase/sentence a.k.a. give the agent its proper, "subject" status.  (This will automatically give the sentence its SOV order.)

3.)  ADJUST the rest of the sentence to make sure it works and is grammatically correct.  You may have to fix the verb forms a bit.

EXAMPLES:

1.            Passive:      Named must your fear be before banish it you can.

     Active:         You must name your fear before you can banish it.

Agent:  you  (See steps 1-3 above for how we activated Yoda's quote!)

2.            Passive:             The painting was created by a very popular artist

                                                                                                 (agent)

               Active:                A very popular artist created the painting.
                                            (agent)




3.            Passive:    This fossil was discovered by a scientist many years ago.
                                                                                  (agent)

               Active:        A scientist discovered this fossil many years ago.                                             

                                     (agent)

                       or:

Is the Passive Voice Always Bad?

Short Answer:          No.  But it can be.

Long Answer:    According to Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style, the passive voice should not be entirely discarded,         because it is “frequently convenient and sometimes necessary.”  

• Unknown Subject – We simply don't know who/what performed the action

ο This book was written many years ago.    

ο Many factors were taken into account.

ο The best cheese is made in France.

• Writer's Discretion - According to the intended purpose or meaning of the sentence, a writer may choose to focus that sentence on a particular word/phrase/object. 

ο Many diseases remain undiagnosed and untreated, due to poor healthcare.

ο  There are not enough doctors to diagnose and treat everyone. 

The first sentence concerns the diseases; the second is about doctors.  It depends on what the author wishes to emphasize.  This depends on the purpose, or intention of the writing.

 

Summary:  Why Is It Important to Understand The Passive Voice?

Why is "voice" such an important part of English grammar?  And why should we start paying more attention to "passive voice" error messages? Why do those messages even exist??

In many situations, to write well is to clearly communicate your thoughts to someone else.  Unless you are writing poetry, in your diary, or some other creative type of writing - your goal should and probably is so that others read and understand it.  The passive voice confuses traditional object/subject classifications.  It can cause readers to become unsure as to who is acting, and who is affected.  This prevents you from achieving the clearest form of communication - which is usually the goal!

Understanding the passive voice requires you to understand the active voice.  And this requires you to understand the difference between subjects and objects.  

Yes, the passive voice is sometimes desirable, and occassionally necessary. (See the section above, "When It's O.K. to be Passive")

However, most writing authorities, including WhiteSmoke, agree that the active voice is both more engaging and easier to read than passively-constructed writing. 

(*WhiteSmoke, the writing software, spots the passive voice and offers "active" suggestions!)

The Grammar of Determiners

In English, determiners as a class include the following lexical categories:

• Articles (a, an, the) - This is the most common type of determiner.

  The is the definite article used when describing a specific noun which is one of its kind.

  A and an are the indefinite articles, used when describing nonspecific nouns.

• Demonstratives (this, that, these, those, which, etc.)
• Possessive Determiners a.k.a. Possessive Pronouns (my, your, his, her, their, etc.)
• Quantifiers (few, some, many, all, any, every, each, no, not much, a little, etc.)
• Cardinal Numbers (one, two, sixty-six, ninety-nine)

  Numbers beginning with 100 require a determiner (i.e. a hundred ways).

Fixing Missing Determiners with WhiteSmoke

Missing Determiner #1:

Missing Determiner #2:

Step 1 is recognizing where you need an auxiliary verb, to affect the tense/mood of a main verb.

Step 2 is ensuring agreement between the subject and the auxiliary verb (in addition to the main verb).

Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Rules

Refresher:

10 modal auxiliary verbs  -  verbs which are only auxiliary, and are never used alone:
can, could, may, might, ought, shall, should, will, would, and must

All 24 auxiliary verbs (including modal verbs):
am, is, are, shall, should, be, being, been, was, were, will, would, has, have, had, do, does, did, can, could, may, might, must, ought

The key is to make sure the number of the subject matches the number of the verb.

 
Singular subjects = singular form of auxiliary verbs. 
Plural subjects = plural form of auxiliary verbs.

Examples:

• Some of the books are missing. (are = plural;  is = singular)
• She does not have your red bag. (does not = singular;  do not = plural)
• The vegetables were growing in the sun. (were = plural; was = singular) 

Fixing Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Mistakes with WhiteSmoke

Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Error #1:

Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Error #2:

Auxiliary-Verb Agreement Error #3:

The Grammar of Prepositions

Some Examples of Common Prepositions

Simple Prepositions   

as, at, by, down, for, from, in, like, of, off, on, plus, since, through, to , toward, up, with

Compound Prepositions   

about, above, across, after, against, alongside, around, before, below, beneath, between, despite, except, inside, onto, opposite, throughout, underneath, until, without

TIME Prepositions:  at, on, in

LOCATION Prepositions:  at, on, in

At: Specific Addresses        
The library is located at 145 Main Street.
Her house of Elm Street and Cricket’s Lane.

On: Names of Streets, Avenues, Roads, etc.    
The best shopping is found on 5th Avenue.

In: Names of Areas (countries, states, towns, counties, etc.)    
We live in France.
Italians live in Italy.
Manhattan is located in New York.

Fixing Missing Preposition Mistakes with WhiteSmoke

Missing Preposition #1:

Missing Preposition #2:

Missing Preposition #3:

Homonyms are really tricky, even for native English speakers. A correctly spelled-word can be used in an incorrect-way, creating a special kind of spelling mistake. When the wrong spelling of a homonym is used, this is a contextual spelling mistake. Contextual spelling errors usually significantly change the meaning of a sentence, and typically sound pretty ridiculous.

So, it is very important to recognize common contextual spelling mistakes, and to learn the different spellings/meanings of each homonym.

Here are some of the most commonly confused English homonyms:

Their / They’re / There:

• Their - 3rd person plural possessive
  Their house is on top of a hill.
• They’re - Conjugation: “they” + “are”
  They’re always late to class.
• There - Location description
  Her bag is over there.

Its / It’s

• Its - Possession of an object without a gender
  Look at that car; its windows are broken.
• It’s - Conjugation: “it” + “has / is”
  It’s not fair!
  It’s raining today.
  It’s been three days since I saw you.

Accept / Except

• Accept - To approve; include; take in something
  Please accept my apologies.
• Except - Without; not including
  Everyone came to the party except Luis.

Your / You’re

• Your - Possessive; belonging to “you”
  It’s your turn.
• You’re - Conjugation: “you” + “are”
  I feel like you’re upset.

To / Too / Two

• To - Preposition; also precedes infinitives
  This plane is flying to Hawaii.
  It’s a good deed to donate money to the poor.
• Too - Agreement; excess
  Yeah, me too!
  There’s too much pollution in the air these days.
• Two - Amount
  I sleep on two pillows instead of one.

Know / No

• Know - To have knowledge
  Melissa, do you know Harry?
• No - Negative
  Since last month there has been no rain.

For a long list of other English homonyms read here

Fixing Contextual Spelling Mistakes with WhiteSmoke

One of WhiteSmoke’s unique features is the ability of its grammar checker to spot contextual spelling mistakes. Since technically these words are spelled correctly, it is necessary for a grammar checker to read and understand the entire sentence, in order to spot mistakes like these. Luckily, WhiteSmoke can do this!

Example # 1: I don’t no how to swim.

WhiteSmoke's Suggestion:

Example # 2: Their is so much snow on the ground!

WhiteSmoke's Suggestion:

Example # 3: Your the best player on our team.

WhiteSmoke's Suggestion:

About Subject-Verb Agreement

The key to subject-verb agreement is matching the number of both; singular subjects take singular verb forms, as plural subjects take plural verb forms. The trick is (1) to recognize singular v. plural subjects, which is not always easy (an “s” at the end of a word is not the only sign of subject plurality), and (2) to know the difference between singular and plural verb forms.

Subject-verb agreement can be difficult due to the irregularity of English plural subjects; many are not marked with an “s” at the end. Even for native-English speakers, subject-verb agreement can be a difficult concept to grasp. There are several rules to follow, and some of them just require practice so that they become familiar.

Some Subject-Verb Agreement Rules

(According to Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style (Allyn & Bacon, 2000))

• Use singular verb forms after the following: Each, either, everyone, everybody, neither, nobody and someone.
  i.e. Everybody tries to make a good first impression.
• “None” has both singular and plural forms. The singular verb form is used when “none” means “no one” or “not one”. The plural is used when “none” implies more than one thing or person.
  i.e. None of us thinks what she said is correct.
  i.e. None of the local teams are making it to the second round in the tournament.
• A compound subject - formed by two or more nouns and the word and- usually requires a plural verb.
  i.e. The teacher and the student were working on subject-verb agreement.
• A singular subject remains singular, if connected with the words with, as well as, in addition to, except, together with, and no less than.
  i.e. Her attitude as well as her appearance is inappropriate.

Fixing Subject-Verb Agreement Problems with WhiteSmoke

Problem #1: "I receives the information I requested."

Whitesmoke’s Suggestion(s):

Whitesmoke’s Explanation:

“The subject and verb have to agree in number and person. Singular nouns in the subject require the singular form of the verb (either in the first or the third person), whereas plural nouns require the plural form of the verb.” (A correct assessment of the error.)

Problem #2: "Painting are a fun hobby of mine."

Whitesmoke’s Suggestion:

Whitesmoke’s Explanation:

“The subject and verb have to agree in number and person. Singular nouns in the subject require the singular form of the verb (either in the first or the third person), whereas plural nouns require the plural form of the verb.” (A correct assessment of the error.)

Problem #3: "Everyone at the meeting are responsible for a presentation."

Whitesmoke’s Suggestion:

Whitesmoke’s Explanation:

“The subject and verb have to agree in number and person. Singular nouns in the subject require the singular form of the verb (either in the first or the third person), whereas plural nouns require the plural form of the verb.” (A correct assessment of the error.)

Rules and Functions of Auxiliary Verbs

According to The Chicago Manual of Style 15th ed. rev. (University of Chicago Press, 2003), an auxiliary verb is “a highly irregular verb that is used with other verbs to form voice, tense, and mood.” These verbs are sometimes called “helper verbs”, because of their role in adding meaning to the main verb of a sentence.

Complete list of English auxiliary verbs: (including conjugated forms)

am, is, are, shall, should, be, being, been, was, were, will, would, has, have, had, do, does, did, can, could, may, might, must, ought

In English, auxiliary verbs have a few grammatical functions:

• Support: Auxiliaries help/change the meaning of a main verb
  i.e. The doctor went home. The doctor is going home.
• Interrogative: Auxiliaries invert to form questions
  i.e. You can go. Can you go?
• Negation: To negate a sentence, not or n’t is added after an auxiliary
  i.e. Charles goes to class. Charles does not go to class.

Depending on the context, some auxiliaries can function alone as the only verb in a sentence; others will not be found without a main verb. These are known as modal verbs, and there are 10 of them: can, could, may, might, ought, shall, should, will, would, and must. Modal verbs never appear alone; they always accompany a main verb (i.e. I can play the piano; Allice might change her shoes.)

Fixing Missing Auxiliaries with WhiteSmoke

Following, I give some common examples of missing auxiliaries, and WhiteSmoke's correction of them. Note how in some instances, WhiteSmoke may suggest more than one suggestion (due to sentence structure, or difficulties in mahine detection of text), but the first suggestion (closest to the original text) is in these cases the most likely correction.

Missing Auxiliary #1: "He living in Alaska now."

Whitesmoke’s Suggestion:

Whitesmoke’s Explanation:
“For this sentence to be correct, be/am/is/are is required.” (All of these suggestions are auxiliary verbs, meaning Whitesmoke correctly diagnosed this grammar error.)

Missing Auxiliary #2: "I would fallen if you didn’t warn me."

Whitesmoke’s Suggestion:

Whitesmoke’s Explanation: “For this sentence to be correct, be/am/is/are is required.” (All of these suggestions are auxiliary verbs, meaning Whitesmoke correctly diagnosed this grammar error.)

Missing Auxiliary #3: "I will awake at seven in the morning to begin training."

Whitesmoke’s Suggestion:

Whitesmoke’s Explanation:
“For this sentence to be correct, be/am/is/are is required.” (All of these suggestions are auxiliary verbs, meaning Whitesmoke correctly diagnosed this grammar error.)

• Dog-dogs, finger-fingers, car-cars

• Box-boxes, bus-buses, church-churches

• Life-lives, leaf-leaves, wolf-wolves

• Roof-roofs, dwarf-dwarfs

• Radio-radios, video-videos

• Potato-potatoes, hero-heroes

• Photo-photos, memo-memos

• Cry-cries, fly-flies, party-parties

Irregular Nouns

• Moose-moose, deer-deer, fish-fish

• Thesaurus-thesauri, syllabus-syllabi, focus-foci

• Index-indices, appendix-appendices

• Crisis-crises, thesis-theses

• Foot-feet
• tooth-teeth
• child-children
• person-people
• man-men
• woman-women

Apostrophes

• He played for the Oakland A’s.
• I got B's and C's on my report card.

• The horse is quick.
• He is quiet.

• The horse runs quickly.
• He moves quietly.

• Vigorous-vigorously, strong-strongly, slow-slowly

• Full-fully, dull-dully, droll-drolly

• Busy-busily, easy-easily, happy-happily

• Shy-shyly, spry-spryly, wry-wryly

• Fantastic-fantastically, realistic-realistically, enthusiastic-enthusiastically

There are also many irregular adjectives and adverbs.

• Good-well    He is a good player.  He plays well.
• Fast-fast    She is fast.  She runs fast.
• Late-late    I am late.  I arrived late.
• Hard-hard    The floor is hard.  He ran hard.

Comparative and Superlative Forms

Most adjectives and adverbs have comparative forms (bigger, better, more careful) and superlatives forms (biggest, best, most careful).

Use the comparative form when you are comparing two things.

• Susan is taller than Kate.
• We visited New York and Chicago.  New York is bigger.
• He is the older of the two siblings.

Use the superlative form to compare three or more things.

• Brazil is the largest country in South America.
• Susan was the tallest girl in her class.
• The gold medal goes to the fastest runner.

Absolute Values

An adjective can modify the noun or pronoun. A better way to say this might be that the adjective describes or gives more information.

Examples

They painted glowing stars on the ceiling.
The pretty girl wore a bright blue dress.

The adjectives will tell you what kind or give a description of the subject or noun. In the first sentence, ‘glowing’ tells us what kind of stars were painted. In the second sentence the word ‘pretty’ describes the girl, while ‘bright’ and ‘blue’ describes what kind of dress she was wearing.

Possessive Adjectives

These modify a noun. They tell who the noun belongs to. Some examples of possessive adjectives are ‘his’, ‘her’, ‘its’, ‘my’, ‘our’ and ‘their’.

You can use my car.
Have you seen her shoes?

In the first sentence the word ‘my’ tells you whose car it is - mine. The same with the sentence where ‘her’ tells you to whom the shoes belong.

Demonstrative Adjectives

These adjectives answer “which” about the subject. Some of the more common ones are ‘that’, ‘these’, ‘this’ and ‘those’.

Please pass me those bananas.
I will take this box to the post office.

It is possible to mistake a demonstrative adjective for a demonstrative pronoun; however, it is used differently in the sentence

Interrogative Adjectives

These are adjectives used in a question for example ‘what’ or ‘which’. They are used to ask for clarification.

Examples

What book are you reading?
Which shoes look better with this dress?

Again you may think an interrogative adjective looks like an interrogative pronoun. It is all a matter of how they are used in the sentence. In these sentences they are used to modify or describe a noun, making them adjectives.

Indefinite Adjectives

These give general or non-specific information. They can often answer a question like “how many?” Some of the more commonly used indefinite adjectives include ‘all’, ‘each’, ‘every’, ‘any’, ‘few’, ‘many’ and ‘some’.

Would you like some grapes?
Some children prefer maths to reading.

The word ‘some’ asks if you want grapes, but does not state exactly how many. In the second sentence “some children” suggests more than one but gives no idea how many.

Colour your sentences

Adjectives add ‘colour’ or more interest to your sentences. They answer questions or ask them. They tell you ‘what kind’ or ‘how many’. So add more interest to your writing to help you paint a mental image for the reader.

English is a language that has a structure known as SVO.  That is subject, verb and object.  The cat (subject) washes (verb) its paw (object).  This is the correct word order and also there is agreement between the words.

 

If there were no agreement within the sentence, it could read, “The cat washes their paw”.  This does not make sense.  The cat may have four paws, but it is only washing one paw.  For there to be agreement, the possessive ‘it’ has to be correct.  Thus “The cats (plural) wash their (plural) paws (plural)”.  This is the correct use of the plural possessive (their).

At first, syntax can seem daunting and it is always difficult initially to understand what a ‘subject’, ‘verb’ or ‘object’ actually is. It can also be difficult to understand whether agreement between the ‘subject’, ‘verb’ or ‘object’ is right or wrong.  There are lots of tools such as grammar checkers, programmes or worksheets to help you get to grips with syntax and to make sure that you have the right word order and that within the sentence there is always agreement between the words, tenses and so on.

It is true that syntax can take some time to master, but, once you understand its principles and can apply it without too much effort, then it really is worth the effort, since it will greatly improve your written English.

• 1. Know the Usage of Each Tense

  There are three basic verb tenses: simple present, simple past, and simple future.  The verb form for simple present tense is simply the verb’s basic form, such as ‘go,’ ‘eat,’ ‘walk,’ and ‘run.’  These indicate that the action is done in the present.  The simple past tense indicates that the action was done in the past, while the simple future tense indicates that the action will be done in the future.  
  
  There are other tenses, such as the perfect tense, the progressive tense, and the perfect progressive tense. These can be quite complicated to discuss, but your study can be guided by software for ESL learners.  

• 2. Be Mindful of Shifting Tenses

  Check for shifting tenses within your sentence or your paragraph. As a general rule, the verb tense you are using should be consistent throughout your sentence and your paragraph. For example, the sentence “We had eaten (past perfect tense) dinner, and then we talked (simple past tense)” should be written as “We ate (simple past tense) dinner, and then we talked (simple past tense)”.

• 3. Know the Verb’s Proper Form for Each Tense

  Verbs change form when they are used in different tenses. You should familiarize yourself with the different verb forms for each tense. For simple past tense, the general rule is to add ‘ed’ at the end of the verb, but this does not apply to all verbs.  For future tenses, the verb is accompanied by the words ‘will’ or ‘shall’.

• 1. Be Mindful of Your Subject-Verb Agreement

  Disagreement between subject and verb is a very common grammatical mistake.  When composing a sentence, make sure that your subject and verb agree. If your subject is in singular form, then your verb should also be in singular form. If your subject is in plural form, then your verb should be in plural form as well. Two examples of correct usage are:
  
  The boy runs on the street.
  The boys run on the street.
  

• 2. Know the Proper Usage of Words that Sound the Same

  Same-sounding words are often mistakenly used interchangeably. For example, the word “there”, which can refer to a place, is sometimes used in the context of “their”, which is the possessive form for “they”. Another similar mistake is the use of “its” (possessive form for “it”) and “it’s” (contraction for “it is”). The best way to know that you are using same-sounding words properly is to consult a dictionary. You may also use grammar software for this.
  

• 3. Distinguish Between Adjectives and Adverbs

  You should know how to distinguish between adjectives and adverbs. Adjectives describe nouns, while adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.  Adjectives are not used to describe action words.
  

• 4. Read, and Keep on Reading

  The best way to improve your grammar is to read a lot. By constantly reading, you will become aware of proper sentence structures. You will also enrich your vocabulary.  
  

• 5. Use Helpful Programs like WhiteSmoke :)

  There are a lot of helpful programs that you can use to achieve perfect grammar - WhiteSmoke is one of them.  You can employ the use of our online grammar checker or our full grammar software to check if you are using words correctly, if you have proper sentence structures, and if your subject-verb agreement is in place.

Subjects

The subject of a sentence is a noun, a person, place, thing, idea, or feeling.  The subject often, but not always, comes at the beginning of the sentence.  The subject can be more than one noun.

The subject is always performing an action, doing something, being something, or feeling something.

• Harry and Sally got married.
• Love triumphs.
• Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

Verbs

Verbs are action words.  Run and jump are verbs.  Some actions are more subtle.  Stay and wait are verbs.  Even to be is a verb.  Every sentence has at least one verb.  There can be more than one.

A sentence can consist of nothing but a subject and a verb.

• I run.
• You waited.

Sometimes, two verbs together describe one action.

• We were jogging.
• You are reading.

If you are giving a command, you can even leave out the subject.  The following examples are complete sentences.  The subject is "you."  The subject is implied.

• Stop!
• Run!

Objects

A sentence can have more than one noun.  While a subject performs an action, an object is a noun that has action performed on it.  The object usually comes after the verb.

The following examples have a subject, then a verb, then an object.

• I ate dinner.
• Dave wrote a letter.
• The trumpet player played jazz.

Modifiers

Another very common sentence element is modifiers.  Modifiers use adjectives or adverbs to describe, define, limit, or modify nouns or verbs.  A modifier can be a single word or a phrase.

• I ate dinner in the dark.
• Dave almost wrote a letter to his mother.
• The fat trumpet player played slow jazz.

Examples

• Beautiful becomes beautifully
• Careful would become carefully

Take care - there are some words that end with “ly” that are not adverbs. Examples would be ‘friendly’ or ‘lovely’. These are actually adjectives.


Examples of use of adverbs to describe a verb

• John finishes his work quickly and well.
• My parents will visit tomorrow.
• Let’s go home.
• The child was very unhappy.

The adverbs used here answer questions like: How does John finish? “quickly and well.” When will my parents visit? “tomorrow.” Where will we go? “home.” To what extent was the child unhappy? “very”

Interrogative Adverbs

• How did Susan get here?
• Why did you break the piggy bank?

Conjunctive Adverbs

• The weatherman said it would rain; however, we forgot to bring our rain gear.
• Some children do not like to read; nevertheless, they should learn how.

Comparative adverbs

• Bob is the fastest runner in his class.
• The blue dress is prettier than the pink one.

Verbs

Verbs describe actions (eat, dance) or states of being (am, remain).  Every sentence contains at least one verb.

Nouns

A noun is a person, place, thing, idea, or feeling.  Every sentence has a subject, which is a noun.

Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence to avoid repetition.  Examples include she, it, and them.  Pronouns can be possessive (mine, ours) or interrogative (who, what).

Adjectives

Adjectives describe or modify nouns.  Big, old, hungry, blue, and vague are adjectives.  Adjectives can be possessive (my cat), demonstrative (that cat), interrogative (which cat?), or indefinite (some cats).

Adverbs

Adverbs modify or describe verbs (he ran quickly), adjectives (the sun was very bright), or other adverbs (he ran fairly quickly).

Prepositions

Prepositions link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to the rest of the sentence. The preposition usually indicates a relationship in time (I swept the stairs before lunch), space (my socks are under the bed), or logic (there is no business like show business).

Conjunctions

Conjunctions link words (I like jam and bread), phrases (do you want to wash the dishes or take out the garbage), and clauses (dinner is ready, so we should go in).

Interjections

Interjections are words or short phrases added to a sentence to convey emotion.  They are often followed by an exclamation mark. Interjections are informal.

Wow!  This is great!
Hey, come on.

Articles

Articles introduce nouns.  Common articles are the, a, and an.

Gerunds

A gerund is a verb form that functions as a noun.  Gerunds always end in “ing,” although not every verb ending in “ing” is a gerund.  The verb is a gerund if it is acting as a noun.

I am running - regular verb
Running is good for you - gerund



 

Words, Phrases, and Clauses

Do not mix words with phrases, or phrases with clauses, in a parallel structure.

• Remember to bring your tent, sleeping bag, and get some marshmallows.
  
  This is not proper parallel structure.  Tent and sleeping bag are nouns, but get some marshmallows is a clause.  There are several ways this can be fixed.
• Remember to bring your tent, your sleeping bag, and some marshmallows.  (Each element in the list is a phrase consisting of an adjective followed by a noun)
• Remember to bring your tent, bring your sleeping bag, and get some marshmallows.  (Each element in the list is a clause with a verb and an object)
• Remember to bring your tent and sleeping bag, and get some marshmallows.  (Each element in the list is a clause.  The first clause actually contains its own simple parallel structure.)

Matching Forms

Every element in a list should have the same form.  If one element is a verb ending in "ing," every element should be a verb ending in "ing."  If one clause is in the active voice, there should not be any clauses in the passive voice.

• I like running, climbing, and to swim.  (Poor parallel structure)
• I like running, climbing, and swimming.  (Good parallel structure-all three verbs are gerunds)
• I like to run, climb, and swim.  (Good parallel structure-all three verbs are infinitives)
• 
  If you win the race, people will cheer, fans will ask for autographs, and pictures will be taken by reporters.  (Poor parallel structure.  The first two clauses are in the active voice, but the third clause is in the passive voice.)
• If you win the race, people will cheer, fans will ask for autographs, and reporters will take pictures.  (Good parallel structure.  Every clause is in the active voice.)

Subordinate Clauses

Run-on Sentences

Coordinating Conjunctions

• 1. Use of the Dangling Participle

  This is a common mistake. The dangling participle or misplaced modifier can change the meaning of a sentence entirely. Check out these examples:
  A: After falling from the tree, my uncle picked up the apple.
  B: My uncle picked up the apple after it fell from the tree.
  In example A, the dangling participle makes it seem as if the uncle fell from the tree. Example B shows the proper position of the modifier, which describes that the apple fell from the tree.

• 2. Confused Use of Homophones

  Homophones are words that sound alike but are spelled and used differently. Examples of commonly misused homophones are the words “its” and “it’s”. See the following examples:
  A: I put the laptop back in it’s case.
  B: I put the laptop back in its case.
  Example A uses “it’s”, the contracted form of “it is”. In effect it says, “I put the laptop back in [it is] case”, which is totally wrong. Dropping the apostrophe makes the sentence correct, as in example B.

• 3. Using a Non-Parallel Sentence Structure When Giving Lists

  A: She likes taking long walks, baking cakes, and books.
  B: She likes taking long walks, baking cakes, and reading books.
  Use parallel sentence structure when you are enumerating something. Example A shows a non-parallel sentence structure. Example B shows a correct parallel sentence structure wherein all the items in the list begin in the ‘-ing’ form: taking, baking, reading.

• 1. Indicating the Possessive Form of Nouns

  The apostrophe is used when writing the possessive form of nouns. Examples of these are: Mary’s house, Ray’s painting, and Agnes’ garden. The apostrophe in these examples indicates ownership; the house belongs to Mary, the painting to Ray, and the garden to Agnes.

• 2. In Place of Omitted Letters in Contractions

  Contractions are words that have a letter or some letters omitted, oftentimes when in the act of combining two words together. Examples of these are: can’t, haven’t, it’s, who’s, and I’m. These contractions stand for: cannot, have not, it is, who is, and I am, respectively. Note that the apostrophes in these examples were placed where the omitted letters used to be.

• 3. When Not to Use an Apostrophe

  The apostrophe is never to be used in possessive pronouns. Therefore, it is wrong to write possessive pronouns this way: their’s, her’s, it’s, your’s. The correct way of writing these pronouns is: theirs, hers, its, and yours, respectively.

Also, the apostrophe should not be used when writing plural nouns, such as in: market share’s, table’s and chair’s, book’s for sale. These should be correctly written as: market shares, tables and chairs, and books for sale, respectively.

You can remedy your apostrophe errors by consulting the WhiteSmoke online punctuation checker or the full desktop application, which features an English punctuation checker. Remember these three tips, apply them, and use a punctuation checker to polish your work, and you’ll be good to go.