Question about grammar...

Motorboat Cruiser · 09-29-2006, 02:11 PM

I wasn't sure where to put this so feel free to move it if it isn't appropriate here.

My question concerns active vs. passive sentences and I would love to hear from other writers or anyone with a better grasp of grammar than myself (which probably includes most everyone on this board).

Over the past few months, I’ve read a number of books on how to improve writing skills. One of the things that seem to pop up most frequently is that passive sentences seem to be universally frowned upon. Microsoft Word even has a handy little feature that gives you a percentage of how many passive sentences you have used.

And yet, for some reason, I have a really hard time spotting them in what I write. I’ve read numerous explanations of what they are but something just isn’t clicking in my brain.

For those who have a good grasp of them, I have a few questions.

First, are there any tips you could offer that might help me improve my writing in this area or make the concept of passive sentences clearer to me?

Second, what are your opinions of passive sentences? Do you loathe seeing them, as so many authors attest?

Lastly, I know this is arbitrary but do you think that there are a percentage of passive sentences that are acceptable? Should the goal be to remove them completely or do they have their place?

Any and all insight into this somewhat perplexing dilemma would be helpful and appreciated.

PS: According to Word, the percentage of passive sentences in this post is 8%.

09-29-2006, 02:11 PM	#1
Motorboat Cruiser Cruiser of Motorboats Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: So Cal Posts: 3,665	Question about grammar... I wasn't sure where to put this so feel free to move it if it isn't appropriate here. My question concerns active vs. passive sentences and I would love to hear from other writers or anyone with a better grasp of grammar than myself (which probably includes most everyone on this board). Over the past few months, I’ve read a number of books on how to improve writing skills. One of the things that seem to pop up most frequently is that passive sentences seem to be universally frowned upon. Microsoft Word even has a handy little feature that gives you a percentage of how many passive sentences you have used. And yet, for some reason, I have a really hard time spotting them in what I write. I’ve read numerous explanations of what they are but something just isn’t clicking in my brain. For those who have a good grasp of them, I have a few questions. First, are there any tips you could offer that might help me improve my writing in this area or make the concept of passive sentences clearer to me? Second, what are your opinions of passive sentences? Do you loathe seeing them, as so many authors attest? Lastly, I know this is arbitrary but do you think that there are a percentage of passive sentences that are acceptable? Should the goal be to remove them completely or do they have their place? Any and all insight into this somewhat perplexing dilemma would be helpful and appreciated. PS: According to Word, the percentage of passive sentences in this post is 8%.
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