LESSON 9.docx
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LESSON 9.docx
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LESSON9
Chapter1
Introduction
Myhunchisthatyoudecidedtotakethisbusinesswritingcoursebecauseyouwantedtoempoweryourselfandyourcareerbyimprovingyourwritingskills.That'sgoodthinking.Infact,theequationoflanguagewithpowerhasalonghistory.GrammarhasbeenahighlyvaluedskillasfarbackastheclassicalGreeksandRomans.
TheliteracyofthecivilizedworldsoimpressedthebarbarianhordeswhoinvadedtheRomanEmpirearound500A.D.thattheybelievedreadingandwritingweresupernaturalpowers.Intheirignorance,theymispronouncedthewordgrammarasglamour,awordthatmeansmagicpower.
Foryears,illiteratepeoplebelievedthatthosewhocouldreadandwritepossessedhighlypotentmagic.Itishard,evennow,toarguethatliteracydoesnotimpartpower.Icertainlyplantoempoweryouwiththispotentlessonongrammar.
SuccessTipNumberSeven
HereyouareinLesson9,andIhavetheaudacitytoaskyoutotacklegrammarrightafteryouwadedthroughspellingandpunctuation.Areyoutemptedtogetupoutofyourchairinsteadofpushingthrough?
Iseeyoufidgeting.
Takeadeepbreathandhangintherewithme.Attimeslikethese,whenyou'realoneandtheroadfeelssteep,youneedtobeabletofindthewillpowertopaytheduesnecessarytoachievesomethingyouvalue.You'realreadyamuchbetterwriterthanwhenyoubeganthecourse.Finishwhatyoustarted.Decidetobeawinner.
TheToolofLanguage
WaltWhitmansaidthatlanguageis,"somethingarisingoutofthework,needs,ties,joys,affections,tastesoflonggenerationsofhumanity"with"itsbasisbroadandlow,closetotheground."Inotherwords,languageisourbest-sharedhopeforreachingoutandmakingcontactwithotherhumanbeings.Itisatoolthatyoucanhonetoanever-fineredge.
ConsiderhowluckyyouaretohavefacilityinEnglish.With500,000words,Englishhasbyfartherichestvocabularyofanylanguageonearth,andthatdoesnotcountthehalfmilliontechnicalandscientifictermsnotyetcatalogued.Togiveyousomecomparison,Germanhasaround185,000words;theFrenchlanguagecontainsfewerthan100,000.
YourTipsCard
PullouttheTipsCardyoustartedinLesson5,oraccessthedocumentyoucreatedforrecordingtips,plusspellingandpunctuationproblemareastocheckyourcommonmistakes.UndertheSkillssection,addthewordGrammarsoyouhaveaspottorecordyourcommongrammargoofs.Everypersonhasafewweakareaswhenitcomestogrammar.TheGrammarsectiononyourTipsCardwillremindyouwhaterrorstoavoidinthefuture.
IbeginLesson9withaquickreviewofpassivevoice.Afterthat,tryyourhandatmyGrammarBlitzQuiz.Ithelpsyoudiscovertheweakareasinyourgrammarskills.Finally,youlearnwaystoavoidgenderbiasinlanguage.
Myaimistocovergrammarproblemsbusinesswritersfrequentlyencounterratherthandoanexhaustivereviewofeverygrammarruleandtopic.IencourageyoutolookovertheInternetlinksforthischaptertofindahandyonlinereferenceorkeepagoodreferencebookatyourdesktocheckwhenyouhitoneofyourgrammargrayareas.ThenputwhatyoulearnedonyourTipsCard.
Chapter2
ActiveandPassiveVoice
WhatIsPassiveVoice?
Thenumberonegrammarquestionmystudentsaskmeishowtoavoidpassivevoice.Theyknowtheyarenotsupposedtouseit,butfewofthemknowwhy.Youareanadult;youdeservesomeanswersatlast.Grammarrulesarethereforapurpose.Iwanttomakesureyoufinallyunderstandwhylanguageteachershavebeennaggingyoualltheseyears.
Yourreaders,whethertheyknowitornot,finditeasiertoreadsentenceswrittenintheactivevoice.
"HarryMetcalfboughtacopier."
Thisisanexampleofstraightforward,activesentencestructure.YouputHarryMetcalf,theactor,alsoknownasthenounorsubject,intheprimerealestateofyoursentence—atthebeginning.Youfollowyoursubjectwiththeverborpredicatebought.Finally,youaddthethingthatyournounandverbareworkingon,thecopier,alsocalledthedirectobject.
Youcannevergowrongusingtheactiveconstructionbecauseyourmeaningiseasilyaccessibletoyourreader.Thenoun-verb-objectordergivesyoursentencestheirgreatestimpact.
Passivevoicereversestheorderandputstheobjectoftheactionfirst.
"ThecopierwasboughtbyHarryMetcalf."
Thepassivevoicepromotesthedirectobject,copier,intotheroleofsubject.Thisissobackwardthatyouareobligedtopropupyourverbbyaddingthehelpingwordwas.HarryMetcalfisnotreallyadirectobjecthere,becauseheisnotbeingactedupon.Tomakehimfitinyoursentence,youmustaddthewordby,ornothingmakesanysense.
WhyNottoUsePassiveVoice
Clearly,yourpassivesentenceisnowlonger.However,thatisnotallthatiswrongwithpassivevoice.Passivevoiceisweakersinceittendstoputobjectsaheadofpeople.Youmightevensayittendstohidepeoplebehindthings.
Imaginethatyouaretheshippingsupervisorforamanufacturingplantthatmakesworkboots.FirstthingMondaymorning,yourdepartmentVicePresidentcomesouttotheloadingdockwavingafaxandturningpurpleintheface.Someoneonyourstaffmistakenlysent16casesofsnowbootstoashoestoreinBermuda.
Youhaveacoupleofchoicesassupervisor.Youcanusetheactivevoiceandsay,"Itakeresponsibilityforthemistake."
Oryoucanusethepassivevoiceandsay,"Mistakesweremade."
Inthefirstsentence,yourVicePresidentknowsexactlywhototalkto(you).Inthesecondsentence,youretreatintotheshadowsofpassivevoice,hidingbehindthedirectobjectmistakes,whichhasnowbeenpromotedtosubject,soyoudonothavetotaketheheat.
Mostpeopledonotthinkofgrammarasawaytodemonstratepersonalintegrity,butthisexampleshowsthatitcangiveyouexactlythatchoice.WhichanswerdoyouthinkyourVicePresidentwillrespect?
Thesentence,"Mistakesweremade,"maysoundfamiliar.Governmentspokespeopleuseitallthetimewhentheyhavetoexplaintoreporterswhythingswentwrong.Politicianslovethepassivevoice.Ifanelectedofficialeverstandsupandsays,"Itakefullresponsibilityfortheerror,"halfthereportersintheaudiencewillfaint.
Businesslanguageisalsoloadedwithpassivesentenceconstruction.Doesthissoundfamiliar?
Passivevoice:
"Amemowassenttothedepartmentstatingthatsalarieswillbecut5%."
Apparently,thememosentitselftoavarietyofunmentionedpeople.Notasoulisinsightbecausethewriterdoesnotwanttobeassociatedwiththebadnews.Thatisthecowardlypassivevoice.
Makethecommitmenttostandupandbecounted.Getthepeoplebackinyoursentences.Takeresponsibilityforgoodnewsandbad,andkeepyourself-respect.
Activevoice:
"Isentallofyouamemostatingthatyoursalarieswillbecut5%."
HowtoRecognizePassiveVoice
Howdoyouknowifasentenceispassiveoractive?
Sometimesyouwillknowbecausetheverbisaccompaniedbysomeformoftobe,suchasis,are,was,orwere.Oryoumayseethewordbynexttothepersonorthingthatdoestheactioninthesentence.
Youcanalsocheckbyisolatingyourverb.Theverbdescribestheactionthesubjecttakes.Lookatthefollowingexample:
"Achartappearsintheappendixofthereport."
Theverbappearsdescribestheactionthatthesubjectcharttakes.Therefore,thissentenceisintheactivevoice.Nowlookatthefollowing:
"ThechartwasplacedintheappendixofthereportbyJames."
Isolatetheverbwasplaced.Doesthesubjectchartdotheplacing?
No,Jamesplacedthechart.Therefore,thissentenceisinthepassivevoice.
Iftheverbdescribestheactionthatthesubjecttakes,yoursentenceisintheactivevoice.Iftheverbdescribesanactionthatthesubjectdidnottake,yoursentenceisinthepassivevoice.Useyourverbtofindoutifyouareusingpassivevoice.
UsingPassiveVoiceonPurpose
Incertaincircumstances,thepassivevoicecanbeahandydevicethatyoumaywanttousedeliberately.WhatifyourbosssentthesnowbootstoBermuda?
Inthatcase,youmaybeeagertokeepthesubjectoutofthesentence.Youmayfindittactfultousethepassivevoiceasopposedtotheactivevoice.
Passive:
ThesnowbootsweresenttoBermuda.
Active:
MybosssentthesnowbootstoBermuda.
Anotherreasonyoumightwanttousepassivevoiceisthatvaguenessormysteryservesyourpurposeattimes.I'msureyouhaveseensignsthatsay,"Trespasserswillbeprosecuted."
Thepassivevoiceworkswellonthissignsinceitdoesn'tmentiontherealsubjectofthesentence—thelandowner,whohasto1)catchyoutrespassing,2)detainyou,3)notifyalawenforcementofficial,4)haveyouarrested,and5)prosecuteyou.Keepingthespecificsvagueincreasesthethreat.
Passivevoicecanalsobeusefulwhentheactorinyoursentenceisunimportantorunknownandyourverbisunexciting."ThemeetingwillbeheldFriday."
Attimes,youmaysincerelywishbothyoursubjectandyourverbwereunexciting,butrealizethat,instead,theyarethecenterofintenseinterest.Thenyoumayfindyourselfindeepsympathywiththepersonwhocoinedthepassivephrase,"Mistakesweremade."
Chapter3
CommonGrammarGoofs
GrouchoMarx,acomedicactorfromthe'30s,aswellasatelevisionstarinthe'50s,toldthefollowingjoke:
"Ionceshotanelephantinmypajamas.Howhegotinmypajamas,I'llneverknow."
Thatisagrammarjoke.IfGrouchohadnotdeliberatelycommittedthegrammarmistakeofmisplacinghismodifier,hisjokewouldnothavebeenfunny.Idoubtheknewtheexactnameofhismistake,noramIparticularlyinterestedinyoulearningit.Idowantyoutobe
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