![]() ![]() ![]() Then, when you’ve done that, click on the “edit” button (also top right-hand). Simply click on the “write” button (top right-hand corner) and write or paste your text. Use a free piece of software called the Hemingway App. But I’m not going to suggest you go back to school for remedial grammar. That said, I do regret it when many writers lapse into wordy, complex (and sometimes passive) sentences that make it difficult for readers to create visual images. For example, “The passive voice is wherever possible used in preference to the active,” Orwell wrote, passively. White (whom I admire deeply) both decried the passive and yet used it frequently. I find it particularly telling that both George Orwell and E.B. (Warning: you may need a degree in linguistics to understand the finer points of Pullam’s article.) But we accuse them of being so as a kind of all-purpose synonym for bad writing. Pullum and his erudite and persuasive paper “ Fear and Loathing of the English Passive.” He argues that many of the constructions we view as passive simply aren’t. I tend to side with language maven Geoffrey K. Is that a passive sentence? (Indeed, it is.)Īnd what about the sentence, There was a ceasefire agreement in Southern Afghanistan? (It most certainly is not.) ![]() But it’s hard to spot the more subtle variants.įor example, This rug needs washing. Do you know what I mean by passive?ĭon’t be too quick to say yes! It may be easy to identify the blatantly obvious cases - “mistakes were made,” a feeling expressed by Ronald Reagan during the Iran-Contra scandal. Most writers today strive to avoid the passive voice. The Hemingway App promises to make your writing bold and clear. ![]()
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