Friday, April 1, 2011

"A" is for Active Voice

A to Z Blogging Challenge: "A" is for Active Voice

Writing Exercise: 
Read Active Voice Versus Passive Voice by Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty. Write two sentences in Active Voice. Then change them to Passive Voice. Share in the Comments Section.  


My two Active and Passive Voice sentence examples:

Active: The dog scratched at a flea.  Passive: A flea is scratched at by the dog.

Active: Sal cut the pickle in half.       Passive: The pickle was cut in half by Sal. 

Take it further --
For fun & practice, re-write these popular 80's rock song titles in Passive Voice.

Active Voice                                                Passive Voice                                        

Grammar Girl's Example:
I Heard It through the Grapevine --                It was heard by me through the grapevine


Another One Bites the Dust -- 
Everbody Wants to Rule the World --
The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades --
Girls Just Want To Have Fun --
I Think We're Alone Now --
She Drives Me Crazy --

Take Me Home tonight -- 
Take My Breath Away --
We Close Our Eyes --
We Got the Beat --

9 comments:

  1. Active voice is perfect for A! Great Advice!

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  2. Love the exercise from the 80's songs! Thanks for the challenge!

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  3. Another One Bites the Dust --
    Bites the Dust Another One Does
    Everbody Wants to Rule the World --
    To Rule the World is what Everyone Wants
    The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades --
    The Future's So Bright Wear Shades I Have To.
    Girls Just Want To Have Fun --
    To Have Fun is what Girls Just Want
    I Think We're Alone Now --
    Alone Now We Are I think
    She Drives Me Crazy --
    I'm Driven Crazy By Her
    Take Me Home tonight --
    Home Tonight I'm Taken
    Take My Breath Away --
    My Breath is Taken Away
    We Close Our Eyes --
    Our Eyes are Closed
    We Got the Beat -
    The Beat is what We Got

    Fun Exercises!

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  4. One of my writing professors in college loved Grammar Girl! We'd listen to some of her podcasts in class.

    I love writing prompts and exercises, so thanks for this cool suggestion!

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  5. Dawn, VERY good advice about active voice. Sometimes I can't articulate this to my critique partners. I'll have to send them over here. Thanks a lot!
    Good luck with the challenge!

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  6. Thank you all for sharing! I'm having fun already.

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  7. Definitely good to remember to use active voice. Thanks :)

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  8. LOL! I definitely prefer active voice for those song titles. Great A post :O)

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I appreciate your comments! I try to respond to each one.