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Understanding Passive Voice and Misplaced Modifiers in Academic Writing

This comprehensive review focuses on the importance of active voice over passive voice in academic writing. It explains how passive voice emphasizes the action rather than the subject, leading to unclear sentences that should be avoided. The notes also cover misplaced modifiers, which hinder sentence comprehension and require careful placement for clarity. Furthermore, the differences between dangling and well-placed modifiers are highlighted with examples. This guide serves as a crucial resource for enhancing writing clarity and effectiveness.

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Understanding Passive Voice and Misplaced Modifiers in Academic Writing

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  1. CAHSEE GRAMMAR REVIEW NOTES DAY ONE

  2. Passive voice occurs when the focus of the sentence is on the action, not on the subject. • In other words, what is happening appears more important than who it is happening to. • Passive voice should be avoided at all costs. PASSIVE VS. ACTIVE VOICE

  3. A letter was written. • The focus of this short sentence is on the fact that a letter was written. • The brakes were slammed as the car sped downhill. • Again, the focus of this sentence is on the action. • Can you identify the subject of each sentence? FOR EXAMPLE:

  4. Sandy wrote a letter. • The simple sentence gains a subject(noun) who is acting(verb) on the object (verb phrase). • The subject of the passive sentence becomes the verb phrase of the active sentence. • The standard structure of sentences should go: doer -> action -> recipient of action. EXAMPLE REVISED:

  5. Modifiers are words or phrases that add detail or description to a sentence. • Misplaced modifiers occur when the subject of the modifier is unclear because of the modifier’s poor placement. • Misplaced modifiers make sentences difficult to understand, and have no place in your academic writing. MISPLACED MODIFIERS

  6. Abraham Lincoln wrote “The Gettysburg Address” while traveling from Washington to Gettysburg on the back of an envelope • I almost passed every art class I took • Running quickly improves your health EXAMPLES:

  7. While traveling from Washington to Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln wrote “The Gettysburg Address” on the back of an envelope • The underlined modifier in this sentence was moved to the front, and was made into its own short phrase • Running will quickly improve your health. • In the previous sentence “quickly” modified “running”, and implied that the faster you run, the healthier you are. EXAMPLE REVISED:

  8. A well-placed modifier sits near the target word, but a dangling modifier sits detached from the word it modifies. • Dangling modifiers lead to difficulty in understanding the sentence, and often unintentional humor. • Stem from associations with words other than the one intended. DANGLING MODIFIER

  9. At the age of eight, my family finally bought a dog. • The modifying clause in this is underlined. It “dangles” away, and is not attached to the subject of the main clause. It implies that the family was eight years old, not the speaker. • Entering the doctors office, the skeleton caught my attention. • Again, the modifying clause is underlined. This sentence implies that the skeleton entered the doctor’s office. EXAMPLE

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