Transcript VERBS

VERBS
Active Voice,
Passive Voice, and
Subjunctive Mood
Subjunctive Mood
• to express things we know are
impossible (“what if” scenarios) or to
make demands
• verbs may look wrong because this
does not use the -s in the third person
singular
Subjunctive Mood
often used after:
if
wish
verb + that
demand that
require that
request that
insist that
ask that
suggest that
it is necessary that
it is important that
Subjunctive Mood
Examples:
• The robber demanded that she open the safe.
• Mrs. Jones suggested that he whisper when in
the library.
• It is important that he notify the employees
about the new regulations.
• If I were a millionaire, I’d be happy.
• Don’t you wish Megan Fox were your girlfriend?
Active and Passive Voices
active voice = subject performs the action:
• Jeremy beat the eggs with a fork.
Active and Passive Voices
passive voice = subject receives the action:
• The eggs were beaten with a fork
by Jerry.
Active and Passive Voices
HINT: The passive voice often uses the
preposition “by.”
• The eggs were beaten with a
fork by Jerry.
Active and Passive Voices
Use the passive voice ONLY when:
a. you don’t know who did the action
b. you don’t want to point a finger at
the culprit
1.
2.
President Kennedy was shot in
Dallas today.
The toilet seat was left up.
How might you improve the
following sentence? HINT: Simplify!
The
Better:
Best:
decision that
was
Thereached
committee
by
the
reached
decided
committee
to
the
was
decision
postpone
to postpone
to
the
the
postpone
vote.
vote. the
vote.
Purdue University Writing Lab
How might you improve the following
sentence?
Better:
The
disk drive of the
Best:
computer
The
was surge
Theelectrical
electrical
surge
damaged
by
disk
damagedthe
thethe
electrical
drive
of the
surge.
computer's
disk
computer.
drive.
Purdue University Writing Lab