active sentences
Writing teachers often tell their students to keep their sentences active. But what does that mean? We think it means something like this: “Give your readers clear subjects (the “actor” in the sentence, the one doing some kind of action) with clear verbs (the action the actor does). This kind of writing goes well with the S-V sentence structure that readers expect in English sentences. In this lesson, we describe three easy rules to follow to help you keep your sentences active. (For a lesson on active vs. passive voice, go here.)
Embedded Exercises (download and print out this handout to accompany the exercises on the video)