SAMPLE College Composition

‭Passive‬ ‭versus‬ ‭active‬ ‭voice:‬ ‭Active‬ ‭voice‬ ‭means‬ ‭that‬ ‭the‬ ‭object‬ ‭of‬ ‭the‬ ‭sentence‬ ‭receives‬ ‭the‬‭action.‬ ‭Passive voice means that the subject of the sentence receives the action.‬

‭●‬ ‭Active: Michael hit the baseball.‬ ‭●‬ ‭Passive: The baseball was hit by Michael.‬

‭Technically,‬ ‭both‬ ‭voices‬ ‭are‬ ‭correct.‬ ‭However,‬ ‭Standard‬ ‭Written‬ ‭English‬ ‭prefers‬‭the‬‭active‬‭voice‬‭to‬‭the‬ ‭passive‬‭voice.‬‭Active‬‭voice‬‭is‬‭more‬‭clear‬‭and‬‭concise.‬‭Passive‬‭voice‬‭is‬‭wordier‬‭and‬‭harder‬‭for‬‭the‬‭reader‬ ‭to‬‭understand.‬‭When‬‭you‬‭write‬‭your‬‭responses‬‭for‬‭the‬‭Excelsior‬‭College‬‭Examination,‬‭the‬‭evaluators‬‭will‬ ‭be looking for overuse of the passive voice in your writing.‬

‭Subject/predicate agreement:‬ ‭The noun and verb should‬‭agree in number.‬

‭●‬ ‭Wrong: Chase and Sarah (plural compound subject) often rides (singular verb) ATVs together.‬ ‭●‬ ‭Right: Chase and Sarah (plural compound subject) often ride (plural verb) ATVs together.‬ ‭●‬ ‭Wrong:‬‭The‬‭number‬‭of‬‭dogs‬‭in‬‭the‬‭obedience‬‭class‬‭(singular‬‭noun)‬‭are‬‭(plural‬‭verb)‬‭growing‬‭each‬ ‭day.‬ ‭●‬ ‭Right:‬‭The‬‭number‬‭of‬‭dogs‬‭in‬‭the‬‭obedience‬‭class‬‭(singular‬‭noun)‬‭is‬‭(singular‬‭verb)‬‭growing‬‭each‬ ‭day.‬

‭Infinitive‬‭phrases:‬ ‭Infinitive‬‭phrases‬‭can‬‭function‬‭as‬‭an‬‭adjective,‬‭adverb,‬‭or‬‭a‬‭noun.‬‭These‬‭phrases‬‭use‬ ‭the infinitive form of a verb (to +simple form of the verb).‬

‭●‬ ‭To leave‬ ‭●‬ ‭To have bought‬ ‭●‬ ‭To win‬

‭Participle‬ ‭phrases:‬ ‭A‬ ‭participle‬ ‭phrase‬ ‭functions‬ ‭as‬ ‭an‬ ‭adjective‬ ‭modifying‬ ‭a‬ ‭noun.‬ ‭It‬ ‭is‬ ‭formed‬ ‭by‬ ‭combining the present participle or past participle of a verb with adverbs, nouns, and their modifiers.‬

‭●‬ ‭Looking at her busy schedule‬ ‭●‬ ‭Planned as a quiet picnic‬ ‭●‬ ‭Seen by the teacher‬

‭Participle phrase using the present participle:‬ ‭●‬ ‭Reid, looking at the display, questioned the salesperson about the televisions.‬ ‭●‬ ‭The salesperson, talking about the televisions, attracted lots of attention.‬ ‭Participle phrase using the past participle:‬ ‭●‬ ‭The paper airplane, watched by the class, flew onto the teacher’s desk.‬ ‭●‬ ‭The teacher, angered by his misbehavior, asked Michael to stay after class.‬

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