grammar

Powerful verbs: Beyond the passive voice

This entry was posted in Techniques Writing and tagged grammar verbs on by

“Carthago delenda est!” Do you think the passive voice is weak? That passive-voice construction (“Carthage must be destroyed!”) brought down a powerful nation.

Most writers at least vaguely recognize that the passive voice is often a bad thing. Fewer of them know why, or even what it is. People trying to sound smart use the term “passive voice” for many things that aren’t. It’s just one of several ways that verbs are often weaker than they could be. Let’s take a look at them and learn the differences.
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Can you rely on Grammarly?

This entry was posted in Techniques Tools and tagged grammar Grammarly on by

Mistakes in spelling or grammar can torpedo an otherwise great article. Grammarly is a popular online tool for catching them. I use the free version regularly to check articles before submitting them. It does a decent job at catching the worst of my blunders. It hasn’t impressed me enough to go for the paid version, too. It has its quirks, being obsessive on some issues and plain wrong on others.

My cat Mokka guarding a dictionary

Mokka sternly protecting a dictionary. December 30, 2008.

If I agree with Grammarly’s recommendation, I use it. If I don’t, I leave my writing as it is, or I make a different change. But I get the impression that a lot of writers take its recommendations as Holy Writ, and I wonder how much it’s affecting writing styles on the Internet.
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