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Valinova Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Changing from passive voice
Is there a better, more active way to say, "Rafts were chained together and pulled by oxen from the opposite bank of the river"?
Top answer
That's a good question, because often, using active voice makes a sentence shorter and easier to understand. In this case, I would leave it as-is. " or focussing on the OXEN: "Oxen on the opposite bank of the river pulled the rafts, which were chained together", but the focus of the sentence is the RAFTS, so they should be the subject of the sentence, and the rafts are not AGENTS, they are inanimate, so you can't use active voice.
- That's a good question, because often, using active voice makes a sentence shorter and easier to understand.
- In this case, I would leave it as-is.
- " or focussing on the OXEN: "Oxen on the opposite bank of the river pulled the rafts, which were chained together", but the focus of the sentence is the RAFTS, so they should be the subject of the sentence, and the rafts are not AGENTS, they are inanimate, so you can't use active voice.
- e.
- the farmers (or whoever they are) are implied by context, and there's no need for that sentence to focus on them.
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2 Answers
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That's a good question, because often, using active voice makes a sentence shorter and easier to understand.
In this case, I would leave it as-is.
You could change it to active voice by focussing on the PEOPLE who chained the rafts together: "The FARMERS chained rafts together and tied them to oxen ..." or focussing on the OXEN: "Oxen on the opposite bank of the river pulled the rafts, whi
In this case, I would leave it as-is.
You could change it to active voice by focussing on the PEOPLE who chained the rafts together: "The FARMERS chained rafts together and tied them to oxen ..." or focussing on the OXEN: "Oxen on the opposite bank of the river pulled the rafts, whi
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Hi,
Is there a better, more active way to say, "Rafts were chained together and pulled by oxen from the opposite bank of the river"?
This passive version keeps the focus on the rafts, and suggests that the people who did the chaining (the agents) were not important. I don't feel an active version would be better, or even just as good.
Is there a better, more active way to say, "Rafts were chained together and pulled by oxen from the opposite bank of the river"?
This passive version keeps the focus on the rafts, and suggests that the people who did the chaining (the agents) were not important. I don't feel an active version would be better, or even just as good.
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