1. Chapter 23: Illogical Shifts

2.  Anytime a writer changes verb tense, person
tense, or voice within a sentence or paragraph, a
writer creates a shift within the sentence.
 Growing up, my brother always wanted to be a
fireman, but now, he is pursuing his Nursing Degree.
 I am so glad you are here; your presence has truly
blessed me.
 A logical shift occurs for a reason. It signals a change
in the sentence or paragraph.

3.  Occur within verb tense, person tense, and voice.
 Verb tense shifts: When a writer changes from one verb
tense to another (past, present, future, etc.)
 Illogical tense shifts occur when a writer changes tenses for
no logical reason.
 Illogical: I wanted to buy the necklace, but it is too expensive.
 Revised: I wanted to buy the necklace, but it was too expensive.
 Revised: I want to buy the necklace, but it is too expensive.
 Illogical: Michael has been talking about how he was going to the
movie.
 Revised: Michael has been talking about how he is going to the
movie.
 Revised: Michael had been talking about how he was going to the
movie.
 Revised: Michael had been talking about how he had gone to the
movie.

4.  Part of practice exercise check #5

5.  Person Tense: The form a pronoun takes to indicate who is
speaking, being spoken about, or being spoken to:
 First person: I We
 Second person: You
 Third person: He/She/It They
 Illogical shifts occur when a person shifts from one person tense to another
without a logical reason.
 Illogical: A person should always decide what is most important to them.
 Revised: A person should always decide what is most important to him or her.
 Revised: People should always decide what is most important to them.
 Illogical: The students need to meet with your instructor after class.
 Revised: The students need to meet with their instructor after class.
 Revised: You need to meet with your instructor after class.
 Illogical shifts can also occur within errors involving Subjective/Objective/
possessive pronoun cases, which were discussed in Chapter 28.
 Illogical: The man removed him coat.
 Revised: The man removed his coat.
 Error: Objective case vs. possessive case

6.  Part of practice exercise check #5

7.  Voice: Two types of voice Active and Passive
 The voice indicates whether the subject is performing or receiving the action.
 Active (preforming): He rode his bicycle.
 Passive (receiving): The bicycle was ridden by him.
 Passive voice is usually avoided when writing, unless it serves a specific
purpose.
 This is because active voice is stronger and more direct than passive voice.
 Illogical voice shifts occur when a writer shifts from active to passive voice or
vice versa with no logical reason.
 Illogical: Marcus was a talented pianist. The piano was played beautifully by him.
 Revised: Marcus was a talented pianist. He played the piano beautifully.
 Illogical: The Birds was written by Alfred Hitchcock. He wrote many classic screenplays.
 Revised: Alfred Hitchcock wrote The Birds. He wrote many classic screenplays.
 Changing from passive voice to active voice
 The car was being driven by Paul.
 How would you write this is in active voice?
 Paul was driving the car.

8.  Part of practice exercise check #5