2. Module 6 Outline Review of previous module Grammar: Passive Voice Writing: Revising your own writing Writing Assignments Revise Mini-Case Study – Responding to a Request for Proposal Timed Writing: Strategic Planning
3. Review of previous modules At the bottom of this page, look for a link to upload your Module 4 & 5 feedback documents after you have addressed the comments. I hope that you found the comments helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions. In order for me to provide useful feedback, I will need your best writing. Please make sure that you allocate enough time to complete all the assignments.
4. Review of the 3rd Conditional In the last module, you were asked to write about ClickShop.com, a online shopping company, that had made some mistakes when launching a new website. Since these mistakes were made in the past and had already occurred, you use to 3rd conditional to write about what they could have or should have done. If + past perfect, sub. + would/might/could have + past part. The 1st and 2nd conditionals are used with future or unreal situations.
6. Passive Voice In Module 2, we learned about the 12 active verb tenses. This module will focus on the passive voice of the same verb tenses. Compare the following two sentences. Yesterday, the CEO shut down all the retail branches. Yesterday, all the retail branches were shut down. Who is the person who did the action? - The CEO Who is the receiver? – All the retail bank branches Since we want the receiver of the action to be the main focus of this sentence, it is better to use the passive voice. All the retail bank branches were shut down. When the receiver of the action is the subject of the sentence, the passive verb form should be used.
7. The by-agent We use the passive voice when the person doing the action or “doer” of the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious. The files have been stolen. (unknown) Our product is being sold around the world. (unimportant) The thief was arrested by the police officers. (obvious) We often use passive to write about processes or procedures in which the doer or agent is unimportant. The cars are assembled (by workers) in a factory in China. If we know who performed the action and want to include it in the sentence, we use “by + the doer or agent” at the end of the sentence. All manual orders must be signed off by a manager.
8. Passive Verb Forms *PP = Past Participle / The perfect continuous tenses are not commonly written in the passive voice.
9. Passive Usage We use the passive to write in a more formal style because it is less personal than the active. It is often used in reports, minutes, and business correspondence. The negative impact on the company’s stock price was not expected. Using ‘it’ as the subject enables us to avoid mentioning the person responsible for saying or doing something. It was agreed that all the action items would be completed by the next meeting. HOWEVER, when writing for the CPA exam, be direct and write most sentence in an active voice. Writing for a test is not the same as writing in the real world.
10. Verbs that cannot be passive Some verbs do not take an object; therefore, they can not be used in the passive voice. For example: appear, disappear, occur, vanish, have, become, emerge, resemble, weigh, sleep, collide, happen, seem, collapse, lie, consist of, look, take place, rise Most stative verbs do not take the passive form. For example: think, know, believe, want, need, understand, recognize, forget, remember, belong, own, possess, resemble, exist, complain
