Grammar question from D2 for Aqua
-
D2:
My students often write, “Mr. z was administered the [test] as a measure of his cognitive functioning.” Mr. Z is the object of the preposition. You didn’t administer HIM to the TEST, and He didn’t administer the test, you did. So I always write, “The [test] was administered to Mr. Z...” One of my students who cannot be supervised and came into the program an expert in all things is putting up a fight. I’m petty enough to bite. Am I in the wrong? If not, why? If I am, why?
Me: The sentence is in passive voice. “Mr. Z was painted with a paint sprayer.”It’s not incorrect, but passive voice is usually frowned upon in such things. So, not incorrect, but not proper.
D2: hank you. I argued the passive voice thing too. I cited the APA Publication Manual as well. Student refuses. I’d like a little more footing each time I push back. We don’t use first person voice in reports. What’s the other option: The evaluator administered the test to mr. z?
-
I’m no Aqua but let’s continue your example with direct replacements. For example, “The wall was applied the paint, as a measure of it’s color potential.” sounds weird. I’d imagine the statement “The paint was applied to the wall, as a measure of its color potential:” seems to make more sense, indeed.
-
Pinches bridge of nose... Alright.
- Yes, this is the old passive/active voice argument.
- There's nothing wrong with choosing passive voice per se. It's a tool not all languages have. (In fact that's exactly why science dweebs think they know English and don't—Latin has no direct counterpart and they're taught early on in Dweeb School never to use it, for reasons they never understand.) But there are tradeoffs. With active voice, if the most important takeaway from the sentence is who's doing the action, maybe use active voice. On the other hand, if the most important takeaway is who's having what done to them, but it just so happens it's by something/someone else, maybe use passive voice. Example: This student's being a real sandy douche. What's important to convey here is that the student's choosing to engage in sandy douche behavior. So that's how the sentence is constructed.
- In her example, though, the important point isn't who's delivering the test, but that Z was the one taking it. So she's right, passive in the way that she had it makes more sense.
- Her fix for using active voice also works, but you can also change the verb and simply say he took a test.
Tldr:
If the presence of an administrator is still significant yet secondary to the fact that Z was the one the test was given to, passive voice is the better solution.
-
Pinches bridge of nose... Alright.
- Yes, this is the old passive/active voice argument.
- There's nothing wrong with choosing passive voice per se. It's a tool not all languages have. (In fact that's exactly why science dweebs think they know English and don't—Latin has no direct counterpart and they're taught early on in Dweeb School never to use it, for reasons they never understand.) But there are tradeoffs. With active voice, if the most important takeaway from the sentence is who's doing the action, maybe use active voice. On the other hand, if the most important takeaway is who's having what done to them, but it just so happens it's by something/someone else, maybe use passive voice. Example: This student's being a real sandy douche. What's important to convey here is that the student's choosing to engage in sandy douche behavior. So that's how the sentence is constructed.
- In her example, though, the important point isn't who's delivering the test, but that Z was the one taking it. So she's right, passive in the way that she had it makes more sense.
- Her fix for using active voice also works, but you can also change the verb and simply say he took a test.
Tldr:
If the presence of an administrator is still significant yet secondary to the fact that Z was the one the test was given to, passive voice is the better solution.
@Aqua-Letifer said in Grammar question from D2 for Aqua:
Example: This student's being a real sandy douche. What's important to convey here is that the student's choosing to engage in sandy douche behavior. So that's how the sentence is constructed.You know, I would’ve learned and retained a lot more in my English class had you written the curriculum.
