ABSTRACT
Ablaut The process of inflecting a verb by changing its vowel: sing, sang, sung
Active and passive The passive voice turns a sentence around so that the object comes first and the subject is placed later – like this: “The wind destroyed the greenhouse.” (ACTIVE) The passive voice places emphasis on what happened rather than who did it: “The greenhouse was destroyed by the wind.” (PASSIVE) The passive voice will sometimes leave the subject out altogether: “The greenhouse was destroyed.” (PASSIVE) The passive voice is not very common in most speech and writing. It is, however, a feature of certain text-types: scientific, technical and legal writing, as well as some journalism, sometimes adopt the passive voice. It can be useful where the speaker/writer wishes to: • withhold information; • conceal information; • build suspense; • give emphasis to what happened rather than who did it.
