Voices of verb

The voices of the verb tells whether the subject of the sentence performs or receives the
action.

Types:

 Active voice

 Passive voice

Active voice and passive voice:

Active Voice :

In active voice, the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.

 A student wrote a letter.

Passive voice:

In passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed by the verb.

 A letter was written by the student.

Active voice into passive voice:

There are two to three steps to be followed to covert the active voice into its passive voice.

Steps:
1. Move the active sentence’s direct object into the sentence’s subject slot.

 Active voice → Passive voice

A student wrote a letter → A letter....

↑ ↑

Direct object Subject

2. Place the active sentence’s subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition by.

 Active voice → Passive voice

A student wrote a letter A letter….by a student.

↓ ↓

Subject Prepositional phrase

2. Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the main verb form.

 Active voice → Passive voice

A student wrote a letter A letter was written by a student.

↓ ↓ ↓

Verb Ver + be auxiliary

Rules to observe :

Tense Active voice Passive voice

Present Simple He delivers the letters. The letters are delivered
Past Simple He delivered the letters. The letters were delivered
Future Simple He will deliver the letters The letters will be delivered.
Present Continuous He is delivering the letters. The letters are being delivered.
Past Continuous He was delivering the letters. The letters were being delivered.
Present Perfect He has delivered the letters. The letters have been delivered.
Past Perfect He had delivered the letters The letters had been delivered.
Infinitive He has to deliver the letters. The letters have to be delivered
Modals He must deliver the letters. The letters must be delivered.
Going to He is going to deliver the letters. The letters are going to be
delivered.

Examples from story:

Active voice:

Past tense:

 She appeared in village with her bundle beneath her arm. ( past simple )
 She was standing before loneliest man in world. ( past continuous )
  Belisa had no occupation or virtue. ( past perfect)

The above mentioned example are the active voices of past tense I found in short story. The
role of active voice in academic writing is very significant. It help to ensure clarity by making it
clear to the reader who is taking or performing action in sentence.

As in the above examples it is very clear that subject “she “ and “Belisa” is performing the
action .

Modals:

 She could not see his face. (Modal)

It is the active voice of a modal . The use of modals helps to suggest that something is more or
less probable.

Passive voice :

 Had it not been crafted from glowing and durable words. ( Past perfect)
 She was surprised by the colonel’s voice.( past simple)

The passive voice of the sentence is used to highlight the thing receiving an action is important
part of sentence and also to avoid the repetition. In the mentioned examples the emphasis is
on the action which is performed.

I found less passive voice in story the reason is may be that the excessive use of passive voice
make your writing flat and every writer has its own style of writing.

To achieve balanced writing both voices must be used contextually.

Parts of speech
Parts of speech are the basic categories of words according to their function in the sentence.

It is a category to which a word is assigned in accordance with its syntactic function. English has
main eight Parts of speech and we use them prominently and necessarily in our academic and
other writings .

 Noun
 Pronouns
 Adjectives
 Verbs
 Adverbs
  Prepositions
 Conjunctions
 Interjections

Noun:

A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea

Types of Noun :
 A common noun names any person, place, or thing. Examples are basketball, video, wizard, coin,
woman, and coach.
 A proper noun names a particular person, place, or thing and begins with a capital letter.
Examples are Winston Churchill, Babe Ruth, Mr. Richard Turner, and Chicago.

In the story Two Words the writer make use of both the proper and common noun and give a
recognition of characters , spots , things , thoughts and ideas in a amazing way that make
complete sense of sentences . Nouns are the subjects which let us know what the sentence is
about and also indirect object. In story nouns are used as their best to complete the sentence.

Reference :

Proper Noun:

 she went by name of Belisa Crepuscularia (proper noun , name of person )

 she ran into the families who like her were heading in south ( proper noun, name of
place)

Common Noun:

 she picked her inkwell, folded the canvas of her small stall . ( common nouns, Things )

Noun of Idea:

 Until curiosity overcome her shyness. ( Noun of idea)

Pronouns:

A pronoun is a word used in place of one or more nouns.

 Personal pronouns refer to people and things

 A reflexive pronoun is formed by adding - self or - selves to certain personal pronouns.
 A demonstrative pronoun is used to point out a specifi c person or thing.
 An indefinite pronoun often does not refer to a specific or definite person or thing. It usually
does not have a definite or specific antecedent as a personal pronoun does
In story from where I take examples the writer used pronouns very accurately to refer to a noun
(called its antecedent) that usually comes before the pronoun. By using them make his writing clearer,
smoother, and less awkward.

References :

 She went by name of Belsia Crupusculario ( personal pronoun, third person)

 She herself had searched ( reflexive pronoun)
 This is how she carried news from on town to another town.( indefinite pronoun)
 Those are words , child .( demonstrative pronoun)

Adjectives:

An adjective modifies (qualifies or limits the meaning of ) a noun or a pronoun. It answers the
questions, What kind? Which one(s)? How many? How much?

In story there is use of adjectives to refine nouns , so that a reader can imagine a more precise
image of story . It is a story with balanced use of adjectives with strong nouns. As using too
much adjectives means not choosing a strong enough nouns.

References:

 She folded the canvas of her small stall . ( what kind of )

 Believing them to be an irrevocable curse.( an as adjective used before vowel )
 The man smelled the scent of a mountain cat. ( a as adjective used before cononnat)
 He travelled up and down , riding into cities with a triumphal air.( adjective)

Verbs:

A verb is a word that conveys an action .

 An action verb tells what action (often a physical action) a subject is performing, has performed.
 A linking verb connects (or links) a subject to a noun or an adjective in the predicate. The most
common linking verbs are the forms of the verb “to be” ( is, are, was, were, been, being, am)
 A helping verb assists the main verb in a sentence. The common helping verbs are am, is, are,
was, were, be, been, being, has, had, have, do, might must , can , could.

The verbs are used precisely and accurately in the story as the main part of the sentences
telling about the story and about what is taking place in the story.

References :

 The colonel shrugged. ( action verb)

 She walked slowly to the leather stool . (action verb)
  “I want to be a president “, he said.( linking verb )
 She did not want to seem rude.( helping verb)
 Both Colonel and EL Mulato had spent their lives in fighting civil war.( helping verb)

Adverbs :

An adverb is a word that modifies (qualifies or limits) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

◗ Many adverbs end in - ly.

◗ Adverbs answer any of these four questions: Where? When? How? To what extent?

Adverbs are like seasoning in the sentences. The appropriate use of adverbs in story describe how things
appear and happens. And help us as reader to visualize an action with appropriate level of intensity.

References :

 They dragged themselves along painfully.

 She merely inquired about significance of fly tracks scattered across the page.
 She walked slowly to the leather stool.

Prepositions :

A common preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and
another word in the sentence.

 Another type of preposition is the compound preposition. It does the same as a common
preposition but is composed of two or more words.

In story Two Words preposition are used frequently and importantly as vital markers to the
structure of sentences. To mark the relationships between different places, objects and
locatons.

References :

 In the village near the coast , she journeyed through the country from high cold
mountains to burning cost. ( common preposition)
 Children scurried out of sight. ( compound preposition)

Conjunctions :

A conjunction connects words or group of words .

There are three types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions , correlative conjunctions , and
subordinating conjunctions.
  A coordinating conjunction is a single connecting word. These seven words are for, and, nor,
but, or, yet, and so.
 Correlative conjunctions are pairs of connecting words. These five pairs of words are both/and,
either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, and whether/or.

The conjunctions are used correctly in story Two words to connect several words and broader
concepts and ideas together. It allow the writer to build complex sentences in unique and
interesting way.

References:

 Nor was he inclined to tell her that the colonel was in a fog.( coordinating conjunction)
 Both Colonel and El Mulato had spent their lives in fighting civil wars.(correlative
conjunction)

Interjections :

An interjection is a word that expresses strong feeling or emotion.

 Aw, Bravo ,Darn, oops,

I find not a single interjection in story.

Comparison
Comparison in writing discusses elements that are similar. It is used to show a reader the
similarities or differences between two subjects. Comparison focuses on similarities “ ways
things are alike “

The two basic comparative forms are:

 The Pacific Ocean is larger than the Altantic.

 His work is more interesting than hers.
a) –er is added to one- syllable adjectives( slow/slower) and two – syllable adjectives
ending in –y ( easy/easier)
b) More………. Is used with words of two or more syllables.
Careful/ more careful , quickly/ more quickly.

But in the story “TWO WORDS” from which I take references and examples I found no
comparison.