Part 2
Goal B: Delete Nomenclature
Next, Dr. G. set out to greatly reduce if not eliminate English grammar nomenclature.
Isn’t learning grammar hard enough without letting a lot of terminology get in the way? Objective case, nominative case, possessive pronouns, reflexive pronouns, infinitives … on and on and on. No wonder most students hate the subject!
For instance, grammar books usually define passive voice as “a form or set of forms of a verb in which the subject undergoes the action of the verb.”
It’s so much easier to describe passive like this:
Active voice: the action goes left to right, the same way we read.
Passive voice: the action goes right to left, opposite of how we read.
Also passive: no one does the action.
For example:
Active Voice
Bob threw the ball.
Action
Correct
Passive Voice
The ball was thrown by Bob.
Action
Also Passive
The ball was thrown.
Who threw it?
Incorrect