I'm still new to writing, and know I have heaps to learn, but I'm suffering from wavy green line syndrome in word.
How much notice do you all take of the wavy green lines telling you your sentence is passive with every use of the word 'was' or 'were'.
I'm reluctant to hit the 'ignore once' solution so re-writing sentences to eliminate the offending blighters, but when is it ok for a sentence to be passive?
I've turned the wavy lines off in my word processor - I find it distracting, especially when I have names or characters of places.
For correcting the grammar and spelling, I'll do that manually.
Dear Lin,
Passive phrases usually consist of various forms/tenses of the verb 'to Be' plus a past participle, or the same plus by plus the subject/actor carrying out the act.
It depends on how you want to say it, or if you know who did it, or if it is clear who/what caused it without needing to say so
e.g after an overnight storm, branches and broken roof tiles were strewn everywhere.
During the night, the wind blew down the chimney (P)
or Last night a strong wind blew down the chimney (A)
or Last night the chimney was blown down by a strong wind (P)
It's a simplistic example,but hope it helps.
There are wiggly green lines too?!