This handout is available for download in PDF format. Active verbs are important components of any academic writing! Just as in other forms of writing, they work as engines, driving the action of your ...

We refer to a sentence as being in the "active voice" when the subject is performing the action of the sentence (the verb). A sentence is in the "passive voice" when the subject is being acted upon by ...

Stereotypical academic writing is rigid, dry, and mechanical ... (passive without pronouns) Active verbs: Investigating (instead of investigated) stem cell treatment effectiveness using ELISA showed a ...

In English, our sentences usually operate using a similar pattern: subject, verb, then object. The nice part about this type of structure is that it lets your reader easily know who is doing the ...

When writing learning outcomes it is important to get the language right. Start with 'at the end of the session/course/programme a successful student will be able to...' then choose an action verb ...