Grammar and vocabulary, Year 9: register and voice

Contraction

HintThe same word describes a muscle tightening and getting shorter.

The whyContractions copy the way we speak, so they pull writing towards the informal end of the scale. Formal letters, reports and essays usually spell the words out in full.

Slang

HintEach generation invents its own, and parents rarely keep up.

The whyIt marks who belongs to a group, which is why it changes so fast: once outsiders pick up a word, the group moves on. It sits at the far informal end of the register scale and is avoided in formal writing.

B, C, A

HintLook for the one you would say to friends and the one fit for a printed invitation.

The whyAll three say the same thing. 'Cheers' and 'guys' are conversational; 'Thank you for coming' is neutral; 'most grateful' and the noun 'attendance' belong to ceremony. Register is a sliding scale, not a choice between two boxes.

out; for

HintEach missing word is a very short one that usually shows direction or position.

The whyThese are two of the national curriculum's own pairs; its third is 'go in' and 'enter'. English often has an everyday verb built with a small word, and a one-word partner of French origin that sounds more formal. Knowing the pairs lets you move a sentence up or down the scale.

was; chased; by

HintKeep the tense, use a form of 'be', and bring the doer back in at the end.

The whyThree things change: the thing acted on moves to the front as the subject, the verb becomes a form of 'be' plus the past participle, and the doer moves into a phrase beginning 'by'. The tense stays the same, so the past-tense verb gives 'was' plus the participle.

Who made the mistakes

HintTry to work out from the sentence whose fault it was.

The whyA passive lets the writer drop the doer altogether, because the phrase beginning 'by' is optional. That is useful when the doer is unknown or unimportant, and convenient when someone would rather not be named.

Passive

HintDecide which noun receives the action, then put it first.

The why'A painting was stolen from the gallery last night' puts the reader's attention on the painting and needs no thief. The active version would have to open with 'Someone' or 'A thief'. Voice is a choice about emphasis.

participle

HintThe same verb form follows 'has' in 'has eaten'.

The whyThe glossary to the national curriculum lists the past participle first among the signs of a passive. For many verbs it looks the same as the past tense ('chased'), but for others it differs: 'ate' is past tense, 'eaten' is the participle.

Nominalisation

HintThe term is built on the Latin word for 'name', the same root as 'noun'.

The whyIt packs an action into a thing, so that the thing can be discussed: 'the decision was unpopular'. Formal and academic writing leans on it heavily, which is one reason such writing feels dense.

arrival

HintDrop the final e and add a two-letter suffix.

The whyEnglish makes nouns from verbs with a handful of suffixes: -al (arrival), -ion (decision), -ment (agreement), -ance (performance). Some verbs become nouns with no change at all, such as 'a walk' or 'a reply'.

failure; rise

HintOne noun needs a suffix; the other is spelled like the present-tense verb.

The whyThe two events have become two things, and the link between them now sits in a single verb, 'caused'. That is why this kind of writing suits explanations in science, history and geography.

investigated

HintUse the past tense of the action hiding inside the long noun.

The whyFour words, 'carried out an investigation', shrink to one, and the sentence gains a verb that says what actually happened. Unpacking a nominalisation is the quickest cure for a sentence that feels heavy.

Too many actions have been turned into nouns

HintCount the words ending in '-tion' and look for anyone doing anything.

The whyThree nominalisations in a row hide who did what. Unpacked, it reads: 'They cut the budget, so the trip was cancelled.' The formal move helps when used once and clots when it is stacked.