Year 10 · English · Language
Grammar for effect
Use and analyse deliberate grammatical choices – passive voice, nominalisation, sentence fragments and sentence length – to control emphasis, formality and pace.
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Learning goals
Learners will
- Explain how passive voice and nominalisation shift emphasis and formality.
- Analyse how sentence fragments and varied sentence length create pace and emphasis.
- Make deliberate grammatical choices in your own writing.
Success looks like
- I can convert a sentence between active and passive voice and explain the change in emphasis.
- I can turn a verb or adjective into a noun (nominalise) to make writing more formal.
- I can explain why a writer might use a deliberate sentence fragment.
The big idea
Grammar is not just about being 'correct'; it is a toolkit for controlling what readers notice. Skilled writers make grammatical choices on purpose.
Active voice puts the doer first: 'The company dumped waste in the river.' Passive voice puts the receiver first: 'Waste was dumped in the river.' Notice that the passive version can leave out the agent entirely – no-one is blamed. This is why passive voice appears in official statements and why critical readers watch for it.
Passive voice is not always evasive. In scientific reports ('The solution was heated to 60 °C') it keeps the focus on the process rather than the person, which suits the purpose.
Nominalisation turns actions and qualities into things: 'We decided to close the track because it was dangerous' becomes 'The decision to close the track followed concerns about danger.' Nominalised writing sounds more formal, objective and compact, so it is common in essays and reports. Overused, it can become vague and heavy.
Sentence length controls pace. Long, flowing sentences with several clauses can build description or tension; a short sentence after them lands with force. A deliberate fragment – 'Silence. Then footsteps.' – can isolate an idea and make readers pause.
When analysing, name the choice and explain its effect: 'The passive construction "mistakes were made" obscures who is responsible, distancing the speaker from blame.'
Worked examples
Active to passive – and why it matters
Rewrite in the passive voice without the agent, then explain the effect: 'The council cut funding to the youth centre.'
- Identify subject (the council), verb (cut) and object (funding).
- Move the object to the front and use 'was/were' + past participle: 'Funding to the youth centre was cut.'
- Leave out 'by the council'.
- Explain: the responsible party disappears, so readers focus on the event rather than who caused it.
Answer: 'Funding to the youth centre was cut.' The agentless passive hides the council's role, softening criticism of the decision.
Nominalising for formality
Make this more formal using nominalisation: 'Because the population grew quickly, the town needed more schools.'
- Find verbs and adjectives to convert: 'grew quickly' to 'rapid growth'; 'needed' to 'need' or 'demand'.
- Rebuild the sentence around the nouns.
- Check that the meaning has not changed.
Answer: Rapid population growth created demand for additional schools.
Analysing a fragment
Original passage: 'We had searched the bush for hours, calling his name until our voices cracked and the light began to fade behind the ridge. Nothing.' Explain the effect of 'Nothing.'
- Notice the contrast: a long, multi-clause sentence followed by a one-word fragment.
- The long sentence builds effort, time and hope.
- The fragment stops the rhythm abruptly.
- Effect: it mirrors the empty result and creates a sense of despair.
Answer: The one-word fragment 'Nothing.' abruptly halts the long, searching sentence, mirroring the empty result of the search and leaving the reader with a sudden sense of despair.
Practice check
Have a go, then check your answers. Each answer comes with an explanation.
Answer guide for parents
Which sentence is in the passive voice?
Two hundred trees were planted. — The subject (trees) receives the action, and the agent is omitted.
Why might a company statement say 'Errors were made in the billing system'?
To avoid naming who was responsible — The agentless passive removes the person or team responsible.
Which is the nominalised form of 'investigate'?
Investigation — 'Investigation' is the noun form.
What is the most likely effect of a very short sentence after several long ones?
It creates emphasis and impact. — The contrast in length makes the short sentence stand out.
In which type of writing is the passive voice often appropriate and not evasive?
A scientific method — Science reports focus on the process rather than who performed it.
What is the term for turning a verb or adjective into a noun? (one word)
Nominalisation — Nominalisation makes writing more formal and compact.
In grammar, what is the 'doer' of an action called? (one word)
Agent — The agent performs the action; the passive voice can omit it.
'The dog bit the postie.' Is this active or passive voice? (one word)
Active — The subject (the dog) performs the action.
Watch out for
- Believing the passive voice is always wrong. It is a tool; its effect depends on purpose and context.
- Thinking any sentence with 'was' is passive. 'She was happy' is not passive; passive needs a form of 'be' plus a past participle of an action verb.
- Assuming more nominalisation always means better writing. Too much makes writing abstract and hard to read.
Tips for parents
- Listen for agentless passive voice in news bulletins or official announcements and discuss who is being left out.
- Ask your learner to read their writing aloud and notice whether every sentence is the same length.
- Encourage experimentation: a deliberate fragment is a choice, an accidental one is an error – ask them to justify each.
Go further
- Rewrite a short news report entirely in the agentless passive, then compare it with the original and discuss the effect.
- Write a 150-word suspense scene that builds with long sentences and climaxes with a fragment.
- Take a casual paragraph you have written and produce a formal version using at least four nominalisations.