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My high school banned freshman and sophomores from using to-be verbs in their English essays for a lot of the reasons discussed in the article. I soon learned
by Darmani 18y ago
My high school banned freshman and sophomores from using to-be verbs in their English essays for a lot of the reasons discussed in the article.
I soon learned to get around that without thinking hard. Instead of saying "Macbeth is malicious," I'd say "Macbeth has/holds a degree of malice," which just makes my essays more cumbersome to read. And thus, the intention fell flat on me.
When I became a junior and was allowed to use to-be verbs again, I felt as if a great weight had been lifted from .
- pg 18y agoOne of my HS English teachers did too. It at least made me notice such sentences, which were often insipid.
- nostrademons 18y agoI don't think it works all that well in nonfiction. Too much nonfiction writing expresses equivalences between abstract concepts. Abstract concepts have trouble performing actions, because, well, they don't exist. Fiction benefits greatly, though. Compare these paragraphs: "Macbeth is malicious. He is staring straight at you. You are getting scared. You start walking away. Your footsteps are the only thing you can hear." "Macbeth fixes you with a beady-eyed stare. Dark flickers of malice creep across his pupils, and the intensity of his gaze makes you take an involuntary step backwards. A shiver of fear runs down your back, skin crawling. You start tiptoeing backwards across the room, eager to put more distance between you and him, yet too scared to make a sudden move. Your tiny footfalls echo across the great hall, providing the only relief to the oppressive silence." Yes, the second one uses more words, and yes, it describes more. That's the point. By eliminating "is", it forces you to think more carefully about what you want to say. P.S. +1 for writing your comment in E-prime. ;-)
- ShardPhoenix 18y agoI honestly don't think that that second Macbeth paragraph is necessarily better than the first one. There's something to be said for succinctness/directness.
- kirse 18y agonecessarily better It all depends on the audience. The first sentence is "better" for passing an exam the next day, but hardly enjoyable if one is to immerse themselves in a work of fiction.
- nostrademons 18y agoThe second sentence has a lot that could be cleaned up about it - it is overly wordy, a bit pretentious, and may not describe the right details. But if I saw the first paragraph in a published novel I was reading, I'd be very disappointed. It doesn't immerse you in the story at all.
- silentbicycle 18y agoAbstract concepts have trouble performing actions, because, well, they don't exist. Exactly. But how many people have died because somebody truly believed their abstract concept literally existed? http://www.nobeliefs.com/eprime.htm http://www.nobeliefs.com/eprime.htm
- Jebdm 18y ago"When I became a junior and was allowed" This bit isn't E-prime.
- jaaron 18y agoMy high school senior year English instructor required the same of all her students. No "to be" words in any assignments. I have to say, the lesson did improve my writing.