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Restaurant" Using "Whose" As Subordinating Conjunction. Obama Uses This Clause To

The document discusses the use of active and passive voice. It notes that active voice uses the subject-verb-object structure, while passive voice uses a form of "to be" plus the past participle. The document then analyzes President Obama's inaugural speech, finding he used passive voice for several reasons: to emphasize the receiver of the action, to make general statements, when the doer is obvious from context, and to be tactful or evasive. In conclusion, Obama used a wide range of grammar, including different tenses and voices, as techniques for delivering messages and influencing the public in a political speech.

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78 views2 pages

Restaurant" Using "Whose" As Subordinating Conjunction. Obama Uses This Clause To

The document discusses the use of active and passive voice. It notes that active voice uses the subject-verb-object structure, while passive voice uses a form of "to be" plus the past participle. The document then analyzes President Obama's inaugural speech, finding he used passive voice for several reasons: to emphasize the receiver of the action, to make general statements, when the doer is obvious from context, and to be tactful or evasive. In conclusion, Obama used a wide range of grammar, including different tenses and voices, as techniques for delivering messages and influencing the public in a political speech.

Uploaded by

Victor Chan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Now, lets move on to voice.

The voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action expressed by the
verb and the participants.
Voice can be divided into active voice and passive voice.

A sentence generally begins with the doer of the action, then the verb, then the
receiver. This is called an active sentence. In a passive sentence, the receiver
becomes the subject of the sentence and the agent is often omitted. A passive
sentence can be simply formed by subject plus finite form of to be plus past
participle.

In President Obamas speech, we can notice the widely use of passive voice for
different reasons. The first reason of using passive voice in the speech is to
emphasize the receiver. For example, in The words have been spoken during rising
tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. The speaker wants to emphasize the
word. In the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. The speaker
wants to emphasize the oath. In fact, these two sentences can be changed to active
form - Forty-four Americans speak the words and Forty-four Americans take the oath.
Since the agent forty-four Americans has been mentioned in the first sentence,
the speaker wants to use passive voice to focus on the receiver in the next two
sentences.

The second reason is to make general statement. In And those of us who manage
the public's dollars will be held to account, to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and
do our business in the light of day. President Obama makes promise to all Americans.
The use of passive voice makes the statement be more objective to impress the
public. In addition, in this sentence, there is an adjective clause who manage the
public's dollars with the subordinating conjunction - who.

The third reason is the agent is obvious from the context. In the sentence why a
man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local
restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath. The missing agent
should be waiters. It is obvious that waiters serve the customers in a restaurant.
Therefore, passive voice is used and the agent is omitted. There is also an adjective
clause whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served in a local
restaurant using whose as subordinating conjunction. Obama uses this clause to
give more information about him and emphasizes the significant change is his life
and his success.
The last reason is to be tactful or evasive. In the speech, Obama said that Our
economy is badly weakened. He uses passive voice and omits the doer as he doesnt
want to specify who should take the responsibility for the problem in consideration
of the stability of the country.

To conclude, the Inaugural Address by Obama contains wide range of grammar usage.
In the Inaugural Address, Obama used different tenses to reflect the past experience,
to state facts, and to make future agenda. He uses both active and passive voice in
his speech. The use of different tenses and voices is the technique of delivering
messages and influenting the public in a political speech .

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