Changing focus and reporting

A passive clause usually makes the receiver of an action its subject. Form it with the appropriate tense of be and a past participle. A by-phrase can identify the agent, but it is often omitted when the agent is unknown, obvious or unimportant. Changing active to passive should preserve the original tense and meaning. Not every verb has an object that can become a passive subject.

The passive is useful in notices, reports and descriptions of processes when the result or procedure matters more than the person acting. It should not hide responsibility when naming the agent would make the message clearer. First identify subject, verb and object in the active sentence, then choose singular or plural agreement for the new subject. Keep a process in a consistent time frame unless the meaning requires a change.

Apply this method when reading a short passage or preparing a practical response. The context determines the best choice: do not rely on one memorised signal word. In connected work, maintain the same meaning when changing a grammatical form.

වැඩි විස්තර අවශ්‍ය විට පමණක් මෙම කොටස කියවන්න.

Reported speech communicates another person's message without necessarily reproducing every original word. Pronouns, time expressions and place references change according to the reporting situation. With a past reporting verb, a tense often shifts back, but a statement which remains true does not always require that shift. Say normally introduces the reported content, while tell normally needs the person who received the message.

A reported question uses statement word order after ask, not the order of a direct question. Yes-or-no questions commonly begin with if or whether; other questions retain an appropriate question word. Commands and requests can use an object plus a to-infinitive. Keep the original message accurate and do not invent an intention that the speaker did not express. Reporting well is a meaning task as much as a grammar task.

Apply this method when reading a short passage or preparing a practical response. The context determines the best choice: do not rely on one memorised signal word. In connected work, maintain the same meaning when changing a grammatical form.

වැඩි විස්තර අවශ්‍ය විට පමණක් මෙම කොටස කියවන්න.

A relative clause adds information about a noun. Who normally refers to people, which to things, and whose to possession. That can introduce many defining clauses. A defining relative clause identifies the person or thing, while a non-defining clause adds extra information about an already identified noun and is set off with commas. Do not use that in a standard non-defining relative clause.

Combining sentences is useful only if the relationship stays clear. Put the relative clause close to the noun it describes, and avoid repeating the same subject or object inside the clause. In some defining clauses, an object relative pronoun can be omitted, but a subject relative pronoun cannot simply disappear. Read the combined sentence aloud: if several clauses interrupt the main idea, two shorter sentences may communicate more effectively.

Apply this method when reading a short passage or preparing a practical response. The context determines the best choice: do not rely on one memorised signal word. In connected work, maintain the same meaning when changing a grammatical form.

වැඩි විස්තර අවශ්‍ය විට පමණක් මෙම කොටස කියවන්න.