1. Active Versus Passive Verbs
Painting with Action Verbs
Concepts from Image Grammar, Second
Edition: Teaching Grammar as Part of the
Writing Process by Harry Noden

2. and visualize this sentence:
The storm clouds were above the
ancient barn.
Now visualize the following sentence:
The storm clouds raced above the
ancient barn.
Can you see the difference?
Can you see the difference?
Can you see the difference?
Can you see the difference?

3. The verb were creates
a still photograph: The
storm clouds were
above the ancient barn.

4. QuickTime™ and a
DV/DVCPRO - NTSC decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
The verb raced
creates a motion
picture: The storm
clouds raced above
the ancient barn.

5. The most common being verbs include is, was, were, are, and am.
Almost all other verbs are active verbs.
•. Almost all other verbs are active verbs.
•. Almost all other verbs are active verbs.
•. Almost all other verbs are active verbs.
•. Almost all other verbs are active verbs.

6. Visualize the difference in the motion
picture of your imagination as you
compare these two drafts, both
written by Shawn Jividen.The first is
from a rough draft of her novel Goose
Moon.The second is her final revision
after eliminating being verbs.

7. Canada geese could be heard
across the water bugling like
tuneless trumpets. Near the
shore, two children were
hidden behind a massive maple
tree.Watching quietly, they
hoped to see the first gosling
begin to hatch.Tiny giggles
escaped their whispers of
excitement.

8. FINAL DRAFT
Rockwell Lake echoed with the sounds of Canada geese.Their honking
bugled across the water like tuneless trumpets.Two children hid behind
a massive maple tree.They silently watched, hoping to see the first
gosling hatch.Tiny giggles escaped their whispers of excitement.
Rockwell Lake echoed with the sounds of Canada geese.Their honking
bugled across the water like tuneless trumpets.Two children hid behind

9. Amateur writers often
construct sentences in
which being verbs highlight
vague noun complements.
For example, in a sentence
such as “The meal was
wonderful,” the being verb
spotlights wonderful, an
adjective that tells instead
of shows, that labels instead
of paints.

10. However, there are times when the writer as a
cinematographer uses being verbs to create the
effect of a freeze frame, a still shot—usually of a
character or a setting.With this technique, the
images following being verbs are highlighted in the
reader’s mind and held for a longer time than
passages with action verbs. For example, notice
how in To Kill a Mockingbird Harper Lee uses the
being verb was to create slow-motion images of
Calpurnia, images that compel the reader to
examine selected details:

11. “Calpurnia was something else
again. She was all angles and
bones; she was near-sighted; she
squinted; her hand was wide as
a bed slat and twice as hard. She
was always ordering me out of
the kitchen, asking me why I
couldn’t behave as well as Jem
when she knew he was older,
and calling me home when I
wasn’t ready to come.” (Lee 19)

12. The trick is to
distinguish
between being
verbs that create
an effective freeze
frame and those
that simply slow
the pace.
Scrutinize every to
be construction.