Look Good in Print
02A: SYNTAX AND WORD CHOICE
2. Use Strong Subjects
In sentences, subjects are doing the work; they are doing or being something. Every sentence you write should have a strong subject. In other words, state clearly who or what is doing the action.
Sounds simple, right? You’d be surprised at how easily weak subjects infiltrate our writing. The culprit is often one of two bad habits: starting your clause with "there" or "it," or starting with a verb that you’ve turned into a noun (a practice known as "nominalization").
This video shows how to notice and avoid using "there" and "it" as subjects.
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"There" and "it" are not always off limits as subjects. Your writing will be stronger, however, if you try to rewrite a sentence to give it a stronger subject. Consider the following examples:
WEAK: There are many ways a business can go bankrupt.
STRONG: A business can go bankrupt in many ways.
EVEN STRONGER: For a business, many roads can lead to bankruptcy.
Nominalizations can suck the life out of a verb and turn it into a bland, bureaucratic noun. This next video shows why and how to avoid using nominalizations as subjects:
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