8c. Subject that names the actor

8cAs a rule, choose a subject that names the person or thing doing the action.

In weak, unemphatic prose, both the actor and the action may be buried in sentence elements other than the subject and the verb. In the following weak sentence, for example, both the actor and the action appear in prepositional phrases, word groups that do not receive much attention from readers.

weak The institution of the New Deal had the effect of reversing some of the economic inequalities of the Great Depression.
emphatic The New Deal reversed some of the economic inequalities of the Great Depression.

Consider the subjects and verbs of the two versions—institution had versus New Deal reversed. The latter expresses the writer’s point more emphatically.

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In the original sentence, the subject and verb—use can cause—express the point blandly. Oxygen can heal makes the point more emphatically and directly.

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