"Mistakes were made in the delivery schedule." The sentence fails:

Answer

Plain language — the passive hides who acted

Options - A. Courtesy — it is too blunt for a client memo - B. Plain language — the passive hides who acted - C. Coherence — it does not connect to the next sentence - D. Nothing — it is a correct, complete sentence Why - A. It is not blunt; it is evasive. Courtesy is not the issue — responsibility is. - B. Correct — the passive voice removes the actor. The reader cannot tell who made the mistakes or fix anything; a marker reads the construction as evasion. - C. Coherence is about relations between sentences. This one fails on its own. - D. Grammatically correct and professionally hollow. Plain language asks for the actor first.

Olds ch 5, ch 13; Smith 4.3.4, 4.5.2; concept map I06–I08