I’ve been meaning to send you over to this grammar quiz from James Harbeck. But first let me remind you to avoid listening to any “expert” who focuses on limiting your stylistic choices by telling you to “avoid passives.” Here are the items you must judge as passive — or not.

1. An accidental discharge of the firearm occurred.
2. Palestinian boy, 10, dies as Israeli troops fire on demonstration.
3. Boy killed in West Bank protest.
4. It’s fashionable to make the most expressive wine possible.
5. There should not have been any physical contact in this incident.
6. In this final dance move, a snap unfastened and part of the bodice tore.
7. The biggest regret of all the presidency has to have been the intelligence failure in Iraq.
8. Did you let him go all the way with you?
9. Many a tame sentence of description or exposition can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice.

You’ll have to visit the quiz published by The Week to get Harbeck’s answers. They’re accurate and entertaining. What more could a word nerd want for some Friday fun? (If you like Harbeck’s style, check out Sesquiotica for more.)