Here’s a sentence I found on Grammarly (a platform where you can improve your language skills). I like it!
He is totally beguiling, and I’m bewitched.
But Grammarly says it’s a bad sentence: you’re supposed to avoid passive voice. I’m bewitched is passive because the sentence doesn’t tell you who did the bewitching.
Here’s Grammarly’s version:
He is totally beguiling, and he has bewitched me.
My reaction is…pfffft. I’ll agree that it’s a good sentence. But so was the original! “I’m bewitched” is strong. I can feel the witchcraft!
Sometimes grammar doesn’t matter. The sentence feels alive – and isn’t that what we want from our writing?
My oft-repeated advice still stands: be wary when someone throws a rule at you. Rules are only guidelines.
You have a lifetime of language experience. (So does everyone else!) You know – instantly – whether a sentence works or not. Trust yourself!