por The objective text and the subjective text obey different communicative functions and can be recognized by the use of certain linguistic features. An objective text is one intended to inform about a certain fact without showing the opinions of the author.
A subjective text will be the one that expresses opinions, feelings or ideas of the person who writes. Examples of objective text can be seen in scientific texts or news, and subjective text in literary narratives, advertisements or in common and colloquial language.
According to what the author wants to transmit, he will use one way or another, so that the communicative function is effective. It is necessary to know the context to know when to use objectivity or subjectivity.
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Target text features
An objective text is one that is free of emotions, in which the author speaks in a neutral way, without intervening with appreciations.
It provides measurable, quantifiable and verifiable data.
Use of the 3rd person
The style of an objective text is impersonal, which is why it uses the 3rd person more. The use of the 1st person plural is also common, in sentences such as «Let’s see carefully what are the steps to solve quadratic equations.»
Use of the indicative and the timeless present
The indicative mode is the one that expresses an action and reflects an objective attitude on the part of the issuer. In other words, it is the way things are explained. The timeless present expresses the reality outside the passage of time.
In other words, a phrase in the timeless present and in the indicative can be: “when the magma cools, igneous rocks are formed. These are of two types: plutonic or volcanic. Thus, an objective text expresses reality away from emotions or opinions, since what is said is a verifiable fact.
Use of specific and non-evaluative adjectives
In the objective text, the specific adjectives abound, since the noun is differentiated through them. This is the case of «igneous rocks», where igneous it alludes to a certain feature of the rocks and helps to clarify the concept of magma.
Another example would be «ribonucleic acid.» This type of adjectives cannot be deleted, since part of the concept would be eliminated.
specialized lexicon
The objective text is characterized by using specific or technical words. That is, each scientific discipline will use characteristic terms. In mathematics, biology, physics, etc., it is relevant to use the appropriate words, referring to their own field.
Tone
The tone used is expository, with short paragraphs, short and clear sentences and few subordinations. Reflections or opinions are avoided.
Target Text Examples
Example 1: binomial theorem (mathematics)
“The binomial theorem is a formula that provides the development of the power no-th (being no positive integer) of a binomial. According to the theorem, it is possible to expand the power (x + y)n into a sum involving terms of the form axbyc, where the exponents b and c…”.
Example 2: semiology (linguistics)
“Semiology or semiotics is the science derived from the philosophy that deals with communication systems within human societies, studies the general properties of sign systems as a basis for understanding all human activity. Distinguish between denotation and connotation, between the paradigmatic and the syntagmatic.
Characteristics of the subjective text
In a subjective text, the author is always present, his opinions, feelings, and appreciations of the world are abundant, and they tell the reader what is happening inside the writer.
Use of exclamatory, doubtful, exhortative or wishful sentences
It is common for the sender or writer to use exclamations, «How long has it been since she left!», «Oh me!», as a way of highlighting emotions.
Likewise, the doubtful sentences (that express doubt or probability), exhortative (that express orders) and desiderative (those that express desire) are common to indicate affectivity.
Use of the 1st person
Since the communicative function is to transmit what the sender feels or thinks, it will always allude to itself: I write, I work.
Use of opinion or feeling verbs
It is common for someone who writes a subjective text to say: I think, I believe, I think, I feel, as a way of making it clear that it is he, and not someone else, who makes certain assertions.
evaluative adjectives
Evaluative adjectives are those that give reality a value: “an annoying and eternal summer”, “the situation was unsustainable, but it acted correctly”, “a scary street”.
Use of different expressive resources
The author of a subjective text uses irony, metaphor, rhetorical questions or repetitions to convey what he wants to express, which is his way of seeing things and feeling them.
Use of all verb moods
As seen, the objective text makes use only of the indicative mood, which is that of objective reality. On the contrary, the subjective text also uses the subjunctive and imperative mood, in addition to the indicative.
Lexicon
The vocabulary used may have regional twists typical of where the issuer lives, colloquial words and expressions, with long and subordinate clauses (although the latter will depend on the style of each writer).
Examples of subjective texts
Example 1: Cassandra, by Christa Wolf (novel)
“With my story I go towards death.
Here I end up, helpless, and nothing, nothing that I could have done or not done, wanted or thought, would have led me to another goal. Deeper even than my fear, the indifference of the celestials towards us earthly ones soaks me, corrodes and poisons me.
Example 2: «Marsé and the spirit of the novel», Antonio Muñoz Molina (opinion column)
«Juan Marsé encouraged the spirit of the novel with a purity and integrity that are only reserved for the greatest names in the trade, or those instinctive storytellers who spell when they tell and will never write a word.»
References
Reyes, A., Morett, S. (2015). Subjective and objective texts: a study on recognition of subjectivity in corpus. Mexico. Higher Institute of Interpreters and Translators, Laboratory of Linguistic Technologies. Taken from pdfs.semanticscholar.org.
Objectivity and Subjectivity (2020). Classroom project. Taken from lenguayliteratura.org.
Objective and subjective text (2020). Taken from letrasenlared.com.
Posada, J. (2006). Subjectivity in the social sciences, an ontological and not an epistemological question. No. 25. Taken from auroradechile.uchile.cl.
Dictionary of the Spanish Language (2020). Objective, a. Taken from dle.rae.es.
Dictionary of the Spanish Language (2020). subjective, a. Taken from del.rae.es.