Active and Passive Voice

What Are Active and Passive Voice?
Can you write definitions for ‘active’ and ‘passive’ voice?
Active Voice
In an active sentence, the subject performs the action (the verb) to the object.
Passive Voice
In a passive sentence, the thing that would normally be the object gets turned
into the subject through the use of the passive form of the verb. They often
include a prepositional phrase starting with ‘by’.
Do you and your partner agree?

Identifying Parts of the Sentence
To be able to recognise and use active and passive voice, you must be able to
identify the parts of the sentence. In the following sentences, identify the subject,
action (the verb) and object:
The plane
plane is
is boarded
boardedby
bythe
thefamily.
family.
The damage
damage was
wascaused
causedby
bythe
thestorm.
storm.
Issac threw
Issac threwaaball
ballatatthe
thewindow.
window.
The magician
magician pulled
pulledaarabbit
rabbitfrom
fromthe
thehat.
hat.
Helen practised
Helen practisedher
herrecorder
recorderevery day.
every day.
The flowers
flowers were
weregrown
grownby
bymy
mynan.
nan.
Did you notice the preposition ‘by’ in some of these sentences?

Active or Passive Voice?
Now, sort these sentences into the correct places in the table below:
The plane is boarded by the family. The magician pulled a rabbit from the hat.
Issac threw a ball at the window. Helen practised her recorder every day.
The flowers were grown by my nan. The damage was caused by the storm.
Active The magician pulled a rabbit from the hat.

Issac threw a ball at the window.
Helen practised her recorder every day.
Passive The plane is boarded by the family.

The damage was caused by the storm.
The flowers were grown by my nan.
Your Turn – Active Sentences
Choose a square to reveal a picture. Write an active sentence about the picture:
? ? ? ?
? ? ? ?
? ?
Changing Sentences
It is possible to change a sentence from active to passive voice, or from passive to
active voice. It is important that you do not change the tense of the sentence. Have
a go at altering these sentences:
On the plain, the lioness chased an antelope.

On the plain, an antelope was chased by the lioness.
Harry ate sandwiches for lunch.

Sandwiches were eaten by Harry for lunch.
The carrots are always eaten by my brother.

My brother always eats the carrots.
Are your new sentences active or passive?

Tricky Passive Sentences
Read these passive sentences. What do you notice about them?
jewellery was
The jewellery was stolen.
stolen.
The bicycle was ridden.

ridden.
The
The present opened.
present was opened.
They all have a subject and an action but none of them have an object.
Sometimes the prepositional (by…) phrase can be removed and the sentence
will still make sense – you just won’t know who/what performed the verb.
Your Turn – Passive Sentences
Choose a square to reveal a picture. Write a passive sentence about the picture:
? ? ? ?
? ? ? ?
? ?
Active Voice
Can you write descriptions of these photos in the active voice?
The children enjoyed climbing They spent the day kayaking down
during their school camp. the river.
Passive Voice
Can you write descriptions of these photos in the passive voice?
Tasty cupcakes were baked by my The water balloons were blown up by

aunt for my birthday party. my brother for the water fight.
Quick Quiz 1
Which sentence is written in the passive voice?
Keira played for the netball team.
The tasty
tastymeal
mealwas
wascooked
cookedbybymy
mymum.
mum.
My little brother always wakes up early.
I am lucky to be going on holiday to France with

my best friend’s family.
Quick Quiz 2
Underline the objects in these active sentences:
I climbed the tallest

tallest tree
tree in
in the
the park
park yesterday.
yesterday.
The class boarded the coach

coach noisily
noisily to
to go
go on
on their
their trip
trip to
to London.
London.
We eat our lunch

lunch on
on the
the field
field in
in the
the summer.
summer.
Quick Quiz 3
Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice:
Gina visited the library regularly.

The library was visited by Gina regularly.
My family always eat turkey for Christmas dinner.

Turkey is always eaten by my family for Christmas dinner.
The lazy girl ignored her alarm clock.

The alarm clock was ignored by the lazy girl.

Active and Passive Voice

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Active and Passive Voice

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What Are Active and Passive Voice?

Can you write definitions for ‘active’ and ‘passive’ voice?

Do you and your partner agree?

Did you notice the preposition ‘by’ in some of these sentences?

Active The magician pulled a rabbit from the hat.

Passive The plane is boarded by the family.

On the plain, the lioness chased an antelope.

Harry ate sandwiches for lunch.

The carrots are always eaten by my brother.

Are your new sentences active or passive?

The bicycle was ridden.

Tasty cupcakes were baked by my The water balloons were blown up by

Keira played for the netball team.

My little brother always wakes up early.

I am lucky to be going on holiday to France with

I climbed the tallest

The class boarded the coach

We eat our lunch

Gina visited the library regularly.

My family always eat turkey for Christmas dinner.

The lazy girl ignored her alarm clock.

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