The same event can be told two ways. In the active voice the subject does the action: “The dog chased the cat.” In the passive voice the subject receives it: “The cat was chased by the dog.” Good writers choose the one that puts the spotlight where they want it.
What your child will learn
- Tell whether a sentence is active or passive
- Find who or what is doing the action
- Change an active sentence into a passive one, and back
- Know when the passive is useful
Spotting the passive
A passive sentence usually has a form of “to be” (is, was, were, has been) followed by a verb such as chased, eaten or built. Often there is a “by…” phrase telling you who did it — but not always: “The window was broken.”
Why use it?
The passive is handy when we don’t know who did something, when it doesn’t matter, or when the thing it happened to is more important: “The bridge was built in 1890.” Most of the time, though, the active voice is clearer and livelier.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Which sentence is in the active voice?
- The cat was chased by the dog.
- The dog chased the cat.
- The cat has been chased by the dog.
- The cat was chased.
Show answer
Answer: The dog chased the cat.. The subject (the dog) does the chasing.
2. Which sentence is in the passive voice?
- The postman is early.
- I posted three letters.
- The postman delivered the letters.
- The letters were delivered this morning.
Show answer
Answer: The letters were delivered this morning.. The letters had the action done to them.
3. In the passive voice, the subject…
- is left out
- does the action
- receives the action
- is always an animal
Show answer
Answer: receives the action. Passive: the action is done to the subject.
Tips for grown-ups
- Add “by zombies” after the verb: if it still makes sense, the sentence is passive.
- Find passive sentences in news reports and science write-ups.
- Take turns flipping sentences between the two voices.