The Passive Voice
Year 7 Sentence Starters
Icons key:
For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation
Flash activity. These activities are not editable.
Extension activities
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Web addresses
Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page
Accompanying worksheet
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Contents
Recognizing the passive voice
Word order
When to use the passive voice
Writing in the passive voice
Summary activities
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The Passive Voice – Recognizing the
passive voice
Recognizing the passive
voice
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A writer’s voice
Do you know the difference between
the active and the passive voice Lei?
No, I’m not sure. But I bet
you don’t know either Max!
Well you’re clearly not a
passive person Lei! Why don’t
we actively learn them together
instead of arguing…
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The passive voice
Here are some sentences in the passive voice:
The sulphuric acid was poured into a beaker.
The thief was seen by several witnesses.
The cherry was placed on top of the cake.
The Reverend Green was killed in the library,
a gun by Miss Plum.
with
Discuss why they are different to active
(normal) sentences.
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Recognizing the passive voice
Click to see the active voice versions – what is different?
The sulphuric acid was poured into a beaker.
I poured the sulphuric acid into a beaker.
The thief was seen by several witnesses.
Several witnesses saw the thief.
The Reverend Green was killed in the library with a gun
by Miss Plum.
Miss Plum killed the Reverend Green in the library with a
gun.
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The Passive Voice – Word order
Word order
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The object
The trick to the active and passive voices
is where the object lies in the sentence…
In the active voice we write:
1. Subject 2. Verb 3. Object.
For example: Romeo proposed to Juliet.
In the passive voice the object is moved to the beginning:
1. Object 2. Verb 3. Subject.
For example: Juliet was proposed to by Romeo.
Or, the subject can be left out entirely in the passive voice:
For example: Juliet was proposed to.
What effect is created when the object is moved?
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Identifying the different voices
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The Passive Voice – When to use the
passive voice
When to use the passive
voice
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The purpose of the passive voice
So we use the passive voice when…
what happened is more important than who did it:
The sulphuric acid was poured into a beaker.
The action is vital, not who did it, so the subject is missing.
the writer wants to create some suspense:
The Reverend Green was killed in the library with a gun
by Miss Plum.
Readers want to know the name of the murderer, but
using the passive voice makes them wait longer…
Can you think of any other examples of when
it is useful to write in the passive voice?
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Knowing when to use each voice
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The Passive Voice – Writing in the passive
voice
Writing in the passive
voice
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Writing in the passive voice
Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice:
I broke the window.
The window was broken.
A man discovered stolen jewels whilst out walking his dog.
The stolen jewels were discovered by a man out walking
his dog.
Ivor Brush painted the winning picture.
The winning picture was painted by Ivor Brush.
The police recovered the stolen car.
The stolen car was recovered by the police.
Were your answers similar to these?
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Completing sentences activity
Use these prompts to write some
sentences in the passive voice:
……..man…………………hunted……………police.
Dave’s car…………stolen…………joy riders.
The World Cup………won………………Italy.
The entire pizza………….eaten…………that night.
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Answers
Are these answers similar to yours?
A man was being hunted by the police.
Dave’s car was stolen by some joyriders.
The World Cup was won by Italy.
The entire pizza was eaten that night.
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The Passive Voice – Summary activities
Summary activities
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Test your knowledge
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Changing the voice activity
To write up a science experiment, it is best to use the
passive voice, but Lei has written hers in the active voice.
Can you rewrite her report using the passive voice?
Purifying rock salts
I ground the rock salt.
I mixed it with water.
Then I stirred it.
I took a filter, folded it and put it in the funnel.
Next I filtered the solution.
Then I heated it.
Finally, I left it to evaporate.
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Summary
So to sum it up, the passive voice…
places the object at the start of the sentence
often misses out the subject
can be used when what has happened is more
important than the subject
used for creating suspense or mystery
is often used when writing up factual reports e.g.
science, news, police, legal, etc.
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