Mastering the Passive Voice in English

Mastering the Passive Voice in English

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson you will be able to identify and use the passive voice in English sentences, indicating the appropriate tense and transforming active sentences into passive constructions.

What do you already know about the passive voice in English?

Understanding the Passive Voice

The passive voice is used to emphasize the action or the recipient of the action in a sentence. It is formed by using the appropriate form of 'to be' plus the past participle of the main verb.

Identifying the Tense

When transforming a sentence into the passive voice, it's crucial to determine the appropriate tense based on the main verb in the active sentence.

Active to Passive Conversion

To convert an active sentence to the passive voice, start by identifying the object of the action as the subject, followed by the appropriate form of 'to be' and the past participle of the main verb.

Practice: Transforming Sentences

Now, let's practice transforming active sentences into the passive voice. Remember to identify the tense of the main verb and follow the structure of the passive voice.

Recognizing Passive Voice Cues

In sentences, cues such as 'by' or the absence of a clear subject can indicate the use of the passive voice. Pay attention to these cues when identifying passive constructions.

Identifying Objects and Subjects

When constructing the passive voice, identifying the object and subject of the action in the original active sentence is crucial. This helps in creating a grammatically correct passive construction.

Exercise: Recognizing and Creating Passive Sentences

In this exercise, you will be given a set of sentences. Your task is to recognize the passive voice cues and transform active sentences into the passive voice.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.