Active vs Passive voice

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3-6

Welcome back 4A

     Welcome back!

Lesson goal

At the end of this lesson you will be able to use the passive correctly

Active/passive voice

My mother cleaned my room. 

My room was cleaned (by my mother).

When do we use the passive?

The passive is used when the focus is on the action.

It is not known or not important who or what does the action.

How do you form the passive?

We mostly use a form of to be + past participle 

Active to passive:  the object (LV) becomes the subject (OW).

Active: John repaired my car last week.

Passive: My car was repaired last week (by John).

Wat is belangrijker bij de passive?

1. het onderwerp
2. het lijdend voorwerp

The cat bites the man.

The man is bitten (by the cat)

What is the subject in this sentence?

The lion bit the man.

(Onderwerp)

The lion bit the man.

What is the object in this sentence?

(Lijdend voorwerp)

The lion bit the man.

Voltooid deelwoord:

Regelmatige ww --> ww+ed

onregelmatige ww --> 3e rijtje

Active to passive (step by step)

1. Find the direct object in the active sentence.

John bought many houses.

2. Put DO at beginning of new sentence

Many houses ...

3. Find the verbs 

John bought many houses.

4. Determine the tense of the verb phrase from the active sentence.

bought = past simple

5. Convert according to the tenses of the passive

bought --> was/were bought

6. Rewrite the sentence.

Many houses were bought (by John).

Passive exercises

Decide whether the sentence is active or passive.

The Government is planning a new road near my house.

1. passive
2. active

They often listen to music

1. passive
2. active

These cars are produced in Japan.

1. passive
2. active

She is reading the newspaper now.

1. passive
2. active

This room has been painted blue.

1. passive
2. active

Kies de juiste Passive:
Active: The teacher explained the passive

1. The passive was explained by the teacher
2. The passive is explained by the teacher
3. The teacher is being explained the passive
4. The passive is explaining the teacher

Make the sentence passive:
The teacher explains the words today.

Make the sentence passive:
Anna opened the window.

Make the sentence passive:
We did our homework.

Do you think that this lesson was enough for you to understand the passive

1. yes, I got it.
2. no, I still do not understand anything.
3. I need to practice some more
4. I did not pay any attention today.

Let's get to work!

Work on exercises from the handout! 

www.englisch-hilfen.de

More exercises

If you feel that you still need to practice more, go and do the online exercises after this slide.

learnenglish.britishcouncil.org

a4esl.org