What Is Active Voice And What Is Passive Voice?
If you're new to teaching this part of the English Language Arts curriculum or it's been a few years, consider this a quick refresher before you dive into lesson planning! When something is written (or spoken) using active voice, the subject of the sentence is performing the action. For example, "The boy rode the bike." is a sentence that uses active voice When something is written (or spoken) using passive voice, on the other hand, the verb acts upon the object of the sentence. For example, "The bike was ridden by the boy" is a sentence that uses passive voice. Spotting passive voice is easier when students understand the forms of "to be," as most passive voice sentences will have some form of this phrase such as:- Has been
- Have been
- Is
- Are
- Were
How to Change Passive Voice to Active Voice
Working with your students to help them get in the habit of writing in active voice? Something to remind them is that a sentence written using active voice will follow a specific structure:- subject, verb, and object
- Object + form of to be + past participle + by + subject
When Is Passive Voice OK?
It's important for students to understand the value of active voice in clear, concise writing. But here's a tip from the ELA teachers on the Teach Starter team: Don't forget to share the times when passive voice is appropriate!- When the subject of the sentence is unknown.
- The actor is not as important as the action itself.
- The object is the main topic of the sentence.