This document provides instructions for teaching the passive voice to students through active engagement and examples. It recommends that teachers drop objects like pens on the floor and have students describe what happened in active and passive voice sentences. More examples are given of carrying out actions for students to practice forming sentences in the passive voice with different tenses and structures. Key aspects of passive voice like the use of auxiliary verbs and past participles are explained.

1. NORTEAST SCHOOL OF
ACRICULTURE
THIRD FOURT-MONTH
PRACTICE ENGLISH lll
BRAYAN MARROQUIN
GROUP PRACTICE # 5
ESTUDIENS

2. INTRODUCTION TO THE VOICE
 It may seem like a contradiction, but there’s nothing “passive” about
learning the passive voice.
 Students need to be as “active” as ever and fully engaged in their learning. But it is
the teacher who must engage them. How do you get students actively engaged
in learning something as tedious as the passive voice? With action, of
course! By showing them that there is plenty of action involved, but that the focus
is not on the actor, the one who is carrying out the action, but rather whoever or
whatever is acted upon.
 Here is one of the best ways to teach the passive voice:

3. RULES
Passive Voice: Active Approach
1.1
2.Carry out an action!
3.Stand in front of your class. Drop a pen on the floor. Ask your students
to tell you what has just happened and ask them to begin the sentence
with your name. Someone should be able to say: “Ms. Rodriguez dropped
a pen on the floor. ” Write this sentence on the board. Ask students to
identify the subject and the verb in this sentence; they should say the
subject is “Ms. Rodriguez ” and that the verb is “dropped”.
1.Repeat the action - Introduce the passive voice
2.Drop your pen on the floor one more time. Tell your students that you’ll
tell them what has just happened, but this time your sentence will begin
with, “The pen… ” Go to the board and write, “The pen was dropped on the
floor. ” Ask your students to identify the subject; they should say it is the
“pen”. Ask them to identify the verb; they should say it is “was dropped”.

4. 1.Compare the two sentences
2.Point to the first sentence and ask if the subject is doing the action. They should say it is.
Make sure they understand that subject is active, the one responsible for carrying out the
action.
3.Point to the second sentence and ask if the subject is doing the action. They should it
isn’t. Make sure they understand that the subject is passive, the one who is being acted
upon.
1.Compare what happens to the verbs. Ask students what tense they see in the first example. They
should recognize the past simple. Show students what happens in the second sentence: the auxiliary
verb “to be” is used in the past tense (“was”) with the past participle, in this case “dropped”.
2.4
3.Give an example with “were"
4.This time drop several pens at the same time. Ask students to tell you what has just happened. Tell
them to start the sentence with “The pens…” See if students figure out they should use “were” instead
of “was” this time.
5.5
6.Practice with more passive voice examples
7.Carry out more actions and encourage students to describe what has happened in the passive voice:
8.Teacher puts some books under a chair.
S: Books were put under a chair.

5. 1.Teacher closes a book.
S: A book was closed.
Teacher writes some words on the board.
S: Some words were written on the board.
2.Give enough examples to make students comfortable with the use of the past simple in the passive voice.
3.6
4.Practice passive voice with negative statements
5.Continue carrying out actions around the classroom, but this time challenge students to make negative
statements followed by affirmative statements:
6.Teacher drops some papers on the floor.
S: Pens weren’t dropped on the floor. Papers were dropped.
Teacher closes a door.
S: A window wasn't closed. A door was closed.
7.7
8.Practice questions in passive voice
9.Carry out actions and have students ask questions:
10.Teacher opens a window.
S: Was the dictionary opened? What was (just) opened?
11.8

6. 1.Place the passive voice in a real life context - Discussion
2.Ask students to brainstorm the types of things that the government does
for the population. The government repairs streets, cleans monuments,
builds schools and hospitals, etc...Make sure students see that sometimes
when we talk about actions, we’re not interested in the actor, either because
we know who it is (in this discussion we are clearly talking about the
government), or because we'd like to emphasize the results, in other words
what was accomplished. Discuss what things were done in the last year by
the local government. Encourage students to use the passive voice.
1.S: Streets were repaired. A new hospital was opened. The park benches were
painted. Trees were planted. Etc…
For all practical purposes, this article focuses on the past simple in passive voice.
Introduce the passive voice in other tenses; actions work very well with the
present perfect, too (“Some books have just been put away”) – and don’t forget
modals! For extended practice, be sure to go to our Passive Voice Section, where
you’ll find a variety of worksheets to suit your teaching needs.

7. BIOGRAPHY
http://busyteacher.org/4108-how-to-teach-the-passive-
voice-while-being-active.html

8. Subject Verb Object
The movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl.
Subject Verb Object
A lot of
people
saw the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl.
was seen
by a lot of
people.
EXAMPLES
Active Voice
A lot of people saw the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Agent = the person or thing that does or performs the action.
Who is doing the verb, the seeing? A lot of people
When the agent is in the subject position, we call this kind of sentence an active voice sentence.
Passive Voice

9. Where is the doer of the action (seeing)? It is in the object
position and is preceded by the preposition by.
When the agent is in the object position or if it is not
mentioned, then the sentence will be a passive voice
sentence.
Where are most American films made?
American films are made in Hollywood.
What is the subject?
Is American films the agent? The doer of the verb, make?
Is the agent mentioned?
If you wanted to put an agent, who would be the agent,
the maker of the films?
What is the time of the verb?
The winner's name will be announced.
What is the subject?
Is American films the agent? The doer of the verb, make?
Is the agent mentioned?
What is the time of the verb?

10. Is the passive voice a verb tense? NO
Voice is a perspective. Voice focuses the attention on the
agent or on the receiver of the action.
How do you form the passive voice?
1. Move the object of the sentence to the subject position.
2. Move the agent to object position of the sentence.
(Sometimes it is not necessary to mention the agent.)
(Put by in front of the agent.)
3. You need to use the same tense for the BE verb and
then you add the past participle. (The past participle is the
third form of the verb. For regular verbs you add -ed. For
irregular verbs, look at the back of your book, pages
AP32-AP34. The past participles of irregular verbs are
found in the third column.) You must memorize the third
form of the verbs.
4. The verb must match the same verb time, but there
must also be subject verb agreement.

11. Tense Active Voice Passive Voice
Simple Present
A committee chooses the
best actor.
The best actor is chosen by
a committee.
Present continuous
They are presenting an
award now.
An award is being
presented now.
Future
They will pick the best
movie.
They are going to pick the
best movie.
The best movie will be
picked.
The best movie is going to
be picked.
Simple Past
They announced the
winner's name.
The winner's name was
announced.
Past Continuous
They were taking
photographs.
Photographs were being
taken.
Present Perfect
They have chosen the best
movie.
The best movie has been
chosen.
Modal
They should announce the
winner's name.
The winner's name should
be announced.

12. Never use the helping verb do, does, did when you make a passive voice question.
Where was the film made? Where did the film made?
Change these sentences to the passive voice (if possible).
1.Snow blanketed the city streets.
2.Detectives solve mysteries.
3.Someone has stolen the jewels.
4.He was bothering her.
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
Intransitive Verbs: agree, arrive, be, become, come, die, fall, go, happen, live,
look, occur, rain, recover, remain, seem, sleep, stay, walk, work, etc.
In English you have transitive and intransitive verbs. Transitive verbs you
can put an object after the verb. Intransitive verbs you cannot put an object after the verb.

13. With intransitive verbs you need to put a prepositional phrase or an adverb.
My sister came the house.
My sister came to my house. (You can add a prepositional phrase.)
My sister came late. (You can add an adverb phrase.)
You can't change sentences to the passive voice when the verb is intransitive.
Johnny Depp is an actor.
An actor is been by Johnny Depp.
I go to a lot of movies. go = intransitive verb (You don't put a direct object after these verbs.)
A lot of movies are gone to by me.
Sometimes a verb can be both transitive and intransitive. The meanings are different.
Look at the verb RUN.
He runs around the track three times. Intransitive
Around the track three times is run by him. (No passive voice)

14. Bill runs a small business. Transitive
A small business is run by Bill. (Yes, passive voice.)
Look at page 71 of Grammar in Context 3, for more
examples of verbs that can be both transitive and
intransitive. Look at the differences in meaning.

15. BIOGRAPHY
https://www.seattlecentral.edu/faculty/dloos/Gramma
r/Passive%20Voice/grammar_active-passive_
voice_introduction.htm

17. BIOGRAPHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTQb42w7oig