A sentence is written in active voice when the subject of the sentence is performing the action.
A sentence is written in passive voice when the subject of the sentence has something done to it by someone or something.
For example:
Active voice: The cat was chasing the mouse.
In this sentence, ‘the cat’ is the subject, ‘was chasing’ is the verb and ‘the mouse’ is the object.
Passive voice: The mouse was being chased by the cat.
In this sentence ‘the mouse’ has become the subject which is having something done to it by the cat.
Using the login details you have been sent through parent mail for Discovery Education, login using the tab in the top right hand corner ensuring you click onto the ‘espresso’ option. Once logged in, in the search bar type ‘active and passive voice’ the first link that will appear is for an ‘active and passive video’. Click on that and watch the video about the giraffe and zebra. At the bottom of the screen you can complete two quizzes and an activity.
For more information you could watch this video.
Here is how these sentences would be written in the passive voice.
Up to ten letters a day are written by Emma.
Meat is enthusiastically gobbled by the lion.
The most melodious and beautiful tunes are sung by mermaids.
Now, have a go yourself. Write your passive sentences in the comment section below.
Answers
Once you are confident, have a go at these past SATs questions all linked to the active and passive voice. The answers to these questions are at the end of the PDF document.
Testbase active and passive