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Grade 8 English Language Arts — Active and passive voice

Tell active from passive, and change a sentence from one voice to the other.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.Change to the passive: "The teacher praised the students."

    • a) The students praised the teacher.
    • b) The students have praised the teacher.
    • c) The students are praised by the teacher.
    • d) The students were praised by the teacher.

  2. 2.Change to the active: "The parcel was delivered by the courier."

    • a) The courier delivered the parcel.
    • b) The courier has delivered the parcel.
    • c) The courier delivers the parcel.
    • d) The parcel delivered the courier.

  3. 3.Put the steps of changing an active sentence into the passive in the right order.

    • Make that object the new subject, at the front of the sentence.
    • Find the object of the active sentence — the thing the action was done to.
    • Put the old subject after "by", or leave it out if it does not matter.
    • Change the verb to a form of "be" in the same tense, plus the past participle.

  4. 4.Sort each sentence by its voice.

    Groups: Active · Passive

    • The results will be announced.
    • My bag has been stolen.
    • Somebody has stolen my bag.
    • They will announce the results.

  5. 5.Complete the passive with the two missing words: These shirts ____ in Surat every year. (verb: make)

  6. 6.Sort each sentence by its voice.

    Groups: Active · Passive

    • The chef cooked the meal.
    • Rita wrote the letter.
    • The letter was written by Rita.
    • The dog chased the cat.
    • The meal was cooked by the chef.
    • The cat was chased by the dog.

  7. 7.Complete the passive with the two missing words: The window ____ by the ball yesterday. (verb: break)

  8. 8.Which sentence is in the passive voice?

    • a) The plants are watered by the gardener.
    • b) The gardener waters the plants.
    • c) The gardener will water the plants.
    • d) The gardener is watering the plants.

Answer key — Grade 8 English Language Arts — Active and passive voice

  1. 1. d) The students were praised by the teacher.
  2. 2. a) The courier delivered the parcel.
  3. 3. 1. Find the object of the active sentence — the thing the action was done to. 2. Make that object the new subject, at the front of the sentence. 3. Change the verb to a form of "be" in the same tense, plus the past participle. 4. Put the old subject after "by", or leave it out if it does not matter.
  4. 4. Somebody has stolen my bag. → Active; My bag has been stolen. → Passive; They will announce the results. → Active; The results will be announced. → Passive
  5. 5. are made
  6. 6. The chef cooked the meal. → Active; The meal was cooked by the chef. → Passive; Rita wrote the letter. → Active; The letter was written by Rita. → Passive; The dog chased the cat. → Active; The cat was chased by the dog. → Passive
  7. 7. was broken
  8. 8. a) The plants are watered by the gardener.