🟦 Introduction

Hello, brilliant learner! 👋
Imagine you’re telling a story: sometimes you want to highlight the person doing something, and sometimes you want to focus on what was done.
That’s where Active and Passive Voice comes in!

In this lesson, you will learn:

• What Active and Passive Voice are

• How to easily spot them

• How to change from Active to Passive (and back!)

• When to choose Passive Voice for your writing

Let’s jump in — you’re going to master this skill today!

🟩 Key Concepts and Explanations

1. What is Voice in Grammar?

Voice refers to the relationship between the subject and the verb of a sentence.

2. What is Active Voice?

In Active Voice, the subject does the action.

Examples:

• The boy threw the ball.

• Esther wrote a beautiful letter.

• Kwame ate all the cake.

🔵 Pattern:
Subject + Verb + Object

🎯 Remember: Active voice is usually clear, direct, and powerful.

3. What is Passive Voice?

In Passive Voice, the action is done to the subject.

Examples:

• The ball was thrown by the boy.

• A beautiful letter was written by Esther.

• All the cake was eaten by Kwame.

🔵 Pattern:
Object + Be (correct tense) + Past Participle + (by + Subject)

4. Comparing Active and Passive Voice

5. When to Use Passive Voice

Use passive voice when:

• The doer is unknown:
  Example: The purse was stolen.

• The doer is not important:
  Example: The rules were changed last year.

• You want to sound formal or scientific:
  Example: The experiment was conducted carefully.

6. How to Form Passive Voice Correctly

Here’s a step-by-step guide:

Result:
✅ The letter is written by the girl.

Be Forms Table:

7. Special Notes:

• Modal Verbs (can, could, may, might, should, must) in passive:

  • Active: She can write a letter.

  • Passive: A letter can be written by her.

• Verbs with Two Objects:

  • Active: She gave me (indirect) a gift (direct).

  • Passive Option 1: I was given a gift by her.

  • Passive Option 2: A gift was given to me by her.

🟨 Sample Problem Walkthroughs

Walkthrough 1:

Change to Passive:
“The police arrested the thief.”

• Object = the thief

• Tense = Simple Past → Be form = was

• Past participle of “arrest” = arrested

✅ Passive: The thief was arrested by the police.

Walkthrough 2:

Change to Passive:
“The students are writing the exams.”

• Object = the exams

• Tense = Present Continuous → Be form = are being

• Past participle of “write” = written

✅ Passive: The exams are being written by the students.

🟨 Practice Exercises

✏️ Exercise A: Change to Passive Voice

Change these sentences to the passive voice:

1. The carpenter is repairing the chair.

2. She painted the wall beautifully.

3. The manager has approved your request.

4. They are watching a movie.

5. The teacher will mark the scripts.

✏️ Exercise B: Complete the Sentences

Fill in the blanks with the correct passive form.

1. The story __________ (write) by the author last year.

2. The windows __________ (clean) every morning.

3. A new library __________ (build) next to our school.

4. His phone __________ (steal) yesterday.

5. The dishes __________ (wash) after dinner.

✏️ Exercise C: Active or Passive?

Decide whether the sentence is Active (A) or Passive (P).

1. The flowers were watered by my mother. ( )

2. My uncle drives a taxi. ( )

3. Lunch was prepared by the students. ( )

4. We clean the classroom every day. ( )

5. The match was won by our team. ( )

✅ Answers and Explanations

Exercise A:

1. The chair is being repaired by the carpenter.

2. The wall was painted beautifully by her.

3. Your request has been approved by the manager.

4. A movie is being watched by them.

5. The scripts will be marked by the teacher.

Exercise B:

1. was written

2. are cleaned

3. is being built

4. was stolen

5. are washed

Exercise C:

1. Passive (P)

2. Active (A)

3. Passive (P)

4. Active (A)

5. Passive (P)

🔁 Recap

You’ve learned today:

• What active and passive voice are

• When and why we use each

• How to correctly form passive sentences

• How to spot and fix errors

• How to deal with different tenses and modal verbs

Key Tip:
👉 Use Passive Voice carefully — too much of it can make your writing heavy!

🪞Reflection Prompt

Think about this:
“Imagine you are writing a newspaper article about a fire in a building. Would you use active or passive voice? Why?”

Write two short sentences:

• One using Active Voice.

• One using Passive Voice.

🌟 Example:

• Active: The firefighters quickly controlled the fire.

• Passive: The fire was quickly controlled by the firefighters.