40-minute lesson
Year 6 English: Active and passive voice
Lesson objective
- Distinguish between active and passive voice.
- Transform sentences from active to passive voice and back again.
- Explain why a writer might choose the passive voice.
Success criteria:
- I can tell whether a sentence is active or passive.
- I can rewrite an active sentence in the passive voice.
- I can explain when the passive voice is useful.
Materials
- Paper and pencils
- A newspaper article or a science report
- Two highlighters
Introduction
4 minIntroduce today's words:
- active voice: A sentence where the subject does the action: 'The dog chased the ball.'
- passive voice: A sentence where the subject receives the action: 'The ball was chased by the dog.'
- subject: The person or thing the sentence is about, usually placed before the verb.
- agent: In a passive sentence, the doer of the action, often introduced by 'by'.
- past participle: The verb form used after 'was' or 'were' in the passive, such as 'eaten', 'written' or 'painted'.
Ask your child what they already know about active and passive voice.
Explanation
8 minIn the active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action: 'The firefighters rescued the koala.' The doer comes first.
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action: 'The koala was rescued by the firefighters.' The thing affected comes first.
A passive verb is made with a form of be (is, are, was, were, has been) plus a past participle (rescued, written, eaten). The doer, called the agent, may be added with 'by', or left out altogether: 'The koala was rescued.'
Writers choose the passive voice when:
- the doer is unknown: 'My bike was stolen.'
- the doer is unimportant or obvious: 'The samples were heated for five minutes.'
- they want to focus on what happened to something: 'The bridge was opened in 1932.'
The active voice is usually clearer and more direct, so most writing uses it. Be aware that leaving out the agent can hide responsibility: 'Mistakes were made' does not say who made them.
Worked examples
6 minActive to passive
Change to the passive voice: 'Mia wrote the letter.'
Step 1: Find the thing receiving the action: 'the letter'. Move it to the front.
Step 2: Add 'was' and the past participle of 'write': 'was written'.
Step 3: Add the agent with 'by': 'by Mia'.
Answer: The letter was written by Mia.
Passive to active
Change to the active voice: 'The lawn was mowed by Grandpa.'
Step 1: Find the agent (the doer): Grandpa. Make him the subject.
Step 2: Use an active verb: 'mowed'.
Step 3: Put the receiver after the verb: 'the lawn'.
Answer: Grandpa mowed the lawn.
Choosing a voice
Why might a science report say 'The water was heated to 60 degrees' rather than 'I heated the water to 60 degrees'?
Step 1: Ask: what matters most here, the person or the process?
Step 2: The process matters, and the person is not important to the result.
Answer: The passive voice keeps the focus on the process rather than on who did it.
Guided practice (do together)
8 min1. Which sentence is in the passive voice?
(a) The chef cooked the meal. (b) The meal was cooked by the chef. (c) The chef is cooking.
2. Which sentence is in the active voice?
(a) The goal was scored by Ella. (b) The trophy was presented. (c) Ella scored the goal.
3. What is the passive form of 'The wind knocked over the bin'?
(a) The bin was knocked over by the wind. (b) The wind was knocked over by the bin. (c) The bin knocked over the wind.
4. Why might someone write 'The window was broken' instead of 'I broke the window'?
(a) It is shorter. (b) It avoids saying who did it. (c) It is in the future tense.
Independent practice
10 min5. In 'The poem was written by a Year 6 student', who is the agent?
(a) the poem (b) written (c) a Year 6 student
6. Is this sentence active or passive? 'Lucy painted the fence.' Type one word.
7. In 'The roof was damaged by the storm', what did the damage? Type one word.
8. Fill the gap with the past participle of 'eat': 'The sandwiches were ___ by the seagulls.'
Questions to check understanding
- Can you tell whether a sentence is active or passive?
- Can you rewrite an active sentence in the passive voice?
- Can you explain when the passive voice is useful?
- What was the trickiest part today?
Answer guide
1. The meal was cooked by the chef. — The subject (the meal) receives the action, and the verb is 'was cooked'.
2. Ella scored the goal. — Ella, the subject, does the action.
3. The bin was knocked over by the wind. — The receiver (the bin) comes first, followed by 'was knocked over' and the agent.
4. It avoids saying who did it. — Leaving out the agent hides who was responsible.
5. a Year 6 student — The agent is the doer, introduced by 'by'.
6. active — Lucy, the subject, does the action.
7. storm — 'The storm' is the agent, the doer of the action.
8. eaten — The passive uses 'were' plus the past participle 'eaten'.
Review
4 minRecap the success criteria together. Watch for these common misconceptions:
- Thinking any sentence in the past tense is passive. 'Ella scored the goal' is past tense but active.
- Believing the passive voice is always wrong. It is useful when the doer is unknown or unimportant.
- Thinking a passive sentence must include 'by'. The agent is often left out.
Extension activities
- Rewrite a short news story entirely in the passive voice, then discuss which version is clearer.
- Write a set of procedure steps for a science experiment in the passive voice.
- Create a 'whodunnit' paragraph using only passive sentences without agents, and let a family member guess the culprit.
Suggested follow-up
- Revisit active and passive voice tomorrow with two or three quick questions from memory.
- Try the online practice check for this topic and look at any questions that need another go.
Tips for parents
- Find passive sentences in news headlines and talk about who is left out and why.
- Use the 'by zombies' trick: if you can add 'by zombies' after the verb and it still makes sense, the sentence is probably passive ('The cake was eaten by zombies').
- Encourage active voice in stories and passive voice in science reports.