1. Active and Passive Sentences The man drove the car. orThe car was driven by the man.

2. Active Voice active voice: if the subject is doing in the action The man drove the car. *put this definition in your English binder or journal

3. Passive Voice passive voice: if the verb is done to the subject (another way to say it): if the subject receives the action instead of doing the action The car was driven by the man. *put this definition in your English binder or journal

4. Still confused? Imagine the sentence is a car. The verb is the engine. An active car will have the driver (the subject) start the engine. In the same way, an active sentence has the subject starting the verb’s action. sentence = carverb = enginesubject = driver *put this example in your English binder or journal

5. An active car will have the driver (the subject) start the engine. In the same way, an active sentence has the subject starting the verb’s action. *put this example in your English binder or journal

6. A passive sentence is like a car with an engine, but the driver’s sitting in the back seat of the car, not starting it. He may not even be in the car at all!

7. Change ACTIVE to PASSIVE Steve hit the ball. Congress will raise taxes on gas. You punched me in the nose! On the third strike the catcher dropped the ball. The boy usually rang the bell.

8. Change PASSIVE to ACTIVE Strong emotions were felt by the fans when their team won. A run was scored. The tree was hit by a car. These planes are flown by experienced pilots. Free tickets were given to them.

9. When is Passive Voice Good? The doer (driver) of the action is not important or not known. School is cancelled today. (who cares who cancelled it) The cafeteria food was contaminated. (no one knows who did it) You want to be polite and not sound bossy We rejected your application. vs. Your application was rejected. You must finish the test in one hour. vs.The test must be finished in one hour. You want to emphasize the thing you’re talking about, not the person who does the action. The winner will receive this big, blue ribbon. vs.This big blue ribbon will be given to the winner! You are writing in an impersonal, detached manner My lab partner and I separated the mice into two groups. vs. The mice were separated into two groups. *put these definitions in your English binder or journal

10. Practice Together With your partner, write your own active and passive sentences. You should each write one active and one passive.

11. Practice On Your Own When I show you a sentence, hold up your Clay Connections to indicate the right answer. The front is ACTIVE. The back is PASSIVE.

12. front is ACTIVE; back is PASSIVE The game was won when a home run was hit by Lynn.

13. front is ACTIVE; back is PASSIVE At the beginning of the year, Bill purchased a computer and signed up for a course in graphic design.

14. front is ACTIVE; back is PASSIVE The teacher asked Matt to place a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

15. front is ACTIVE; back is PASSIVE The wreath was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by Matt.

16. front is ACTIVE; back is PASSIVE We were drenched by the rain and frozen by the icy wind.

17. Time for Question& Evidence On your index card, use a post-it note to participate. Identify if the following sentence is active or passive and tell me WHY. If you need to, draw an engine (square) around the verb. Draw a driver (circle) around the subject doing the action. See if that helps you answer the question. The rules of the school must be understood and followed by every student. Put your index card into the basket that indicates what your active/passive comprehension is.