1. Warm-up
Write the following sentences. Circle the verb (the action) and underline the subject (the person doing the action).
Allison woke up late this morning but made it to school anyway.
Ben wished he could play in the game but he was hurt.
Kristin didn’t want to call her friend; she felt like being alone.
Josh and Will rap like nobody’s business.
Scott wanted to go to Burger King after school.

2. Active vs. Passive Voice

3. What is Active Voice? Active Voice: the subject performs the action.
For example:
Joseph draws a picture.
Joseph is the subject and he is doing something (drawing).

4. What is passive voice? Passive Voice: the subject is acted upon.
For example:
The picture was drawn by Joseph.
In this case, the drawing is the subject and it is being acted upon by Joseph.

5. Changing From Passive to Active Voice
Use active voice by placing the noun/s doing the action before the verb.
Passive: The seeds were scattered by Jessica.
Active: Jessica scattered the seeds.
Passive: A healthy harvest is expected by Jessica and her father.
Active: Jessica and her father expect a healthy harvest.

6. Practice A piece of plastic had been swallowed by the child.
Two separate people were given rides in the new models by the designer.
Our dog is frightened by loud thunderstorms.
The store was kept open until 11:00 p.m. by the overtired workers.
The ball is hit straight into the bleachers by the batter.