1. Is Are Was Were are was is was was
Quiz: choose the best word to fill in each sentence. Words may be used more than once or not at all.
are
Mr. Harris and his wife ______ getting a divorce now.
A girl with a dog ______ walking through here yesterday.
The Bahamas _____ a place close to Florida.
Most of the class ______ quiet this morning.
We saw that everyone _____ there early. Is
Are
Was
Were
was is
was
was

2. What verb tense are these?
The doors weren’t opened.
The two dots are connected by one line.
The report has been made by the police.

3. Actually… It’s kind of a trick The doors weren’t opened.
They are verb tenses (past simple, present simple, and present perfect)
But they look different because…
They are written in a different voice
The doors weren’t opened.
The two dots are connected by one line.
The report has been made by the police.

4. What is voice?
Voice, in a story, relates to WHO IS TALKING, TELLING THE STORY, OR THE MAIN CHARACTER
Imagine your favorite story.
Now imagine how it would be different told in a different voice

5. Active Voice The subject is doing something to the object
The first noun is doing something to the second noun
The boy ate the potato.
Then he beat up his brother.
After that his mother punished him.

6. Passive Voice The subject is receiving an action from the object
The first noun is receiving an action from another noun
The potato was eaten by the boy.
The brother was beaten up by the boy.
He was punished by his mother.

7. How to write passive voice formula
Start with a be verb
Depends on your verb tense
Was, were, been, being, am, is, are
Next, add your verb + ED
The ED is very important
To finish, you can add “BY _____”
You don’t have to
It depends if that noun is important

8. Two voices Active voice Passive voice Right to left (backwards)
Left to right (normal)
Passive voice
Right to left (backwards)

9. pop

10. eat

11. help

12. teach

13. allow

14. send

15. How to identify passive voice
If you can add “by zombies” after the verb, and it still makes sense, it’s passive voice
The money was spent
The car was hit
The boy was running.
The car was hit by the oncoming truck
The tree was knocked over by the storm

16. Practice: Passive or Active?
The librarian read the book to the students.
The employees are paid every Friday.
I washed my car three weeks ago.
His hair was cut by a professional stylist.
The national anthem is always sung at football games.

17. When to use passive voice
1. When the doer of the action is not important, when the receiver of the action is more important
Everyday children are harmed by bus drivers
2. When purposely hiding the real subject or causer of action in a sentence
Politician= Mistakes were made
Student=the desk was already broken when I came in
3. When purposely trying to minimize the guilt of the subject
The theft was committed by the young man.