Unraveling the Passive Voice

Unraveling the Passive Voice

Learning Objective

Understand the concept of passive voice and identify its usage in sentences.

What do you already know about passive voice?

Active vs. Passive

Active: John painted the house. Passive: The house was painted by John.

Subject and Action

In the passive sentence, the subject of the active sentence becomes the receiver of the action.

Another Example

Active: They will announce the winner tomorrow. Passive: The winner will be announced tomorrow.

Focus on Recipient

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the recipient of the action.

Unknown or Unimportant Doer

Passive voice is often used when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant.

Company Example

Active: The company developed a new product. Passive: A new product was developed by the company.

Application Exercise

Provide sentences for students to rewrite in passive voice and discuss the reasons for using passive voice.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.