Passive voice

Identifying and converting between active and passive voice

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Try each question. If you're stuck, leave it and come back. The answer key is on the last page.

1
Which sentence is in the passive voice? A) The cake was eaten by the children. B) The children ate the cake. C) The children were hungry. D) The children went to the kitchen.
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2
Is this sentence in the passive voice? 'The window was broken during the storm.' The sentence 'The window was broken during the storm' is in the passive voice. A) True B) False
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3
Convert to passive voice: The dog chased the cat. The cat was ___ by the dog. The cat was ___ by the dog.
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4
Which sentence is in the PASSIVE voice? A) The cat ate the fish. B) The fish was eaten by the cat. C) The cat eats fish. D) The cat will eat the fish.
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5
Why might a scientist use the passive voice in a report? Example: 'The solution was heated to 100 degrees.' A) To focus on what happened rather than who did it B) Because it sounds less formal C) To make the sentence shorter D) Because active voice is incorrect in science
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6
Convert to active voice: The homework was marked by the teacher. The teacher ___ the homework. The teacher ___ the homework.
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7
Is this sentence passive? 'The birds were singing in the trees.' The sentence 'The birds were singing in the trees' is in the passive voice. A) True B) False
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8
Convert to passive: They will announce the results tomorrow. The results will be ___ tomorrow. The results will be ___ tomorrow.
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9
Can passive voice be used without mentioning who did the action? Passive voice can be used without mentioning who performed the action. A) True B) False
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10
Which sentence pair correctly shows the same meaning in active and passive voice? A) Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. / Passive: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare. B) Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. / Passive: Shakespeare was written by Hamlet. C) Active: Hamlet wrote Shakespeare. / Passive: Shakespeare was written by Hamlet. D) Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. / Passive: Hamlet is written by Shakespeare.
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Answer key

Passive voice · for parents and teachers

1
The cake was eaten by the children.
'The cake was eaten by the children' is passive - the cake (which received the action) is the subject. In active voice, 'the children' (who did the action) would be the subject.
2
True
Yes, this is passive voice. The window (subject) received the action of being broken. We don't even know who broke it - this is a common reason to use passive voice.
3
chased
Active: 'The dog chased the cat' becomes Passive: 'The cat was chased by the dog.' The object (cat) becomes the subject, and we use 'was + past participle'.
4
The fish was eaten by the cat.
'The fish was eaten by the cat' - the fish is having something done to it.
5
To focus on what happened rather than who did it
Scientists use passive voice to focus on the process and results rather than themselves. It does not matter who heated the solution - what matters is that it was heated to 100 degrees.
6
marked
Passive: 'The homework was marked by the teacher' becomes Active: 'The teacher marked the homework.' The agent (teacher) becomes the subject.
7
False
This is NOT passive - it is the past progressive (past continuous). The birds are doing the singing themselves. 'Were singing' here means 'were in the process of singing', not that singing was done to them.
8
announced
Future passive: 'will be announced'. The structure is: subject + will be + past participle. 'By them' is dropped as it adds no useful information.
9
True
Yes! One main purpose of passive voice is to leave out the agent. 'The school was built in 1920' is perfectly correct without saying who built it.
10
Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. / Passive: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
Shakespeare (agent) wrote Hamlet (object). In passive: Hamlet (now subject) was written by Shakespeare (now agent after 'by'). The meaning stays the same, but the focus shifts to Hamlet.