english worksheet

School Year 2008-2009

Use and Form Basic Rules

Remember: We use the Passive voice when what happens is
more important than who does it.

The object of the active sentence becomes the

subject of the passive voice.

We form the Passive voice with the auxiliary verb

Childrens day
day
Childrens
is
celebrated
is celebrated
on June
June 11stst..
on

Be (always in the same tense as the verb in the

active voice) and the Past Participle of the main
verb, followed by a by-phrase, the agent, when we
know who or what performed the action.

YeahLots
YeahLots
of
oftrees
treeswere
were
planted
planted
yesterday.
yesterday.

Verb
Object
Subject
Street traders sell black-market products.

Black-market products are sold by street traders.

Match the forms of the Active verbs with

their corresponding Passive forms.
I forget (singular, S. Past)

were forgotten

discover (Plural, S. Past)

were left

make (singular, S. Present)

was forgotten

build (Plural, S. Present)

was left

forget (Plural, S. Past)

are built

leave (Plural, S. Past)

is sent

produce (Plural, S.Present)

were discovered

leave (singular, S. Past)

was built

build (singular, S. S. Past)

is made

send (singular, S. Present)

are produced

Read the following piece of news.

Cross out the wrong verb forms.
Doctor
Doctor George
George Tiller,
Tiller, 67,
67, was
was at
at the
the morning
morning
services
this
Sunday
when
he
was
shot/
services this Sunday when he was shot/ shot,
shot,
police
said.
The
gunman
was
fired/fired
one
police said. The gunman was fired/fired one shot
shot
at
Tiller
and
was
threatened/
threatened
at Tiller and was threatened/ threatened two
two
other
people
who
tried
to
stop
him.
The
suspect
other people who tried to stop him. The suspect
was
was taken/
taken/ took
took into
into custody
custody in
in aa Kansas
Kansas City
City
suburb
suburb 33 hours
hours after
after the
the shooting.
shooting. Outside
Outside Tillers
Tillers
clinic,
clinic, flowers
flowers were
were placed/
placed/ placed
placed along
along aa fence,
fence,
and
and Kansas
Kansas Coalition
Coalition for
for Life
Life was
was left/
left/ left
left aa sign
sign
saying
saying members
members were
were prayed/
prayed/ prayed
prayed for
for his
his
change
change of
of heart
heart "not
"not his
his murder.
murder. AA man
man yelled
yelled
that
that Tillers
Tillers hands
hands were
were covered/covered
covered/covered with
with
blood.
blood.

Subject

Verb

Agent

Rewrite each sentence in the Passive:

They
They built
built 33 new
new schools
schools last
last year.
year.
________________________________
________________________________
Thousands
Thousands of
of people
people visit
visit the
the Azores.
Azores.
________________________________
________________________________
Someone
Someone stole
stole my
my purse
purse from
from my
my locker.
locker.
________________________________
________________________________
The
The monkey
monkey painted
painted that
that picture.
picture.
________________________________
________________________________
Millions
Millions of
of teenagers
teenagers enjoy
enjoy her
her books.
books.
________________________________
________________________________
Write an active sentence and a passive
sentence from these prompts.
1.
1. The
The little
little boy
boy // the
the wallet/
wallet/ yesterday/
yesterday/ find.
find.
a)
a)

_________________________________
_________________________________
b)
b)_________________________________
_________________________________
__
2.
2. Teachers/
Teachers/ students/
students/ good
good manners/
manners/
teach.
teach.
a)
a)

_________________________________
_________________________________
b)
b)_________________________________
_________________________________
__
THANK YU!
3.
3. Somebody/
Somebody/ the
the students
students bikes/
bikes/ steal
steal

_________________________________
_________________________________
b)
b)_________________________________
_________________________________
__
english worksheet

School Year 2008-2009

Use and Form Basic Rules

Remember: We use the Passive voice when what happens is
more important than who does it.

The object of the active sentence becomes the

subject of the passive voice.

We form the Passive voice with the auxiliary verb

Childrens day
day
Childrens
is
celebrated
is celebrated
on June
June 11stst..
on

Be (always in the same tense as the verb in the

active voice) and the Past Participle of the main
verb, followed by a by-phrase, the agent, when we
know who or what performed the action.

YeahLots
YeahLots
of
oftrees
treeswere
were
planted
planted
yesterday.
yesterday.

Verb
Object
Subject
Street traders sell black-market products.

Black-market products are sold by street traders.

Match the forms of the Active verbs with

their corresponding Passive forms.
1. I forget (singular, S. Past)

a) were forgotten

2.discover (Plural, S. Past)

b) were left

3. make (singular, S. Present)

c) was forgotten

4. build (Plural, S. Present)

d) was left

5. forget (Plural, S. Past)

e) are built

6. leave (Plural, S. Past)

f) is sent

7. produce (Plural, S.Present)

g) were discovered

8. leave (singular, S. Past)

h) was built

9. build (singular, S. S. Past)

i) is made

10. send (singular, S. Present)

j) are produced

Read the following piece of news.

Cross out the wrong verb forms.
Doctor
Doctor George
George Tiller,
Tiller, 67,
67, was
was at
at the
the morning
morning
services
this
Sunday
when
he
was
shot/
services this Sunday when he was shot/ shot,
shot,
police
said.
The
gunman
was
fired/fired
police said. The gunman was fired/fired one
one
shot
at
Tiller
and
was
threatened/
threatened
shot at Tiller and was threatened/ threatened
two
two other
other people
people who
who tried
tried to
to stop
stop him.
him. The
The
suspect
was
taken/
took
into
custody
in
suspect was taken/ took into custody in aa
Kansas
Kansas City
City suburb
suburb 33 hours
hours after
after the
the shooting.
shooting.
Outside
Outside Tillers
Tillers clinic,
clinic, flowers
flowers were
were placed/
placed/
placed
placed along
along aa fence,
fence, and
and Kansas
Kansas Coalition
Coalition for
for
Life
Life was
was left/
left/ left
left aa sign
sign saying
saying members
members were
were
prayed/
prayed/ prayed
prayed for
for his
his change
change of
of heart
heart "not
"not his
his
murder.
murder. AA man
man yelled
yelled that
that Tillers
Tillers hands
hands were
were
covered/covered
covered/covered with
with blood.
blood.

Subject

Verb

Agent

Rewrite each sentence in the Passive:

1.
1. They
They built
built 33 new
new schools
schools last
last year.
year.
Three
Three new
new schools
schools were
were built
built last
last year.
year.
2.
2. Thousands
Thousands of
of people
people visit
visit the
the Azores.
Azores.
The
The Azores
Azores are
are visited
visited by
by thousands
thousands of
of people.
people.

3.
3. Someone
Someone stole
stole my
my purse
purse from
from my
my locker.
locker.
My
My purse
purse was
was stolen
stolen from
from my
my locker.
locker.
4.
4. The
The monkey
monkey painted
painted that
that picture.
picture.
That
That picture
picture was
was painted
painted by
by the
the monkey.
monkey.
5.
5. Millions
Millions of
of teenagers
teenagers read
read her
her books.
books.
Her
Her books
books are
are read
read by
by millions
millions of
of
Write
an active sentence and a passive
teenagers.
teenagers.
sentence from these prompts.
1.
1. The
The little
little boy
boy // the
the wallet/
wallet/ yesterday/
yesterday/ find.
find.
a)
a) The
The little
little boy
boy found
found the
the wallet
wallet yesterday.
yesterday.
b)
b) The
The wallet
wallet was
was found
found yesterday
yesterday by
by the
the little
little boy
boy
2.
2. Teachers/
Teachers/ students/
students/ good
good manners/
manners/ teach.
teach.
a)
a) Teachers
Teachers teach
teach their
their students
students good
good
manners
manners

b)
b) Good
Good manners
manners are
are taught
taught to
to the
the students.
students.
3.
3. Somebody/
Somebody/ the
the students
students bikes/
bikes/ steal
steal
a)
a) Somebody
Somebody stole
stole the
the students
students bikes.
bikes.
b)The
b)The students
students bikes
bikes were
were stolen.
stolen.

THANK YU!