Year 6 English: The active and the passive: changing the form
Part of the Year 6 English modal verbs, the perfect form and the passive chapter. Chapter overview · whole chapter on one page
The active and the passive: changing the form
In the active, the subject does the action: The storm damaged the roof. In the passive, the object moves to the front, the verb uses was or were with the past participle, and the doer comes after by: The roof was damaged by the storm.
Active and passive
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| The ball broke the window. | The window was broken by the ball. |
| The chef cooked the soup. | The soup was cooked by the chef. |
| The children painted the fence. | The fence was painted by the children. |
| The storm damaged the roof. | The roof was damaged by the storm. |
Key ideas
- In the passive, the object becomes the subject.
- The passive uses was or were with the past participle.
- The doer, after by, may be left out in the passive.
Method. Move the object to the front, and use was with the past participle.
- Find the object. The soup is the object.the soup
- Use was with the participle. Cooked is the past participle, and the soup is singular, so use was.was cooked
- Add by and the doer. By the chef names who did the cooking.by the chef
- Write the answer. The soup was cooked by the chef.
Check. The soup is the subject of the passive. ✓
Method. Move the object to the front, and use was with the past participle.
- Find the object. The fence is the object.the fence
- Use was with the participle. Painted is the past participle, and the fence is singular, so use was.was painted
- Add by and the doer. By the children names who painted.by the children
- Write the answer. The fence was painted by the children.
Check. The fence is the subject of the passive. ✓
Method. Find the doer after by, and move it to the front.
- Find the doer. Lena is the doer after by.Lena
- Move the doer to the front. Lena becomes the subject, and the key the object.Lena found the key
- Write the answer. Lena found the key.
Check. Lena is now the subject. ✓
Watch out
Watch out: use were, not was, when the object is plural: The hens were fed by the farmer.
Exam tip
Grown-up tip. Ask your child to rewrite a sentence from the newspaper in the passive, then back in the active. Ask which version they prefer.
Exercise 6D Practice: active to passive
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the window.the window
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The window was broken
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the ball.The window was broken by the ball.
- Write the answer. The window was broken by the ball.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the soup.the soup
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The soup was cooked
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the chef.The soup was cooked by the chef.
- Write the answer. The soup was cooked by the chef.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the fence.the fence
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The fence was painted
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the children.The fence was painted by the children.
- Write the answer. The fence was painted by the children.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the roof.the roof
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The roof was damaged
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the storm.The roof was damaged by the storm.
- Write the answer. The roof was damaged by the storm.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the list.the list
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The list was written
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the teacher.The list was written by the teacher.
- Write the answer. The list was written by the teacher.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the key.the key
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The key was found
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by Lena.The key was found by Lena.
- Write the answer. The key was found by Lena.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the hens.the hens
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The hens were fed
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the farmer.The hens were fed by the farmer.
- Write the answer. The hens were fed by the farmer.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, use was or were with the past participle, then add by and the agent.
- Find the object. The object is the bone.the bone
- Move it to the front, and use was or were with the past participle. The passive uses was or were, then the past participle.The bone was buried
- Add by and the agent. The agent, the doer of the action, comes after by: by the dog.The bone was buried by the dog.
- Write the answer. The bone was buried by the dog.
Check. The object is now the subject of the passive. ✓
Watch out. The passive uses by to name the doer, and the object moves to the front.
Method. Move the object to the front, and use was with the past participle.
- Find the object. The car is the object.the car
- Use the passive form. The car was cleaned by Mum.was cleaned by Mum
- Write the answer. The car was cleaned by Mum.
Check. The car is the subject of the passive. ✓
Method. Move the object to the front, and use were, because trees is plural.
- Find the object. The trees is the object.the trees
- Use the passive form. Were planted by the gardeners uses were for a plural subject.were planted
- Write the answer. The trees were planted by the gardeners.
Check. The trees were planted. ✓
Method. Find the verb form after was.
- Find the auxiliary. Was shows the passive.was
- Find the participle. Written is the past participle that follows was.written
- Write the answer. written
Check. written is the past participle. ✓
Method. Find the word after by.
- Find by. By shows the doer in the passive.by
- Find the doer. The ball is the doer of breaking.the ball
- Write the answer. the ball
Check. the ball is the doer. ✓
Method. Find the doer after by, then move it to the front.
- Find the doer. The doer, after by, is workers.workers
- Move it to the front. The doer becomes the subject, and the house becomes the object.Workers built the house.
- Write the answer. Workers built the house.
Check. The doer is now the subject. ✓
Watch out. In the active, the doer is the subject, and the verb has no was or were.
Method. Find the doer after by, then move it to the front.
- Find the doer. The doer, after by, is the choir.the choir
- Move it to the front. The doer becomes the subject, and the song becomes the object.The choir sang the song.
- Write the answer. The choir sang the song.
Check. The doer is now the subject. ✓
Watch out. In the active, the doer is the subject, and the verb has no was or were.
Method. Compare the two forms.
- Look at the subject. In the passive, the object moves to the front.object
- Look at the verb. The passive uses was or were with the past participle.was or were
- Write the answer. The object becomes the subject, and the verb uses was or were with the past participle
Check. The object moves, and the verb changes. ✓
Method. Move the object to the front, and use was with the past participle.
- Find the object. The key is the object.the key
- Use the passive form. The key was found by Lena.was found by Lena
- Write the answer. The key was found by Lena.
Check. The key is the subject of the passive. ✓
Method. Move the object to the front.
- Find the object. The bone is the object.the bone
- Use the passive. Was buried by the dog is the passive form.was buried by the dog
- Write the answer. The bone was buried by the dog.
Check. The bone is now the subject. ✓
Method. Find the doer after by, and move it to the front.
- Find the doer. The dog is the doer after by.the dog
- Use the active. The dog becomes the subject, and buried is the verb.The dog buried the bone
- Write the answer. The dog buried the bone.
Check. The dog is the subject. ✓