Active and passive voice
Choose a sentence focus that serves your meaning.
Before you begin
- Subjects and objects
- Verb forms
Identify who performs and receives the action
In an active sentence, the subject performs the action: 'The team measured the water.' In the corresponding passive, the receiver becomes the subject: 'The water was measured by the team.' The passive uses an appropriate form of be and a past participle. Tense is carried through the verb phrase.
Choose focus rather than following an absolute ban
Active voice often makes responsibility clear and can be concise. Passive voice is useful when the action or receiver matters more than the agent, or when the agent is unknown. It can also hide responsibility, so inspect that effect. A sentence containing a form of be is not automatically passive: 'The water was cold' describes a state.
Worked example
Rewrite 'The technician recorded the temperature' to focus on the measurement.
Show the worked solution
- Move the object, 'the temperature', into subject position.
- Use the past passive form 'was recorded'.
- Retain 'by the technician' only if the agent matters.
The temperature was recorded by the technician.
Try it yourself
Which sentence is passive?
Common mistakes
- Passive voice is a choice with effects, not an error in every context.
What can you explain now?
Change 'The results were checked by Noor' into active voice.
Compare with the explanation
Noor checked the results.
Make Noor the subject performing the action, keep the past tense and use the results as the object.
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Original StudyForA content. AI-assisted checks completed; subject-teacher review is still pending. These lessons are not endorsed by an exam board.
Common Core English language arts standards ↗