Teaching passive voice to kids
Despite the fact that we are regularly instructed to write in the active voice, native English speakers utilize the passive voice quite frequently in both spoken and written language. This is true for both spoken and written language. For this reason, it is essential that teachers of English as a second language instruct their students on the distinction between the active and passive voices, as well as how to compose sentences using the passive voice. It’s possible that instructing students in the passive voice may be challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. If you teach your pupils how to utilize the passive voice by following the instructions below, they will have no trouble understanding how to apply this grammatical structure.
Active learning should come first.
It is impossible to instruct students in the passive voice without first instructing them in the active voice. To illustrate this point, let’s look at a few phrases that make use of the active voice. Bring the attention of the pupils to what is occurring in the sentences that use the active voice. Each of these phrases uses the active voice, including a subject, verb, and object in each one. When these phrases are written in active voice, the subject acts as the “doer” of the verb. The subjects of these lines, which are written in active voice, are the ones who are doing the activity. Subjects take action when a sentence is written in the active voice.
Passive structure
After you have finished dissecting the structure of the active voice, it is time to move on to the structure of the passive voice. The composition of an example of passive voice looks like this:
The formula is: object + form of to be + past participle + by + subject
Utilize one of the active voice statements from earlier, and then put the passive version of the sentence on the board. Simply writing this passive voice structure on the board will probably be fairly perplexing to the kids, so use one of the active voice sentences instead.
You are now able to demonstrate to the pupils, in addition to the passive form structure for the sentence, how each word in the phrase relates to the passive form structure. After you give example of the fundamental structure of the passive voice. It is time to provide more information about the many forms of the verb to be. And to explain what the past participle is.
The past participle for passive
Compose sure that all of the students have the same understanding of the different forms of “to be” and past participles before you begin instructing them to make sentences using the passive voice. Is, are, was, were, are all different versions of the verb “to be.” Next, examine past participles. Verb forms that commonly finish in -ed are past participles. When we speak about things that have occurred in the past, we employ grammatical structures called past participles. As soon as these the students learn these components. You will be able to move on to constructing sentences using this voice.
Using by
You should have your pupils take a look at the structure of the this voice that you had written previously on the board. Inquire of them to determine what aspect of the statement is lacking. They should be able to recognize that the ‘be verb’ and the word ‘by’ is absent from the phrase. Ask the children where these parts go within the sentence, and you should be able to put together the passive voice statement by working together.
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