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Active and Passive Voice for Effect — Answers

Answer sheet with model answers and success criteria for the Year 9 sentences & clauses worksheet.

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Success TutoringWorksheetsAnswer sheetYear 9 · English · Sentences & Clauses

Active and Passive Voice for Effect — Answers

Part A: Active or passive?

In the active voice the subject does the action. In the passive voice the subject receives the action, and the verb uses a form of be with a past participle (was taken, is being built). Circle the voice of each sentence.

1.The committee approved the new timetable.
  1. Aactive
  2. Bpassive

Answer: active

The doer (the committee) is the subject and performs the action.

2.The new timetable was approved by the committee.
  1. Aactive
  2. Bpassive

Answer: passive

was + approved: the thing acted on is the subject.

3.Mistakes were made during the investigation.
  1. Aactive
  2. Bpassive

Answer: passive

were + made, and the doer is not named at all.

4.The volunteers planted two hundred trees.
  1. Aactive
  2. Bpassive

Answer: active

The volunteers do the planting.

5.The samples are being tested in the laboratory.
  1. Aactive
  2. Bpassive

Answer: passive

are being + tested: a passive in the continuous tense.

6.Heavy rain flooded the lower streets overnight.
  1. Aactive
  2. Bpassive

Answer: active

Heavy rain is the doer and the subject.

Part B: Convert the sentence

Rewrite each sentence in the voice shown. Keep the same tense.

7.Change to passive: The chef prepared the meal.

Answer: The meal was prepared by the chef.

8.Change to passive: Scientists have discovered a new species of frog.

Answer: A new species of frog has been discovered by scientists.

9.Change to passive, leaving out the doer: Someone broke the front window last night.

Answer: The front window was broken last night.

  1. The doer (someone) is unknown, so the passive lets us leave it out.
10.Change to active: The award was presented by the principal.

Answer: The principal presented the award.

11.Change to active: The roads will be cleared by council workers.

Answer: Council workers will clear the roads.

Part C: Choosing a voice on purpose

Neither voice is wrong. Writers choose the active voice for clarity and energy, and the passive voice to sound objective, to focus on the action or result, or when the doer is unknown or unimportant.

12.Why is the passive used in this report sentence? The solution was heated to 80 degrees and then left to cool.
  1. Ato hide a mistake
  2. Bto keep the focus on the procedure rather than on the person doing it
  3. Cto make the sentence more emotional
  4. Dbecause the active voice is always wrong in science

Answer: to keep the focus on the procedure rather than on the person doing it

Scientific reports often use the passive so the method, not the scientist, is in focus. This sounds objective.

13.A company statement says: Customer data was accessed without permission. What effect does the passive voice have here?
  1. AIt makes clear who accessed the data.
  2. BIt avoids saying who was responsible.
  3. CIt makes the statement shorter than an active version would be.
  4. DIt shows the event happened in the future.

Answer: It avoids saying who was responsible.

The passive lets the writer leave out the doer, which can blur responsibility.

14.Which sentence would best suit a news headline that wants to sound urgent and direct?
  1. AA decision to close the bridge has been made.
  2. BThe bridge has been closed.
  3. CEngineers close bridge after cracks found.
  4. DIt has been decided that the bridge will be closed.

Answer: Engineers close bridge after cracks found.

Active voice with a named doer and a strong verb is direct and energetic.

15.A student writes: The ball was kicked by me and the window was broken. Explain why the active voice would be better here, and rewrite the sentence.[2 marks]

Answer: The passive is wordy and sounds like the writer is avoiding blame. Active: I kicked the ball and broke the window.

Part D: Your turn

16.Your turn: this paragraph from a school newsletter uses the passive voice too often. Rewrite it so that most sentences are active, but keep one passive sentence where it is the better choice. Then explain in one sentence why you kept it. The fundraising fair was held on Saturday. Cakes were baked by the senior students and games were run by the junior classes. Over two thousand dollars was raised. The money will be used by the school to buy new library books. The stalls were packed away by parent volunteers at the end of the day.

Model answer: The fundraising fair was held on Saturday. The senior students baked cakes and the junior classes ran games. Together we raised over two thousand dollars, which the school will use to buy new library books. At the end of the day, parent volunteers packed away the stalls. I kept the first sentence passive because the event itself matters most there, and who ran it is not the point.

Success criteria:

  • At least four sentences changed correctly to the active voice
  • Exactly one passive sentence kept on purpose
  • A clear reason for keeping it (focus on the event, doer unknown or unimportant)
  • Meaning and tense of the original kept
  • Paragraph reads smoothly, with sentences combined where helpful
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