Active and passive sentences

A Year 4 English worksheet created by an experienced teacher to help your child understand active and passive voice, with examples.

 

How can you tell if a sentence is in the active voice or the passive voice? 

Think of a sentence like a little story with three main parts: the subject (the person or thing doing something), the verb (what's being done), and the object (the person or thing that's affected by the action).

In an active voice sentence, the doer of the action comes first (the subject), followed by the action (the verb), and then the receiver (the object). It’s straightforward and direct. 

In a passive voice sentence, the object often comes first, the verb follows, and the subject might be mentioned at the end or left out. It flips the order around and often sounds less direct.

How to Spot the Difference:

Find the action word (the verb).

Identify who is doing the action.

Check the order:

• If the subject comes first and is followed by the action, it’s active.
• If the object comes first, and the action is followed by the subject (or the subject is missing), it’s passive.

Look for was, were, is, are, and a past participle (usually a verb ending in -ed, but there are exceptions like written or done). This combination often signals a passive voice.

What are some examples of passive and active voice? 

Here are sentence examples with passive voice: 

1. The cake was baked by Mary.
2. The book was written by the famous author.
3. The window was broken by the ball.
4. The homework was completed by the students.
5. The song was sung by the choir.

Here are some sentence examples with active voice: 

1. Mary baked the cake.
2. The famous author wrote the book.
3. The ball broke the window.
4. The students completed the homework.
5. The choir sang the song.

How will this active and passive worksheet help your primary school child?

This fun English worksheet was created by a teacher to help your child understand how to identify active and passive voice in a sentence. Your child will be given simple examples and asked to cut out the sentences (young children may need assistance or supervision) and they must sort the sentences into active and passive. This task will allow them to engage in the process and embed their learning. 

For more help with primary school English, check out our hub page, or try a new challenges such as our Clauses in a sentence worksheet.