Active and Passive Verbs

1. Active and Passive Verbs

2. Active • When the subject of the sentence is doing something the verb is active. • E.g. The man wore a grey hat. • Subject – man verb – wore object – hat

3. Passive • When the object of the sentence is having something done to it, the verb is passive. • The grey hat was worn by the man. • Object – hat verb – worn subject – man

4. Active or Passive? • Which is this? • The girl fed the horse. • It is an active verb.

5. Active or Passive? • Which is this? • The pencil was held by the caterpillar. • It is passive verb.

6. Change this sentence to the passive verb. • The girl and her dog sat in the window frame. • The window framed the girl and her dog

7. Change this sentence to the active verb • The ball was balanced on the seal’s nose. • The seal balanced the ball on his nose.

8. REMEMBER • A VERB IS ACTIVE WHEN THE SUBJECT IS DOING IT. • A VERB IS PASSIVE WHEN THE OBJECT IS HAVING SOMETHING DONE TO IT. • TRY TO INCLUDE BOTH TYPES OF VERB IN YOUR WRITING.