Saint Paul’s School of Ormoc Foundation, Inc.

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JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT | S.Y. 2021-2022

LEARNING MODULE IN ENGLISH 9

Second Quarter | Week 8

Name: Section:
Teacher:

LESSON LESSON 1

Topic: Passive and Active Voice

OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this lesson, you are expected to:

• differentiate the active voice and passive voice;
• transform statements from the active voice to passive voice and vice versa; and
• use the passive and active voice meaningfully in varied contexts.

INTRODUCTION

In this learning module, you will learn about active and passive voice, and the
differences between the tone and focus of each. You will use what you learn to identify
active and passive voice in different types of writing and discuss how voice makes writing
effective.

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1: WHAT HAPPENED?

Task: Observe the picture carefully and answer the questions provided. (Note: Answer in
a complete sentence.)

Learning Module in English 9 Page 1 of 5

 JOHN What happened to John?
_________________________________________.
What did Paige do?
_________________________________________.
PAIGE

This time, I want you to observe your answers. Do the two answers mean the same thing?
Yes, they do but they differ in the sentence construction. The first sentence has John as the subject
while the second sentence has Paige as the subject.

END OF EXPLORE

Activity 2: PASSIVE OR ACTIVE?

Take a look at the sentences below. Can you try noticing a slight difference or so?

Lara eats a chocolate. A chocolate is eaten by Lara.

Both boxes above talks about Lara and chocolates, but do you think they have the same
thought? Observe how the sentences were written, how is the sentence in red box differ from blue
box?
Two sentences of the same thought only differed with the position of the subject and the
object. Sometimes, in written ways, we do change our voices. There are two special forms of verbs
or voices, Active voice and Passive voice. Recognizing the differences will help you to successfully
speak and write English.
In an active sentence, the subject is the doer of the action expressed by the verb. In the red box, Lara
is the subject, doing the action (eat) and the object is the chocolate.

Lara eats a chocolate.

[subject] + [verb] +[object]

More examples:
The man ate five hamburgers.
The man (subject) did the eating (verb).
Marilyn mailed the letter.
Marilyn (subject) did the mailing (verb).
She wrote a song.
She (subject) did the writing (verb).

Learning Module in English 9 Page 2 of 5

On the other hand,in a passive sentence, the subject is the receiver of the action. The sentence in the
blue box has the same thought with sentence in the red box, only that the subject is the one who
receives the action of the verb. Although it is not always present, the doer of the action in the passive
voice is introduced by the preposition by.

A chocolate is eaten by Lara.

[subject] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [doer of the action]

More examples:
Five hamburgers were eaten.
Hamburgers (subject) are being eaten (verb).
(Note: We can exclude the by-phrase “by the man” if the object is not that important since
the sentence can still have a complete thought even without it.)
The letter was mailed by Marilyn.
The letter (subject) is being mailed (verb).
A song was written.
A song (subject) is being written (verb).
If you try analyzing the sentences, you will realize that the position of the verb did not
change, but its tense did. The subject and verb are the ones mainly interchanging.

How do we change Active to passive voices and vice versa? Are there
any rules?

To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:

1. Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE

VOICE
The teachers prepared the learning materials. The learning materials…
direct object subject

2. Place the active sentence's subject into a phrase beginning with the preposition by

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE

The teachers prepared the learning materials. The learning materials… by Marilyn.
subject prepositional phrase

1. Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the main verb's form

Learning Module in English 9 Page 3 of 5

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
The teachers prepared the learning materials. The learning materials were prepared by Marilyn.
verb verb + be auxialiary

To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown
above.

1. Move the passive sentence's subject into the active sentence's direct object slot

PASSIVE VOICE ACTIVE VOICE

The learning materials were prepared by the teacher. …learning material.
subject direct object

2. Remove the auxiliary verb be from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed

PASSIVE VOICE ACTIVE VOICE

The learning materials were prepared by the teacher. …preparedlearning material.
be auxiliary verb

3. Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.

PASSIVE VOICE ACTIVE VOICE

The learning materials were prepared by the teacher. The teacher preparedthe learning material.
object of the preposition by subject

Can you now identify active voice and passive voice? Can you transform active to passive
voice?
Task: Hone your writing skills by doing Practice Exercises A and B on pages 215-216 on
your book, and see if you can identify the voices in the sentences while changing them.

Learning Module in English 9 Page 4 of 5

END OF FIRM-UP

Activity 3: CONVERT IT!

Directions: Go over the given paragraph. Identify first whether the underlined sentences are passive
or active. And, convert passive sentences into active sentences and vice versa. Use the spaces
provided.

My first day of school was a memorable one. We were greeted by our teacher. Her name is Miss
Pam. A new lesson was discussed by Miss Pam. All of us listened to her. When it was already 12
o’clock, we ate our lunch. During the break, my two other classmates fought. Jack punched Mario. I
was so scared. But they said sorry to each other. And the first day of school ended. We all said our
goodbyes. I was fetched by my daddy. It was so fun to meet and be friends with my new classmates.
Still, it was the best day ever.

REFERENCES

Gonzales, C., & Yu, P. (2017). Essential English 9: Worktext and Literature and Language. Rex
Book Store, Inc..

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