初中英文：主動語態與被動語態

By the end, you can describe the same action with a different focus, keep its time clear, and decide whether the doer matters. Start with two questions: who does the action, and what receives it?

The drama club repaired the costumes. This starts with the doer. The costumes were repaired by the drama club. This starts with what received the action. Both describe the same repairs; the focus changes.

In an active sentence, the subject performs the action and an object can receive it. In “The caretaker locked the gate”, the subject is the caretaker, the verb is locked, and the object is the gate. For this passive transformation, the gate moves into subject position: “The gate was locked by the caretaker.”

Use be + past participle. For a present routine: is/are + participle. For a completed past action: was/were + participle. For a simple future event: will be + participle. Match be to the new subject and preserve the time. The participle does not change with the subject: one gate was locked; two gates were locked.

Regular participles often end in -ed. Some are irregular: write → written, speak → spoken, send → sent, find → found. “Was write” and “is spoke” are not the passive forms taught here.

This transformation needs an object. “The visitors arrived” has no object to move: do not write “The visitors were arrived”. Passive voice is a choice of focus, not a way to improve every sentence.

Present routine: The helpers collect the trays after lunch. → The trays are collected after lunch. The trays receive the action; they are plural, so use are collected.

Finished past event: A technician repaired the projector on Tuesday. → The projector was repaired on Tuesday. The projector is singular and the repair is a completed past action.

Future plan: The organisers will display the winning photographs next week. → The winning photographs will be displayed next week. Keep will and add be + displayed.

Passive back to active: The banner was designed by the art club. → The art club designed the banner. The by phrase supplies the doer. Do not invent a named doer when the original sentence does not tell you one.

A by phrase names the agent: the person or thing doing the action. Use it when readers need that information, for example when crediting the students who made a display. You can leave it out when the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant to the message.

“The bicycle was stolen” is a complete passive sentence. Adding “by someone” usually contributes little. “The mural was painted by Class 2B” gives useful credit. If you transform a sentence and the task asks you to keep the doer, include it; if the task is about a notice whose focus is the result, choose the wording that serves that purpose.

When you correct a passive, check the time, the new subject and the participle.

For the practice task, each sentence is intended as a complete passive sentence. Correct the passive verb only; keep the subject and time information.

1. The homework completed yesterday.
2. The match was cancel because of rain.
3. English is spoke here.
4. The classroom cleaned every day.

After submitting, compare each correction with the model. Check what you repaired: a missing form of be, a wrong participle, or both. This writing task has no automatic mark.

The school fair committee wants a short notice that focuses on the equipment and arrangements, rather than repeatedly naming staff.

Draft notice: “The caretaker checked the lights on Thursday. Helpers clean the tables after every lunch break. Staff will deliver the extra chairs on Saturday morning.”

Write the notice using passive sentences. Preserve the times and the actions. You may omit these agents because this notice is about the arrangements. Do not add information that the draft does not provide.

Try the exit check without looking at the worked examples. Read the meaning as well as the form: a grammatical sentence can still change the original doer or the time.

After results, review be + participle if the form caused difficulty, and review the agent examples if the focus changed. The score covers objective items only; compare your writing with the models separately. Skill feedback needs at least three objective pieces of evidence.

The established mastery threshold is 80%, with a completed practice and at least eight objective items. This proposed lesson has 14 one-mark objective items: 12/14 meets the threshold; 11/14 does not. Retry incorrect items and keep your first result visible. The next grammar lesson is Relative Clauses; it is a recommendation, not a lock.