Writing With An Active or Passive Voice Worksheets

Related ELA Standard: L.8.3.A

Core Standard
Answer Keys Here

When you are writing you must think through the progression of what you are trying to achieve to decide the approach you should take towards the language that you use. You can often put a greater focus on the person performing an action. This is called writing in an active voice. You can also focus your attention towards placing emphasis on the being receiving the action. This is called the passive voice. These worksheets will help students understand the purpose and use of both.

Active or Passive Voice Writing Worksheets:

Identifying Passive Voice – Does the subject of the sentence receive the action? Highlight examples of passive voice in the sentences. What word is repeated in each of the examples above?

Identifying Active Voice – Is the verb the actual action? : Determine is if the sentences below contain active voice or passive voice by writing "active" or "passive" in the space provided.

FIXING IT UP – We do a subject and predicate hunt. If you want to fix your writing to make it better, one of the first things you should do is figure out if you're writing with passive or active voice.

The Three Bears – A simple story that we want you to pick apart. Is there any passive voice in sentence 1?

Tag With A Tiger – Would you ever do that? Write your own nonsense poem using any ideas from the poem you just read. Make sure your poem rhymes and contains 8 lines. It can be about tigers, playing tag, rats, rain, or even Granny. Just be sure to use active voice!

Leapin' Lizards, Frogs, and Toads! – Read the poems and highlight all examples of active voice.

Using What You Know To Grow – By remembering things we've already learned, we can start to learn new things.

Be A Sport – Try eliminating the forms of "to be" in the sentences below to start removing active voice.

Choosing the Best Verb – Circle the word in parentheses that best completes the sentence below.

ABC Summer BrainSTORM – Think of as many ACTIVE VERBS as you can that have to do with SUMMERTIME.

Dallying With Daffodils – List the examples of active verbs.

DON'T BE A BABY! – What are the 5 active sentences in here?

A Good Time Was Had By All – Does it contain active or passive voice? How can you tell?

Let's Get Cooking – Kind of a Mad Lib with a purpose.

When to Use an Active and/or Passive Voice


For the most part, you should focus your writing more towards the active voice. The active voice insures shorter and to the point sentences. The passive voice leaves more to the imagination for the reader and it is often much more wordy. Focusing your efforts towards writing in an active voice will make your sentences much clearer for your readers.


There are also some good reasons to write in a passive voice. When we are writing a story where we want to place a higher level of emphasis on the action taking by someone or something rather than the person or thing itself, the passive voice is the way to go. In some stories we want to completely leave the actor of the sentence out of the reader’s mind, another perfect reason to get with passive voice. When we are trying authoritative mood, the passive voice comes in handy too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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