DIFFERENTIATION, LEARNING OBJECTIVES, SEASONALITY, & AGE RANGE FAQs

DIFFERENTIATION

What is a Differentiated Resource?

A differentiated resource is one that provides the same exercise in two distinct versions. Each version has its own format and separate instructions.

Why Differentiate?

The material is differentiated to accommodate children and students with a range of abilities and strengths. The differentiation also means that the exercise can be used more than once - with Version 2 providing an extra (or subsequent) challenge.

How is this Resource Differentiated?

Version 1 provides children and students with guided practice. If the people or things doing the action are mentioned in the sentence, they are underlined.

Version 2 gives children and students the opportunity to practise independently. They are not given any help beyond the exercise's core instructions.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES & OUTCOMES

These exercises help children and students focus on who does the action and who receives it—a key step in recognising when the active or passive voice is being used.

By strengthening this skill, children and students are better equipped to change sentences between active and passive (a common Year 6 SATs task) and to make their own writing clearer and more precise.

SEASONALITY

You can use this resource at any point during the year. It may be particularly useful to children and students when they are first learning about the active and the passive, or as a targeted revision tool before mock tests or exams.

AGE RANGE & SUITABILITY

Kindly note that the years and ages listed above are intended as recommendations only. Feel free to use this resource in any educational context that is appropriate to your needs.

THE ACTIVE VOICE & THE PASSIVE VOICE - FAQs

WHAT ARE THE ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICES?

Put simply, we use the terms ‘active voice’ and ‘passive voice’ to describe particular sentences that tell us about people or things and the actions they take.

So, when dealing with the active and passive voices, you may find it useful to think of sentences as telling short stories about who does what.

When we describe a sentence as being written in the active voice (or which uses the active voice), this means that, in our sentence, the doer of the action (the person or thing performing the verb) comes first. It's clear and direct.

• The dog chased the ball. (Here, the dog is the doer.)
• The chef prepared a delicious meal. (Here, the chef is the one doing the preparing.)

On the other hand, when we describe a sentence as being written in the passive voice (or which uses the passive voice), this means that, in our sentence, the thing receiving the action comes first.

The doer might be at the end of the sentence, or the doer may not be mentioned at all. It's less direct than the active voice.

• The ball was chased by the dog. (Here, the thing receiving the action - the ball - is mentioned first, and the dog comes later.)
• A delicious meal was prepared. (Here, the meal is the focus, and the chef – the doer - is not mentioned at all.)

HOW TO SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

The easiest way to tell the difference is to ask: "Who is doing the action?"

• If the answer is at the beginning of the sentence, it's probably written in the active voice.
• If the answer comes later or isn't there, the sentence is likely to be written in the passive voice. Additionally, sentences that are written in the passive voice frequently include forms of the verb to be (like is, was, were, has been) followed by another verb that often ends in -ed (like chased, prepared, watched).

WHY BOTHER CHANGING BETWEEN THEM?

Sometimes, you'll want to change a sentence from active to passive or vice versa. It's like having different ways to tell the same story, depending on what you want to focus on.

• Active to Passive:
• Active: The boy kicked the football. (Here, we're focusing on the boy and what he did.)
• Passive: The football was kicked by the boy. (Here, we're focusing on the football and what happened to it.)

• Passive to Active:
• Passive: The cake was eaten by the children. (What’s important here is that the cake has been consumed.)
• Active: The children ate the cake. (What’s important here is that it was the children – not a different group of people – who consumed the cake.)

WHICH ONE IS BETTER?

For clear and strong writing, the active voice is usually better. It makes sentences more direct, easier to understand, and often shorter. Think of it as being more energetic!

However, sometimes the passive voice is useful, or even necessary:

• When you don't know who did the action: "The window was broken". (We don't know who broke it.)
• When the action is more important than the doer: "The experiment was conducted carefully". (The focus is on the careful conducting, not necessarily who did it.)
• To avoid blaming someone: "Mistakes were made". (Instead of "They made mistakes".)

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HOW TO CHANGE A SENTENCE FROM THE ACTIVE TO PASSIVE VOICE

Now that we understand what the active and passive voices are, let's look at how we change from one to the other.

Changing a sentence from active to passive involves a few key steps. It's like rearranging the pieces of a puzzle to make the picture look a little different. The main reason we do this is to shift the focus of the sentence – usually from who did the action to what was acted upon.

Let's break down the steps using examples for different timings (tenses) your child might encounter.

THE CORE STEPS:

No matter the tense of the sentence, there are usually three key steps, and a fourth optional one:

1. Move the object of the active sentence to the front: Find the thing that had the action done to it and make it the new focus of your sentence.
2. Add a form of the verb "to be": This is crucial for the passive voice. The form of "to be" will change depending on the tense of the original active sentence.
3. Use the past participle of the main verb of the active sentence: This is often the -ed form of regular verbs (like 'played,' 'cooked') or a different form for irregular verbs (like 'eaten,' 'broken', ‘caught’).
4. Optional Step: Add "by" + the original subject (person or thing doing the action in the active sentence): If you still want to mention who performed the action, you can add "by" followed by the original doer at the end of the sentence. Often, in sentences using the passive voice, the "by" phrase is left out if the doer isn't important or is unknown.

Note: Click here for a detailed list of changes to the verb “to be” when switching from the active to the passive voice.

A DETAILED LOOK AT CHANGING THE ACTIVE VOICE TO THE PASSIVE VOICE WITH EXAMPLES

(a) Present Simple

We use this tense to talk about things that happen regularly or about things that are generally true.

• Active Voice: Gina bakes a cake every Saturday.

Who does what? Gina (doer) bakes (action) a cake (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object (the thing that has the action done to it) is "a cake", so we move it to the beginning of the sentence.
  • A cake...
• Step 2: Add a form of "to be". For the present simple, we use "is" or "are". Since "a cake" is singular, we use "is".
  • A cake is...
• Step 3: Use the past participle of the main verb of the active sentence. The main verb of the active sentence is “bake”. The past participle of "bake" is "baked".
  • A cake is baked...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional). We add "by Gina" and the rest of the sentence.
• Passive Voice: A cake is baked by Gina every Saturday.

What has changed? We're now focusing on the cake and that it gets baked, rather than immediately on Gina.

(b) Present Continuous

We use this tense to talk about actions happening right now.

• Active Voice: Fran is watering the plants.

Who does what? Fran (doer) is watering (action) the plants (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "the plants". We move it to the beginning of the sentence.
  • The plants...
• Step 2: Add a form of "to be" + "being". For the present continuous, we use "is being" or "are being". Because "plants" is plural, we use "are being".
  • The plants are being...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "water" is "watered".
  • The plants are being watered...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional).
• Passive Voice: The plants are being watered by Fran.

What has changed? The emphasis shifts to the plants and the fact that they are currently receiving water.

(c) Present Perfect

We use this tense to talk about actions that started in the past but are still true or have an effect now.

• Active Voice: Someone has painted the fence.

Who does what? Someone (doer) has painted (action) the fence (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "the fence".
  • The fence...
• Step 2: Add a form of "to be" + "been". For the present perfect, we use "has been" or "have been". Since "fence" is singular, we use "has been".
  • The fence has been...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "paint" is "painted". (It's already in that form in the active sentence, so we don’t need to change it.)
  • The fence has been painted...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional). Here, "someone" is vague, so we often omit the "by someone" part.
• Passive Voice: The fence has been painted.

What has changed? We don't care who painted the fence, only that the fence is now painted.

(d) Past Simple

We use this tense to talk about actions completed in the past.

• Active Voice: The cat caught the mouse.

Who does what? The cat (doer) caught (action) a mouse (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "the mouse".
  • The mouse...
• Step 2: Add a form of "to be". For the past simple, we use "was" or "were". Since "mouse" is singular, we use "was".
  • The mouse was...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "catch" is "caught".
  • The mouse was caught...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional).
• Passive Voice: The mouse was caught by the cat.

What has changed? The focus is on what happened to the mouse as opposed to what the cat did.

(e) Past Continuous

We use this tense to talk about an action that was ongoing in the past.

• Active Voice: The children were drawing pictures.

Who does what? The children (doers) were drawing (action) pictures (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "pictures".
  • Pictures...
• Step 2: Add a form of "to be" + "being". For the past continuous, we use "was being" or "were being". Because "pictures" are plural, we use "were being".
  • Pictures were being...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "draw" is "drawn".
  • Pictures were being drawn...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional).
• Passive Voice: Pictures were being drawn by the children.

What has changed? What is most important are the pictures and their state of being drawn at that time.

(f) Past Perfect

We use this tense to talk about an action completed before another action in the past.

• Active Voice: Joe had fixed the window before 6 pm.

Who does what? Joe (doer) had fixed (action) the window (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "the window".
  • The window...
• Step 2: Add "had been". For the past perfect, we always use "had been".
  • The window had been...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "fix" is "fixed".
  • The window had been fixed...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional).
• Passive Voice: The window had been fixed before 6 pm (by Joe).

What has changed? The focus is on the window and its status as having been repaired.

(g) Future Tense using the Present Continuous (for scheduled events)

We use this tense to talk about the future or plans.

• Active Voice: The performers are staging a different play next week.

Who does what? The performers (doers) are staging (action) a different play (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "a different play".
  • A different play...
• Step 2: Add a form of "to be" + "being". Since we're using the "be + -ing" structure for the future, the passive form will use "is/are being" but referring to a future event.
  • A different play is being...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "stage" is "staged".
  • A different play is being staged...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional).
• Passive Voice: A different play is being staged (by the performers) next week.

What has changed? The focus is on the play and that it is scheduled to be performed. This can sound a bit more formal than the active version for this specific future tense.

(h) Future Tense using the Modal Verbs “Will” (and “Shall”)

Another way to form the future tense is with the modal verb (or auxiliary verb) 'will’.

Note: the modal verb ‘shall’ can also be used, but it is far less common nowadays.

• Active Voice: The class will finish the project next week

Who does what? The class (doer) will finish (action) the project (thing acted upon).

• Step 1: Move the object. The object is "the project".
  • The project...
• Step 2: Add the modal + "be". The modal stays the same, and we add "be".
  • The project will be...
• Step 3: Use the past participle. The past participle of "finish" is "finished".
  • The project will be finished...
• Step 4: Add "by" + original subject (optional).
• Passive Voice: The project will be finished (by the class) next week.

What has changed? The emphasis is on the project and its future state of completion.

WHAT ABOUT THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS & PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS?

You may have already noticed that the above list does not include instructions on how to change sentences that are in either the present perfect continuous or the past perfect continuous from the active to the passive and vice versa.

There is a reason for this. When changed into the passive voice, both these tenses result in sentences that are long and clunky.

Additionally, while these forms are technically possible, we rarely use them in actual writing, so children don’t have to worry about them at this level.

Here are a couple of quick examples to show why we avoid using the passive voice with these two tenses:

Present Perfect Continuous:

• The builders have been constructing the new school. (Active voice)
• The new school has been being constructed by the builders. (Passive voice)

Past Perfect Continuous:

• The teachers had been preparing the students for the exams all year. (Active voice)
• The students had been being prepared by the teachers for the exams all year. (Passive voice)

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TABLE ILLUSTRATING HOW THE VERB "TO BE" CHANGES BETWEEN THE ACTIVE & PASSIVE VOICES

Notes:

*An -s or -es is added to the third person singular (he/she/it) in the present simple tense.

**While the modal verbs shall and shan’t (the negative form of shall) are no longer widely used to form the future tense, they are still grammatically correct and have appeared in Year 6 SPaG papers.

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