Active/passive | Year 7 | Grasp English

💡Understand

In the ACTIVE voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action (e.g. 'The chef cooked the meal'). In the PASSIVE voice, the subject receives the action instead, and the person doing the action becomes optional or is removed entirely (e.g. 'The meal was cooked' or 'The meal was cooked by the chef'). Active voice tends to feel direct and energetic; passive voice can feel more formal, distant, or can deliberately hide who is responsible for an action.

“Active: 'The manager made the decision.' Passive: 'The decision was made.'”

The active version clearly identifies WHO made the decision. The passive version removes this information entirely — this isn't necessarily wrong, but it's a significant choice: it can be used to focus on the decision itself, or, in some contexts, to avoid assigning blame or responsibility to anyone specific.

🔍Spot it

Identify whether each sentence is written in active or passive voice.

Question 1

The committee approved the new policy.

💡 'The committee' (the subject) directly performs the action of approving.

Question 2

The new policy was approved.

💡 'The new policy' (the subject) receives the action of being approved; WHO approved it is not stated.

Question 3

Mistakes were made.

💡 This famous type of phrasing uses passive voice specifically to avoid assigning responsibility to anyone.

🧠Think about it

Why might a company's official statement say 'errors were identified in the report' (passive) rather than 'we made errors in the report' (active), even though both describe the same situation?

✍️Try it

Identify the voice and its likely purpose.

The window was broken sometime last night.

Question 1

What voice is used here, and what effect does it likely create?

💡 Notice that the person responsible for breaking the window isn't mentioned at all.

📝Practise

Identify whether each sentence is active or passive.

Question 1

"The scientist conducted the experiment." Voice?

Question 2

"The experiment was conducted by the scientist." Voice?

Question 3

"The bridge was built in 1990." Voice?

Question 4

In one word, which voice has the subject performing the action? (active or passive)

💡 See the Understand section.

Question 5

Why might a scientific report favour passive voice (e.g. 'the sample was heated to 100°C')?

Question 6

"The award was given to her." Voice?

🎯Apply

Read the passage, then answer the questions below.

The report concluded that significant delays had occurred throughout the project. No individual was named as responsible; instead, the failures were attributed broadly to 'a breakdown in communication across departments.' Critics argued that the report's own carefully passive language conveniently avoided holding any specific person accountable.

Question 1

"the failures were attributed broadly" is written in which voice?

💡 Notice that WHO attributed the failures isn't stated.

Question 2

What effect does this passive phrasing likely have, according to the passage's own critics?

Question 3

Quote the phrase the report uses instead of naming a specific responsible person.

💡 It appears in quotation marks within the passage.

🏆Challenge

Explain in two or three sentences why the passage's own critics might view the report's use of passive voice as a deliberate rhetorical strategy, rather than simply a neutral stylistic choice.

🔄Review

A quick mastery check — 3 questions.

Question 1

In active voice, the subject...

Question 2

In passive voice, the person responsible for an action...

Question 3

Why might passive voice sometimes be used deliberately in official statements?

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