Active and passive voice exercise | PDF - Free Printable

It looks like you've uploaded a worksheet titled "Active and Passive Voice Exercise", which contains two sections:

1. Active Voice Sentences (1–18): These are sentences written in the active voice, where the subject performs the action.
2. Passive Voice Sentences (1–18): These are the same sentences rewritten in the passive voice, where the subject receives the action.

Your task is likely to convert active voice sentences into passive voice (or vice versa), but since the passive versions are already provided, it seems this may be a practice exercise for identifying or converting between active and passive voice.

Let me walk through how to understand and solve such exercises.

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🔍 What is Active vs. Passive Voice?

- Active Voice: The subject does the action.
- Example: *The teacher praised him.*
- Subject: "The teacher"
- Action: "praised"
- Object: "him"

- Passive Voice: The subject receives the action.
- Example: *He was praised by the teacher.*
- Subject: "He"
- Action: "was praised" (past participle + auxiliary)
- Agent: "by the teacher" (optional)

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✔ How to Convert Active → Passive

To convert an active sentence to passive:
1. Make the object of the active sentence the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Use the appropriate form of "be" + past participle.
3. Optionally include the agent (the doer) with "by".

#### Example:
> Active: The fire destroyed the building.
> Passive: The building was destroyed by the fire.

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Now, let’s go through a few examples from your list to confirm correctness and explain the logic.

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🔁 Example Conversions (Active → Passive)

| Active | Passive |
|--------|--------|
| 1. Mr. Sullivan teaches us grammar. | We are taught grammar by Mr. Sullivan. ✔ |
| 2. The teacher praised him. | He was praised by the teacher. ✔ |
| 3. The firemen took the injured to the hospital. | The injured were taken to the hospital by the firemen. ✔ |
| 4. An earthquake destroyed the town. | The town was destroyed by an earthquake. ✔ |
| 5. The boy's work pleased the teacher. | The teacher was pleased with the boy's work. ⚠️ (Note: This is slightly different because “pleased” can be used both ways.) |
| 6. The fire damaged the building. | The building was damaged by the fire. ✔ |
| 7. Who taught you French? | By whom were you taught French? ✔ |
| 8. The manager will give you a ticket. | You will be given a ticket by the manager. ✔ |
| 9. Spectators thronged the streets. | The streets were thronged with spectators. ✔ |
| 10. Everyone will honor us. | We will be honored by everyone. ✔ |
| 11. The wind blew down the trees. | The trees were blown down by the wind. ✔ |
| 12. The police caught the thief. | The thief was caught by the police. ✔ |
| 13. Alice posted the letter. | The letter was posted by Alice. ✔ |
| 14. The hostess received the guests. | The guests were received by the hostess. ✔ |
| 15. They/somebody killed the snake with a stick. | The snake was killed with a stick. ✔ (Agent not mentioned) |
| 16. The people welcomed the mayor. | The mayor was welcomed by the people. ✔ |
| 17. He was found guilty of murder. | He was found guilty of murder. ✔ (This is already passive – no agent needed) |
| 18. John Mathews built this house in 1991. | This house was built by John Mathews in 1991. ✔ |

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📌 Key Observations:

- All conversions follow standard passive structure: Be + Past Participle
- The agent ("by..." phrase) is included when relevant.
- Some verbs (like *please*, *honor*, *welcome*) require special attention — they often use "be + past participle" even when meaning changes slightly.
- In sentence 17: *"He was found guilty..."* — this is already in passive voice. It means someone (e.g., a judge) declared him guilty. The agent is omitted, which is common.

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✔ Final Answer:

✔ The passive voice versions listed under "Answers" are correct for the corresponding active voice sentences.

This exercise helps students:
- Recognize subject-object relationships.
- Understand verb forms in passive constructions.
- Practice using prepositions like "by" and "with".
- See how voice affects tone and focus (e.g., emphasizing the action rather than the doer).

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If your goal was to check the answers, then yes, all the passive versions are correctly formed.

If you want to practice converting more sentences, I can generate additional ones!

Let me know if you'd like a summary chart or quiz based on this!