What is the passive voice?

In the passive voice the action happens to the subject: 'The window was broken.' In the active voice the subject does the action: 'Sam broke the window.' The passive often hides who did it.

How do you change active to passive?

Move the object to the front, add a form of 'to be' plus the past participle, and you can drop the original subject. 'The dog chased the ball' becomes 'The ball was chased.'

Why does the SATs test the passive voice?

Knowing the passive shows children can control sentence structure and formality. The GPS paper asks them to identify it and sometimes to rewrite a sentence into the passive.

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KS2 Active & Passive Voice Practice Questions

Practise the active and passive voice for the Year 6 KS2 SATs Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling paper — telling the two apart and rewriting a sentence from one to the other. Every question is marked instantly with a clear explanation. Free, with no sign-up.

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Try These 10 Questions

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Question 1

Which sentence is written in the passive voice?

Question 2

Which sentence correctly converts this active sentence to the passive voice? Active: "Thousands of visitors admire the painting every year."

Question 3

Which sentence is written in the PASSIVE voice?

Question 4

Which sentence is written in the ACTIVE voice?

Question 5

Rewrite this active sentence in the PASSIVE voice. "The chef cooked the meal." Write your answer.

Question 6

Which option correctly rewrites the sentence in the ACTIVE voice? "The ancient ruins were discovered by a team of archaeologists."

Question 7

Rewrite this sentence in the PASSIVE voice, omitting the agent. "Workers repaired the road last night." Write your answer.

Question 8

Which sentence uses the passive voice to deliberately avoid naming who performed the action?

Question 9

A reporter wrote: "The council has approved the new housing development." Which option correctly rewrites this in the PASSIVE voice in the PRESENT PERFECT?

Question 10

Explain in one sentence why a writer might choose to use the passive voice in a formal report. Then give an example of a passive sentence.

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More KS2 GPS practice

Grammar Spelling Punctuation Word Classes Fronted Adverbials Verb Tenses Noun Phrases Homophones Silent Letters Prefixes Suffixes Apostrophes Commas Speech Marks Colons & Semi-colons Brackets & Dashes

Active & Passive Voice — Frequently Asked Questions

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KS2 GPS Active & Passive Voice Guide All Topics