Active: “The cat chased the mouse.”
Passive: “The mouse was chased by the cat.”
Active & Passive Voice — Year 6 Grammar Explained
Active and passive voice trips up a lot of Year 6 children. Not because it's hard — once they see it, they get it. The problem is nobody explains it simply enough. So let's fix that.
Active vs Passive — The Simple Version
Active: the subject does the action.
Passive: the subject has the action done to it.
Same event. Same cat. Same mouse. But the focus has shifted. In the active version, the cat is the star. In the passive version, the mouse is. That’s really all there is to it.
How to Spot Passive Voice
Look for “was/were + past participle” or “is/are being + past participle”. That combo is the giveaway.
“The cake was eaten.”
“The windows were smashed.”
“The house is being painted.”
Here’s a fun trick kids love: if you can add “by zombies” to the end and it still makes sense, it’s passive. “The cake was eaten by zombies.” Yep, that works. Passive. “The cat chased by zombies.” Nope, doesn’t make sense. Active.
Why Writers Use Passive Voice
Sometimes you want to hide who did something. Politicians are brilliant at this: “Mistakes were made.” Who made them? Nobody knows. Convenient.
Other times you want to focus on the receiver, not the doer: “The ancient ruins were discovered in 1922.” We care about the ruins, not who found them.
Newspapers use it all the time. So do scientists: “The solution was heated to 100°C.” Your child doesn’t need to know why writers use it for the GPS paper, but understanding the purpose helps it make sense.
Converting Active to Passive
This comes up in SATs regularly. Here’s how to do it in three steps:
Active: “The dog bit the postman.”
1. The object (“the postman”) becomes the new subject
2. The verb changes to “was/were + past participle”
3. The old subject goes to the end with “by”
Passive: “The postman was bitten by the dog.”
Notice “bit” became “was bitten”. That’s the past participle. Most children know these from speaking English every day — they just don’t know the name for it. Eaten, broken, stolen, written, thrown. They already know them all.
What SATs Actually Ask
The GPS paper keeps it fairly simple. Expect questions like:
- “Tick the sentence written in the passive voice.”
- “Rewrite this sentence in the passive voice.”
- “Circle the verb form that shows the passive voice.”
Usually worth 1 mark. Get it right and it’s a free mark every time. The trick is just recognising that “was/were + past participle” pattern.
The Most Common Mistake
Loads of children think past tense means passive. It doesn’t.
“The dog walked down the street.” — Past tense, but active. The dog is doing the walking.
“The dog was walked by its owner.” — Past tense and passive. The dog is having the walking done to it.
The difference? Passive needs that “was/were” + past participle combo. Just being in the past tense isn’t enough. If your child can remember this one thing, they’ll avoid the most common trap.
Quick Test — Active or Passive?
Read each sentence with your child and see if they can tell which is which:
1. “The teacher marked the homework.” — Active
2. “The homework was marked by the teacher.” — Passive
3. “A goal was scored in the last minute.” — Passive
4. “The children played in the garden.” — Active
5. “The letter was delivered this morning.” — Passive
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