Some practical expenenees in teaching active and passive voice to students

When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.. In grammar, an active voice is a type of a clause or sentence in which a subject

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ

TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG

INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

SOME PRACTICAL EXPERIENCES IN TEACHING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE TO STUDENTS AT HAM

RONG HIGH SCHOOL

Người thực hiện: Nguyễn Văn Toàn Chức vụ: TTCM – Giáo viên

SKKN thuộc lĩnh vực môn: Tiếng Anh

THANH HOÁ NĂM 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

PART B: CONTENT 2

II Five steps used to teach Passive and Active voice 3 III The structure of active and passive voice 5

IV How to change regular active sentences into passive ones 5

1 The rules of changing into passive voice 5

2 Students should note some problems 6

5 The passive voice with MAKE/SEE/HEAR 8

6 Structure “Let somebody do something” 8

7 Verbs of liking/loving/wanting/wishing + object + V-inf 9

8 Verbs: advise/order/recommend/urge + O(1)+to +V+O(2) 9

9 Verbs: advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide + V-ing +O 9

10 Imperative verbs in passive voice 9

11 Structure: It is your duty to + V 9

12 Structure: It is impossible to + V 9

13 Structure: It is necessary to + V 9

PART C: CONCLUSION AND PROPOSALS 11

PART A

I Reason for choosing the topic.

English is known as the worldwide spoken language nowadays and almost all of the people need to know this language so as to communicate and integrate Therefore, English has become a compulsory subject applied across the whole educational system in Vietnam

When learning English, students focus on learning active voice sentences and active structures It is usually the easiest way for them to phrase sentences But when students progress in their study, they will encounter passive voice sentences, especially irregular passive structures To do the multiple choice exercises well, they need to understand the issues relating to active and passive voice in English Passive voice is one of the most difficult grammar points that make students confused so much about both its function and its equivalent meaning when they translate a passive sentence into an active one in Vietnamese To help the students

of my school study Passive voice in English more easily, I have chosen “Some

practical experiences in teaching active and passive voice to 12 th grade students

at Ham Rong High School” to be my research theme in this initiative experience

II Aims of the research

I have done this research to help my students know how to use passive voice correctly not only in their daily communication but also in their exams Moreover, this research may encourage students to be interested in learning English and I hope to share teaching experiences with my colleagues

III Objects of the research

This research is concerned with the active and passive voice and their usage

IV Scope of the research

This research is done in the process of teaching active and passive voice and their usage to 12th grade students at Ham Rong High School

V Research method

This research is done by reading reference books applied in teaching, observing and drawing out experiences

PART B: CONTENT

I The theoretical background

1 Definition of active voice

Generally, we tend to use the active voice – one of the two voices

of verbs (active and passive voice) When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb In grammar, an active voice is a type of a clause or sentence in which a subject performs an action and expresses it through its representative verb To simply put it, when a subject performs an action directly, it is in active voice It then uses transitive verb to show the action

By definition, the “voice of a verb tells whether the subject of the sentence performs the action or is acted upon” (Fowler and Aaron 242) Active voice involves agents performing the action using action verbs

(e.g., Protesters unified their efforts to pass the regulation) Passive voice involves

disguised, unknown, or relocated agents acted upon by “to be” and past participle

verbs (e.g., Votes are counted by the volunteers) Helping verbs may also exist in passive expressions (e.g., Votes have been counted by the volunteers) As shown in

some passive expressions, the agent (volunteers) appears as an object in a prepositional phrase (by the volunteers) Some passive expressions contain no agent (e.g., Votes are counted), indicating that it is unknown, unimportant, or unreported.

2 Definition of passive voice

The passive voice is a grammatical voice of verb where what would be the object of a corresponding active sentence becomes the subject of a sentence in the passive voice The passive voice is formed with the appropriate tense of the verb to

be + past participle A passive voice is a type of a clause or sentence in which an action (through verb), or an object of a sentence, is emphasized rather than its subject Simply, the subject receives the action of the verb The emphasis or focus is on the action, while the subject is not known or is less important

“Voice refers to whether the subject of a sentence is on the giving or receiving end

of the action” (Stilman, 2010) “In a passive construction, the person or object that

is actually performing the action may be named in the sentence, but is not the focus

of it.” (Stillman, 2010)

II Five steps used to teach Passive and Active voice

1 STEP 1: Recognizing the Active Structure

Not all sentences can be changed to the passive voice Only an active voice sentence with a direct object can be made passive Your students will have to learn to recognize active structures with direct objects before they can restructure these sentences into the passive voice In English, the subject always comes first in the sentence (with some exceptions that we will not address here) After that is the verb which is sometimes followed by a direct object and/or an indirect object Active sentences that have a subject, verb, and direct object can be restructured using the passive voice The direct object is essential because it becomes the subject of the passive sentence, so if an active sentence does not have a direct object, it cannot be restructured in the passive voice To practice determining if an active sentence can be made into a passive sentence, review the parts of a sentence with your students Give them several examples both with and without direct objects Be sure that everyone can identify the direct object before moving on to STEP 2

2 STEP 2: Make the Object the Subject

Restructuring the active to the passive includes two major changes in a sentence’s structure The first is taking the direct object of the active verb/sentence and making it the subject of the passive sentence Once your

students can correctly identify the direct object in an active sentence, they should be able to easily determine the subject of the passive sentence

3 STEP 3: Changing the Verb

When changing an active sentence to a passive sentence, the tense of the verb changes Every passive sentence contains a “be” verb To change an active verb to a passive verb, use the correct form of “be” and the past participle of the original active verb For example, “eat” becomes “is eaten”, “give” becomes “was given” and so on Let your students practice changing active verbs to passive verbs in various tenses and using them with the correct passive subject

4 STEP 4: When the Subject Remains

If a speaker or writer wants to include the noun performing the action (the subject in the active sentence) in a passive construction, they must include it in

a “by” phrase after the passive verb The original subject becomes the object of the prepositional phrase, and it comes after the passive verb Take this active

sentence, for example “George Orwell wrote 1984.” George Orwell is the

subject (performing the action of writing) In the passive sentence, 1984 was written by George Orwell, this subject appears in a “by” phrase after the main verb The by phrase is optional in the passive sentence though in this case the information (the author’s name) is important and should be included

5 STEP 5: When to Use the Passive

Though we are usually told to use active sentences, there are times when using the passive is actually more logical In active sentences, both the one performing the action (the subject of the active verb) and the recipient of the action (the direct object of the active verb) are important Passive sentences are different Using a passive sentence makes sense when the noun performing the action is not important For example, “The test was administered.” (It doesn’t matter who administered the test.) Also, if a person does not know who

performed the action, the passive is the construction to use “My purse was

passive voice is that the one performing the action is obvious “She was fired.” (She could only be fired by her boss.)

III The structure of active and passive voice

Passive voice O(S) BE V-ed/PII

IV How to change regular active sentences into passive ones

Tenses Active voive Passive voice

Present simple S + V(s/es) + O S + am/is/are + P2

Present continuous S + am/is/are + V-ing + O S + am/is/are + being + P2 Present perfect S + have/has + P2 + O S + have/has + been + P2

Past simple S + V(ed/Ps) + O S + was/were + P2

Past continuous S + was/were + V-ing + O S + was/were + being + P2 Past Perfect S + had + P2 + O S + had + been + P2

Future simple S + will + V-inf + O S + will + be + P2

Future perfect S + will + have + P2 + O S + will + have + been + P2 Near future S + am/is/are going to + V-inf + O S + am/is/are going to + be + P2

Modal verbs S + Modal verbs + V-inf + O S + Modal verbs + be + P2

1 The rules of changing into passive voice

- Determination of S , V , O in the initiative

- The object (O) of the active is the subject (S) of the passive

- Putting the verb to be into the same tense as the active verb and adding the past

participle of the active

- The subject of the active verb becomes the ‘agent’ of the passive verb The agent is

very often not mentioned When it is mentioned it is preceded by by and placed at the

end of the clause

Example 1: My father waters this flower every morning

 This flower is watered (by my father) every morning

Example 2: John invited Fiona to his birthday party last night

 Fiona was invited to John's birthday party last night

Example 3: Her mother is preparing the dinner in the kitchen

 The dinner is being prepared (by her mother) in the kitchen

2 Students should note some problems

2.1 When S of the active is the pronouns (he, she, you, they, we ) and some words

such as “someone, somebody, anyone, anybody, everyone, everybody” is omitted by O

in the passive, if not stated agent

Example 1: Someone has sent me the flowers.

 I have been sent the flowers

Example 2: She must do all homework before going to bed.

 All homework must be done before going to bed

2.2 Adverb of place is placed before “by + O”.

Example 1: The police found him in the forest.

 He was found in the forest by the police

2.3 Adverb of time is placed after “by + O”.

Example: Mr Brown bought the house last week.

 The house was bought by Mr Brown last week

2.4 Adverb of manner is placed between “BE + PP”.

Example: The boss has treated them badly.

 They have been badly treated by the boss

2.5 Note that in theory a sentence containing a direct and an indirect object, such as: Example: He sent me a postcard This sentence could have two passive forms

1  I was sent a postcard

2  A postcard was sent to me

Note: The first of these is much the more usual.

V Irregular Passive voice

1 Causative form: “Have” or “Get”.

1.1 Have

* Active: S + have + somebody + V-inf + something.

* Passive: S + have + something + past participle

Example: Active: I had him repair the roof yesterday

Passive:  I had the roof repaired yesterday.

1.2 Get

* Active: S + get + somebody + to- inf + something

* Passive: S + get + something + past participle

Example: Active: I will get her to cut my hair

Passive:  I will get my hair cut.

2 Verbs of Opinion: say, think, believe, know, report, rumour, consider, expect,

report

* Active: S1 + V of pinion + (that) + clause (S2+V + O)

* Passive: It + be + V of opinion (PP) + (that) + clause.

or: S2 + be + V of opinion (PP) + to-inf

to have + PP

Example 1: Active: They say that John is the brightest student in class.

Passive: → It is said that John is the brightest student in class.

Passive: → John is said to be the brightest student in class.

Example 2: Active: They knew that Mary won the competition.

Passive: → It was known that Mary won the competition

Passive: → Mary was known to have won the competition.

3 Verbs of perception: see, watch, hear,

* Active: S + V + O + bare - inf / V-ing

* Passive: S + Be + V (PP) + to-inf/ V-ing

Example 1: Active: People saw him steal your car

Passive: → He was seen to steal your car.

Example 2: Active: The teacher is watching them working.

Passive: → They are being watched working by the teacher.

4 The passive voice with NEED

After the verb “need + V-ing” the sentence is passive meaning (Or need + to be + PP)

Example: The windows need cleaning

(Or The windows need to be cleaned)

* The verbs “require and want” is the same as “need”

Example: These letters require typing

(Or These letters require to be typed)

5 The passive voice with MAKE/SEE/HEAR

MAKE/SEE/HEAR is followed by To – infinitive when it is used in the passive

voice

Example: Active: My boss made me work hard

Passive: → I was made to work hard by my boss

6 Structure “Let somebody do something”

Example: Active: He let me go Passive: I was let go/ I was allowed to go

7 Verbs of liking/loving/wanting/wishing + object + V-inf.

Active: S + like/would like/would love/want/wish + somebody + to V + O Passive: S + like/would like/ would love/want/wish + O + to be + V-pp + (by sb)

8 Some verbs: advise/order/recommend/urge + O(1) + to +V +O(2) are changed

into passive in two ways

- Active: S + advise/order/recommend/urge + O(1) + to +V +O(2)

- Passive: O(1) + be + advised/ordered/recommended/urged to +V +O(2)

OR: S + advise/order/recommend/urge + that + O(2) + should be +V-pp

9 Some verbs: advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide + V-ing + O

- Active: S + advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide + V-ing + O

- Passive: S + advise/insist/recommend/suggest/decide that + O should be + V-pp

10 Imperative verbs in passive voice

- Active: V + O… / Do not + V + O + …

- Passive: Let + O + be + Ved/pp / Let + O + NOT + be + V-ed/pp

Example 1: Put your pen down → Let your pen be put down

Example 2: Do not take this item → Let this item not be taken

11 It's your duty to + Vinf

 Passive: You're supposed to + Vinf

Example: It's your duty to make tea today