GRADE 8 English SPORTS:OLYMPICS – GRAMMAR IN USE:ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE Notes
GRAMMAR IN USE: ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
Topic: Sports — Olympics 🏅🇰🇪 (for age 13, Kenya)
This note explains how to use active and passive voice in English using examples about the Olympics. Use these rules when you want to say who does the action (active) or when you want to focus on the action or the object that receives the action (passive).
1. What are Active and Passive Voice?
- Active voice: The subject does the action. (Subject + verb + object)
- Passive voice: The object becomes the subject and the focus is the action or the receiver. (Object → Subject + be + past participle + (by agent))
2. Easy formulas
Active: Subject + Verb + Object
Passive: Object (now subject) + be (right tense) + Past Participle (+ by + Agent)
3. Examples with Olympic vocabulary
Present simple
Active: Kenyan athletes win medals. 🥇
Passive: Medals are won by Kenyan athletes.
Past simple
Active: A Kenyan runner set a new Olympic record.
Passive: A new Olympic record was set by a Kenyan runner.
Present continuous
Active: Coaches are training the team.
Passive: The team is being trained by coaches.
Present perfect
Active: The country has produced many champions.
Passive: Many champions have been produced by the country.
Future simple
Active: The committee will announce the venue.
Passive: The venue will be announced by the committee.
4. How to form the passive (important points)
- Use the right form of be (am/is/are, was/were, is being, has been, will be, etc.) + past participle (e.g., won, set, broken).
- If the doer (agent) is not important or unknown, do not use "by ...". Example: "The record was broken."
- Not all sentences can or should be changed to passive (especially intransitive verbs with no object: arrive, happen).
Examples of verb forms
be + past participle:
- Present simple: are + won → "Medals are won."
- Past simple: was/were + set → "The record was set."
- Present perfect: have/has been + broken → "The record has been broken."
- Modal: can be + seen → "The match can be seen on TV."
5. Common past participles (useful list)
win → won | break → broken | set → set | beat → beaten | organise → organised | present → presented | announce → announced
6. Practice (try these)
- Identify if the sentence is active or passive:
- a) "The medal was presented by the mayor." ✅
- b) "Athletes compete every four years." ✅
- c) "A new stadium is being built." ✅
- Change these active sentences to passive:
- "The committee organizes the games." → ___________________
- "Reporters watched the race." → ___________________
- "They will celebrate the champions." → ___________________
- Change these passive sentences to active:
- "The gold medal was won by a Kenyan athlete." → ___________________
- "The opening ceremony is watched by millions." → ___________________
- Fill in the correct form of be + past participle:
- "The torch ______ (light) by a famous runner." (past simple)
- "Tickets ______ (sell) quickly every time." (present simple)
Show answers (click)
1. a) Passive. b) Active. c) Passive.
2. a) "The games are organized by the committee." b) "The race was watched by reporters." c) "The champions will be celebrated (by them)."
3. a) "A Kenyan athlete won the gold medal." b) "Millions watch the opening ceremony."
4. a) "The torch was lit by a famous runner." b) "Tickets are sold quickly every time."
7. Useful tips for learners
- Use passive when the action or result is more important than who did it: "The record was broken."
- Use active when you want to say who did the action clearly: "The coach praised the athlete."
- Match the verb be with the tense and subject number: "Medal is awarded" vs "Medals are awarded".
- Practice by turning short sports news sentences from active to passive and vice versa.
Good luck! Try writing five active sentences about the Olympics and change them into passive voice. 🇰🇪🏃♀️🏅