Passive Voice ESL Games, Activities and Worksheets

Exclusive

A Terrible Morning

ESL Passive Voice Activity - Speaking: Running Dictation - Pair Work - Reading and Grammar Exercises: Gap-fill, Changing Word Forms, Ordering - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes

In this passive voice running dictation activity, students race to dictate a story and then use it to complete and order sentences in the past simple passive or past perfect passive. One student is the reader and the other is the writer. The reader runs to Text A on the wall outside the classroom, reads the first part of the story, tries to remember as much as they can, runs back and dictates the text to their partner who writes it down. This continues until Text A has been fully dictated. Students then swap roles for Text B and the process is repeated. When the story has been completed, students read it with their partner and complete sentences on their worksheet with verbs in the past simple passive or past perfect passive. After that, students put the sentences in the correct order. The first pair of students to complete both exercises correctly wins.
A Terrible Morning Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Mixed Passive

ESL Mixed Passive Voice Worksheet - Grammar and Writing Exercises: Unscrambling, Writing Sentences and Questions from Prompts - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes

In this productive passive voice worksheet, students practice the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms of the present, past and future simple passive. Students start by putting words in order to make present simple passive sentences, writing the verb in bold in the correct passive voice form. In the next exercise, students order words to make past simple passive sentences. Students then put words in the correct order to make negative present simple or past simple passive sentences. Following that, students choose one word or phrase from each column and make future simple passive sentences. After that, students write passive questions for a set of answers. Finally, students write about their own shoes using the passive voice, talking about what they are made of, where they were made, etc.
Mixed Passive Worksheet Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Name Three

ESL Passive Voice Game - Grammar and Speaking: Gap-fill, Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts - Group Work - Intermediate (B1) - 30 minutes

In this free passive voice game, students practice making 'Name three' questions in the past and present passive. Students take it in turns to pick up a card and make a 'Name three' question by completing the gap with the passive form of the verb in brackets. The student then reads the question to the group, e.g. 'Name three books that were made into films'. The other group members then race to answer by naming three things belonging to the category. The first student to do this successfully keeps the card. The student with the most cards at the end of the game is the winner.
Name Three Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Passive Question Time

ESL Passive Voice Activity - Speaking: Writing, Asking and Answering Questions from Prompts, Freer Practice - Intermediate (B1) - 35 minutes

In this passive voice Find Someone Who activity, students ask and answer questions in the present perfect passive and past simple passive. In pairs, students prepare a yes/no question for each passive statement on their worksheet, e.g. 'Were you woken up by an alarm clock today?' Students then stand up and ask their questions to other students in the class. When a classmate answers 'yes' to a question, the student writes that person's name in the sentence and asks a follow-up question to find out more information, e.g. 'What time were you woken up?', noting down the answer. Afterwards, there is a class feedback session where students report their findings to the class using the present perfect and past simple passive, e.g. 'Paul was woken up by an alarm clock today. He was woken up at 7 o'clock'.
Passive Question Time Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Passive Voice Fact Finder

ESL Passive Voice Game - Grammar: Matching, Pelmanism - Group Work - Intermediate (B1) - 25 minutes

In this engaging passive voice game, students identify past and present passive sentences about facts and inventions. In groups, students have ten minutes to identify past and present passive sentences about facts and inventions by correctly matching two parts of a sentence together. After the answers have been checked, students spread out the sentence beginnings and endings face down in two sets. Students then take it in turns to turn over one card from each set. If the two cards go together, the student reads the passive sentence aloud, keeps the two cards and plays again. If not, the student reads the sentence aloud but turns it into a negative passive statement. The student then turns the two cards back over and it's the next person's turn. The student with the most cards at the end of the game wins.
Passive Voice Fact Finder Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Heads and Tails

ESL Passive Voice Game - Grammar: Completing Sentences from Prompts - Group Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 25 minutes

This imaginative passive voice game can be used to help students practice the past, present and future passive. Teams begin by completing the beginnings of present simple passive sentences with appropriate sports. When a time limit has been reached, teams swap their worksheet with another team for marking. Teams score one point for each correct answer. Then, the teams repeat the process with sentence tails. Sentence tails are passive sentences in the past, present and future about common celebrations and traditions. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Heads and Tails Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

It's a Passive Christmas

ESL Passive Voice Activity - Grammar: Rewriting Sentences, True or False, Gap-fill - Pair Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 45 minutes

In this festive passive voice activity, students learn about Christmas and how Christmas is celebrated around the world. In the activity, students play a true or false game about Christmas and then complete sentences about the game in the present and past passive. Teams begin by making true statements about Christmas false by changing one piece of information in each sentence. Teams then take it in turns to read their false statements to an opposing team. The opposing team has to guess which part of the sentence is wrong. For each correct guess, the team scores a point. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. Afterwards, students use their memory and grammar knowledge to complete gap-fill sentences about Christmas in the past and present passive.
It's a Passive Christmas Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Passive Voice Battleships

ESL Passive Voice Game - Grammar and Speaking: Forming Sentences from Prompts - Pair Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 30 minutes

In this free passive voice game, students play Battleships using the past, present and future passive. First, students mark four ships on their grid. Students then play a game of battleships using the passive voice in eight tenses. The aim of the game is to be the first student to find and destroy all their partner's ships. Students take it in turns to choose a square on their partner's grid. However, instead of giving a grid reference to find a ship, the student makes a passive sentence according to the active sentence and tense shown on each axis. The other student listens to the sentence, looks at their grid, and says whether it is a hit or miss. The first student to sink all their partner's ships wins the game.
Passive Voice Battleships Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

Passive Infinitive Practice

ESL Passive Voice Worksheet - Grammar Exercises: Binary Choice, Changing Word Form, Gap-fill, Reforming Sentences - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 45 minutes

Here is a useful passive infinitive worksheet for upper-intermediate students. Students begin by identifying the correct verb form in passive sentences. Students then complete sentences by underlining the correct verb and putting the verb in brackets in the passive infinitive form. Next, students rewrite active sentences as passive infinitive sentences. Lastly, students complete each sentence with a verb in its passive infinitive form.
Passive Infinitive Practice Preview
Preview
 
Exclusive

The Perfectly Passive Hotel

ESL Future Perfect Passive Activity - Grammar and Speaking: Matching, Gap-fill, Information Gap, Asking and Answering Questions, Controlled Practice - Pair Work - Upper-intermediate (B2) - 25 minutes

In this interesting future perfect passive activity, students use the future perfect passive to complete information about a hotel. In two groups, students match verbs with endings to complete a list of tasks to be done at the hotel today. Next, students complete sentences about the tasks with the verbs in their future perfect passive form. After that, students pair up with someone from the other group and take turns asking their partner future perfect passive questions to find out when the tasks will be done, e.g., 'When will the restaurant have been opened?' Their partner then reads out the answer (e.g., The restaurant will have been opened by 6:00 a.m.), and the student completes the sentence with the answer. This continues until both students have completed their sentences.
The Perfectly Passive Hotel Preview
Preview
 

ESL Essentials eBook Series

New Teaching Resources eBooks

Now Available!

Get Started Here

LATEST FREE
RESOURCES

LATEST MEMBER
RESOURCES