Active vs. Passive Voice ESL Games & Worksheets

ESL Active vs. Passive Voice Games - Grammar: Writing and Reading Sentences, Matching - Pair Work In these fun active vs. passive games, students match active and passive sentences that have the same meaning. First, students write down five active sentences in different tenses and their passive equivalents. In pairs, students then take turns reading one of their active or passive sentences to their partner, who provides the active or passive equivalent. After that, students play a game of snap by matching active and passive sentences that have the same meaning. One student has a set of active sentence cards and the other has a set of passive sentence cards. Both students then turn over a card from their pile at the same time. If the active and passive sentences match, the first student to say 'snap' scores a point. Students then pick up their own cards, shuffle them and play again. If a student says 'snap' when the cards don't match, the other student scores a point and the game continues. To make the game challenging, for each sentence, there is another similar sentence. The first student to score 15 points wins the game. As an extension, students can play a pelmanism game with the cards. show less

ESL Active vs. Passive Voice Game - Grammar and Writing: Rewriting Sentences, Changing Verb Forms, True or False, Guessing - Pair Work In this free active vs. passive voice game, students practice rewriting statements from active to passive voice or vice versa. First, students rewrite trivia statements from active to passive voice or vice versa. Next, in pairs, students discuss which statements they think are true and false and write their guesses on the worksheet. Afterwards, elicit the correct answers from the class. Pairs score one point for each correct guess. If a pair thinks a statement is false, ask them to guess the right person or people for an extra point. The pair with the most points at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Active vs. Passive Voice Board Game - Grammar and Vocabulary: Matching, Gap-fill, Reforming Verbs - Group Work In this engaging active vs. passive board game, students race to claim as many squares as they can by completing factual sentences with verbs in the correct active or passive form. Teams take turns rolling the dice. If a team rolls an odd number, they can only complete an odd-numbered sentence. If they roll an even number, they can only complete an even-numbered sentence. The team members then choose a sentence and complete it with a verb from the centre of the board in the correct active or passive form, writing the verb in the space provided. If the other team agrees the verb and form are correct, the team wins the square. If not, the verb is erased from the sentence. It is then the other team's turn to roll the dice and try to claim a square. The team with the most squares at the end of the game wins. show less

ESL Active vs. Passive Voice Worksheet - Grammar, Reading and Writing Exercises: Gap-fill, Matching, Writing and Rewriting Sentences In this informative active vs. passive voice worksheet, students practice choosing between active and passive voice based on real-world communication contexts. Students begin by completing a gap-fill text about when to use the active and passive voice with words from a box. Students then match each communication scenario to the most suitable voice (active or passive). Next, students rewrite sentences using the active or passive voice as appropriate for the scenarios. Finally, students decide whether the active or passive voice would be appropriate for each scenario and explain why, writing an example passive sentence for each one. show less

ESL Active vs. Passive Voice Activity - Grammar, Writing and Speaking: Role-play, Asking and Answering Questions, Transforming Sentences, Freer Practice - Group Work This active vs. passive voice speaking activity helps students practice using the active and passive voice appropriately in different contexts through crime investigation role-plays. In groups of three, one student takes on the role of a detective, one is a suspect, and the other is a witness. First, the suspect chooses and underlines one option for each statement on their card about what they were doing on the day of the crime. Next, the detective interviews the witness, who describes what they saw in the active voice. The detective records the answers in formal report language to complete the police report (Incident, Location, Time, Suspect Description, Other Details) using the passive voice for crimes and actions done to objects or people, and the active voice for suspect descriptions and movements. When the report is complete, the detective reads it to the teacher for verification. Once verified, the detective interviews the suspect, who answers using their statement card. The detective begins with an accusation, then asks active-voice questions and compares the suspect’s answers with the witness’s account in the report. Each answer that does not match the witness’s statement counts as one mismatch. If there are three or more mismatches, the detective arrests the suspect. If there are two or fewer, the suspect is released. Afterwards, students change roles and repeat the procedure with the next case, and so on, until all three cases have been completed. show less

ESL Active vs. Passive Voice Game - Grammar: Matching, Changing Verb Forms, Gap-fill - Pair Work In this enjoyable active vs. passive game, students race to complete sentences by putting the verb in brackets into the correct active or passive form. In pairs, students begin by lining up sentence beginning cards in order and matching them with an ending card. Once all the sentences have been matched, students complete the endings by putting the verb in brackets in the correct active or passive form. The first pair to complete all their sentences correctly wins. show less