Monday, February 03, 2014

Active and Passive Meanings

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[This is designed for younger students who might get confused about the passive form.  The aim is to emphasize that although the word order changes in passive sentence, the meaning does not change when you move from active to passive.  It makes use of silly nonsensical examples to get the point across.  I've also had some success using this with older students who are getting burnt out by regular grammar exercises, and in the mood to do something silly.  The pictures are not mine, and are borrowed from various places around the Internet.  I print the pictures onto large paper and hold them up in front of class to elicit the sentences before giving out the worksheet.]




Active
Passive
I eat a hamburger
A hamburger is eaten by me.


Active
Passive
The hamburger eats me.
I am eaten by the hamburger.






  
Active
Passive
The dog bites the man
The man is bitten by the dog.




Active
Passive
The man bites the dog.
The dog is bitten by the man


 



Next, draw a picture of what is happening, and write in the passive sentence:
Active
Passive
I kick the ball



Picture


Active
Passive
The ball kicks me.



Picture


Active
Passive
The cat catches the mouse



Picture



Active
Passive
The mouse catches the cat.



Picture


Active
Passive
I drive the car.



Picture


Active
Passive
The car drives me.



Picture


2 comments:

  1. I remember you also gave this worksheet to EAP class.

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  2. Yes, you're absolutely right, I did use this for EAP once. It's designed for younger students, but we were doing that day on the passive in EAP, and I thought this might be a nice break from the normal EAP materials.

    ReplyDelete