Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 83–84 · Part 2: Part II: The parts of speech in full

66. Properties of the verb: voice

Goal: Your child can tell active voice from passive voice and change one to the other.

⏱ About 25 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • Paper and a pencil (or a slate)

What's in the book

Lesson 83 lists the verb's properties and asks for a review of earlier verb lessons. Lesson 84 explains voice with "John struck James," defines active and passive voice, and gives eleven sentences.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    The book says to review sections 15, 16 and 25 (verbs, classes of verbs, participles). Ask the definitions of a verb and a transitive verb.

  2. Properties

    Read:

    To verbs belong Voice, Mode, Tense, Number, and Person.

  3. Who does what

    SayJohn struck James. James was struck by John. Ask who does the striking in each. Read:

    Voice is that form of the transitive verb which shows whether the subject acts or is acted upon.

    The Active Voice represents the subject as acting upon an object; as, 'The boy wrote a letter.'

    The Passive Voice represents the subject as being acted upon; as, 'The letter was written.'

  4. How it is built

    Read:

    The Passive Voice is formed by prefixing some form of the verb to be to the perfect participle of a transitive verb.

    Practice switching: The cat caught the mouse. The mouse was caught by the cat.

  5. Active or passive?

    Tell which:

    The mail was robbed.

    Children love play.

    The burglar might have been arrested.

  6. Check together

    Check with the answers. Remember: voice belongs only to transitive verbs.

  7. Use it today

    Find a passive verb in a newspaper or book ("was built," "is made").

Answers to the book's problems

1 sings and 2 burns are intransitive, so by the book's definition they have no voice (some grammars call them active). 3 passive. 4 passive. 5 passive. 6 active. 7 active. 8 active. 9 passive. 10 passive. 11 passive.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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