BAHAN AJAR

Satuan Pendidikan : SMA NU Kejajar

Mata pelajaran : Bahasa Inggris
Kelas/Semester : XI/1
Materi Pokok : Passive Voice
Alokasi Waktu : 6 x 45 menit ( 3 x pertemuan
 PASSIVE VOICE
Kompetensi dasar dan IPK
3.5. Menerapkan fungsi sosial, struktur teks, dan unsur kebahasaan teks interaksi
transaksional lisan dan tulis yang melibatkan tindakan memberi dan meminta
informasi terkait keadaan /tindakan/kegiatan/ kejadian tanpa perlu
menyebutkan pelakunya dalam teks ilmiah, sesuai dengan konteks
penggunaannya. (Perhatikan unsur kebahasaan passive voice)
3.5.1. Mengidentifikasi kalimat aktif dan pasif dalam kalimat
3.5.2. Mengubah kalimat aktif ke pasif
3.5.3. Mengubah kalimat pasif ke aktif

4.5 Menyusun teks interaksi transaksional lisan dan tulis yang melibatkan
tindakan memberi dan meminta informasi terkait keadaan/tindakan/kegiatan/
kejadian tanpa perlu menyebutkan pelakunya dalam teks ilmiah, dengan
memperhatikan fungsi sosial, struktur teks, dan unsur kebahasaan yang benar
dan sesuai konteks
4.5.1. Membuat kalimat aktif dan pasif
4.5.2. Merangkai kalimat aktif dan pasif ke dalam sebuah teks

ACTIVITY 1 (IDENTIFYING ACTIVE Vs PASSIVE)

Pay attention to the following picture

What is the difference of the two sentences?

The first sentence (1) the milk is as object and in second sentence (2) milk is as
subject. The meaning of the sentences is not changing but there is a change of
sentence structure. The first sentence is active voice. The second sentence is
passive voice
LISTENING ACTIVITY

Now please listen and watch the following video to know more about the concept of active and
passive voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1_IRU6zx9g

READING ACTIVITY
Text 1
Every year thousands of people die, due to weather related problems. It can
happen in both winter and in summer. Let’s examine the causes for a moment.
The year 2003 was a time of extreme cold in the winter. Extreme, that is by
European standards. In Britain alone, the number of people who died from cold-
related illnesses was described as ‘shameful’. Nearly twenty-five thousand people
died from illnesses such as strokes, heart attacks, bronchitis, flu and pneumonia.

In the summer of t he same year, around twenty-three thousand people died in

Europe due to the sizzling temperatures. France was particulary badly hit, with
nearly fifteen thousand death which were related to the sweltering heat. In Britain,
the number of heat-related death was much lower than the number of winter
deaths.
It is important to note that government need to give some advices to people on how
to protect their health.
(Adapted from news@nature.com)
Text 2

The first video game was nothing more than a device, which was originally used to record and
control the quality of electronic signal. The strength of the electronic signal was controlled by the
buttons and knobs. Who invented the first video game? The patent application is signed by two
people: Thomas T. Goldsmith, Jr. and Estle Ray Mann. Goldsmith, was an American professor of
physics and known as one of the pioneers of American television. He was considered an innovator
and has more many patents written to his name, including different innovations in the development
of television and several electronic testing patents

COLLABORATING and CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITY

Based on the texts above, please discuss with your group to find active and passive
voice by using card that has been prepared by your teacher!
Communicating activity
After discussing, please share your answer and your ideas to other group by giving
your arguments
ACTIVITY 2
(CHANGING ACTIVE TO PASSIVE VOICE and PASSIVE TO ACTIVE VOICE)
Listening activity
Watch the following video first to have more understanding about active and
passive voice and increase your listening ability
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZLdOR8Gd5M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlFUke-gsCY
Reading activity
Now read the following material about passive voice
Active and Passive Voice
1. What is the “voice” in a sentence?
In English, we can use active or passive verbs to determine the focus of a sentence.
These form the voices of a sentence: the active voice and the passive voice. Most of
the time, we write and speak in the active voice because it is the clearest and
easiest way to share information.
In general, teachers encourage students to avoid the passive voice in their writing,
though there are exceptions.

2. Active and Passive Verbs

Voice is determined by the way that a verb is used in a sentence- its active form or
its passive form.
▪ An active verb results in the subject doing the action in the sentence
▪ A passive verb results in the subject being acted upon, formed by the verb “to
be” and the past participle form of the main verb in the sentence.
Here is a chart to help you see the difference between the use of active and passive
verbs.

Sentences with ACTIVE VERBS Sentences with PASSIVE VERBS

The fox ate pancakes. Pancakes were eaten by the fox.

He is eating dinner. Dinner is being eaten by him.

 Today the fox took a test. Today a test was taken by the fox.

Many foxes can speak Spanish. Spanish is spoken by many foxes.

I made the cookies. The cookies were made by me.

Very few people own pet foxes Pet foxes are owned by very few people.

You can cook popcorn on the stove. Popcorn can be cooked on the stove.

As you can see, all of the passive sentences include the verb “to be” and the past
participle form of the main verb. The active sentences only have the active form of
the main verb.

3. Types of Voice
As you now know, a sentence’s verb determines which type of voice it will use: the
active or the passive.
a. Active Voice
In English, the best way to write and speak is almost always with the active voice.
Basically, the active voice puts emphasis on the most important part of the
sentence, so it’s the clearest, most direct way to share information.
With the active voice, the subject acts, so we can say that the subject is being
“active.” In other words, the subject does the action to the object: A does B to C.
Like this:
▪ The dog burned the popcorn. Active Voice
Here, the dog (S) burned (V) the popcorn (O). You can see that the verb comes
immediately after the subject. Let’s try another:
▪ He bit my hand. Active Voice
Here, he (S) bites (V) the hand (O); “he” does the action “bite.”
b. Passive Voice
Since we usually write and speak using the active voice, it’s important to know
about its opposite: the passive voice. You’ve probably heard that the passive
voice is “bad,” but may not know why. The main reason is that the passive voice
changes the focus of a sentence by stating its meaning in a less direct way.
With the passive voice, the subject is acted upon, so we can say that the subject
is being “passive” in the sentence. It receives the action instead of doing it and
“gets” the verb from the object: A gets B by C. Look at these sentences:
▪ The popcorn was burned by the dog. Passive voice
▪ The dog burned the popcorn. Active Voice
Here, “popcorn” is the focus because it’s the subject in the sentence: “popcorn” gets
“burned” by the dog. But the second sentence is the clearer way to share this
information, directly telling who did what.
With the passive voice, sometimes the subject is undefined, so it’s unclear what is
“doing” the verb in the sentence, like this:
▪ My hand was bitten. Passive voice
Here, we don’t know who or what does the biting in the sentence, just that the
hand “gets” bitten. This also puts the emphasis of the sentence on “bitten.” Really,
the writer wants to say that the hand was bitten by someone. So let’s add an
object:
▪ My hand was bitten by the dog. Passive voice
▪ The dog bit my hand. Active Voice
Here, we know who did the biting, but it’s still an indirect way of sharing the
situation because the hand “gets” bitten by the dog. We can avoid this type of
problem by using the active voice.

4. How to Avoid the Passive Voice

As a rule, the best way to form a successful sentence is by using the active voice.
While the passive voice is grammatically correct, most of the time you should avoid
it because there is a clearer way to write your sentence.
Sometimes, people think that the passive voice sounds more elegant or formal,
since the active voice is the most direct (and usually shortest) way to say
something. But, making a sentence longer doesn’t always make it better— in most
cases, it’s unnecessary and can make your writing:
▪ unclear or harder to follow
▪ focus on the wrong part of a statement or
▪ sound strange.
An easy way to identify the passive voice is by finding the verb in the sentence and
looking at its form. With the passive voice, the verb is combined with “to be,” like
this:
▪ The popcorn was eaten by the dog (was + eaten) = PASSIVE VOICE
▪ The popcorn has been eaten by the dog (has been + eaten) = PASSIVE VOICE
To make the sentence active, we want to remove the passive version of the verb and
“to be,” and be more direct, like this:
▪ The dog ate the popcorn (ate, no verb “to be”) = ACTIVE VOICE
By using the active voice instead of the passive voice, your writing will be clearer,
more concise, and overall more effective.

5. When is it Okay to Use the Passive Voice?

You may be wondering: if the passive voice is so bad, why does it even exist? The
passive voice may have a bad reputation in English writing, but the truth is there
are some cases where the passive voice is a better choice. For example, in formal
documents, research reports, and other similar works, the action or the object is
often the most important thing in the sentence. In those cases, the passive voice
expresses meaning better, since the active voice focuses on whom or what does the
action. Imagine a report discussing new discoveries about trees:
▪ Other scientists reviewed the research about trees. Active voice: wrong
emphasis
▪ The research about trees was reviewed by other scientists. Passive voice:
better choice
The important information here is that the research was reviewed. Because the
report is about trees, NOT about the “other scientists,” “other scientists” shouldn’t
be the focus of the sentence. Since the passive voice puts the emphasis on
“research about trees” and the verb “reviewed,” it is the better choice for this
situation.
Furthermore, we sometimes use the passive voice when we want to emphasize an
object (what) rather than a subject (who). Read these examples:
▪ The fox’s cozy home was visited by many of his friends. Passive Voice
▪ Many friends visited the fox’s cozy home. Active voice
Depending on the author’s intentions, both of these sentences are correct. In the
first sentence, the focus is on the underlined phrase, “the fox’s cozy home.” If the
author wants the focus to be about “the fox’s cozy home” (what), then the passive
voice is the better choice. But, if the author wants to focus to be on the “many
friends” that visit the home (who), then the active voice is the right choice. Let’s
add to these sentences to make it clearer:
▪ The fox’s cozy home was visited by many of his friends. It was filled with
comfortable chairs, there was always a warm fire, and it smelled like cookies.
▪ Many friends visited the fox’s cozy home. Badgers, rabbits, hedgehogs, field
mice, and even frogs went there to hang out.
So, as you can see, in the first sentence the author uses the passive voice to focus
on the cozy home, because the overall focus of the writing is the home. In the
second sentence, we need the active voice because the focus should be on
the friends.
(taken from https://englishsentences.com/active-passive-voice/)

CRITICAL THINKING ACTIVITY

Task 1
Arrange into questions in passive form!
1. written – in – the – language – lab – the – tests – are – always
2. accepted – will – be – my – apology
3. for – the – World – Exhibition – in – 1889 – the – Eiffel – Tower – was –
built?
4. be – can – cooked – beans – and – carrots – together?
5. opened – where – was – the – first – underground – railway?
6. been – the – has – to – hospital – she – taken?
7. for – the – exam – be – will – prepared – the – students?
8. is – lunch – today – provided – being?
9. last – week – given – were – laptops – to – them?
10. broadcasted – the – videos – may – be?

Task 2
Change the following sentence into passive voice!
1. I had cleaned all the windows before the storm.
2. A workman will repair the computer tomorrow.
3. By next year the students will have studied the passive.
4. James might cook dinner.
5. Somebody must have taken my wallet.
Task 3
Change the following sentence into active
1. The buildings were made of marble and granite
2. Fio is being served by one of the waitress now.
3. The 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia was written by the
Committee for Examination of Indonesian Independence and the Preparatory
Committee for Indonesian Independence
4. You will be contacted by manager if you meet the minimum requirements for
this job
5. A negative anonymous letter was left on my car this morning.

ACTIVITY 3 (CREATIVE ACTIVITY)

WRITING ACTIVITY
Now please make a text that contains of active and passive sentence

ACTIVITY 4 ( COMMUNICATING ACTIVITY )

SPEAKING ACTIVITY
Communicate with your friend about the text you have made and present it in the
form of power point or picture or diagram

DAFTAR PUSTAKA
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1_IRU6zx9g
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZLdOR8Gd5
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlFUke-gsCY
4. https://englishsentences.com/active-passive-voice/
5. https://www.wordsmile.com/contoh-soal-passive-voice-jawabannya