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S2 English — The Passive Voice: a tutor prep guide (be plus past participle, four tenses, by-phrase)
Students write “The window is broke by the boys” because they remember the verb be but forget the verb itself must become a past participle. Passive marks are lost on one step: handling two verbs.
Objectives — Students can: (1) move the object of an active sentence to the front and form be plus past participle, explaining what each of the two verbs does; (2) choose the right form of be for present simple, past simple, present perfect and future; (3) decide when to keep the by-phrase and when to drop it, stating that it goes when the doer is unknown or unimportant.
01 Prerequisites (3-minute check)
If any of these fails, fix it before the lesson starts.
| Skill | Quick check | Pass mark |
|---|---|---|
| Past participles | What are the past participles of break, write and take? | broken, written, taken |
| Subject and object | In “The boys broke the window”, who is the subject? | The boys |
| Present forms of be | With the subject “the window”, which form of be is used? | is |
02 Lesson flow (45 minutes)
| Time | Stage | Tutor does | Student does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Diagnose the error | Write “The window is broke by the boys” and ask which word is wrong | Identify broke and explain it must be broken |
| 5–12 min | Move the object | Give three active sentences and do only the fronting step | Circle the object and move it to the front |
| 12–22 min | Three teaching scripts | Deliver the scripts on fronting, be in four tenses, and the by-phrase, pausing after each | Repeat back “be carries the tense, the participle never changes” |
| 22–32 min | Question types | Model one item each: rewrite, choose the tense, drop the by-phrase, return to active | Do each once and say every step aloud |
| 32–40 min | Independent practice | Set four items: two rewrites, one tense choice, one by-phrase deletion | Work alone and keep each step on paper |
| 40–45 min | Exit check | Collect three answers, mark live, record whether the error was be or the participle | Say which step went wrong |
03 Teaching script (read it out)
Scene 1: Fronting: object to the front, doer to the by-phrase
Write “The boys broke the window.” Ask two questions: who did the action, and what did the action fall on. Answer: the boys did it, the window received it.
The first move of the passive is to move the receiver to the front: The window … Then the old subject steps back with by: … by the boys.
Leave two slots in the middle: be plus past participle. Be carries the tense, the participle carries the meaning.
Students usually put one word in the gap because they think one verb is enough. Have them hold two fingers over two gaps until both are filled.
Ask the student to repeat: “Two verbs: one carries tense, one never changes.”
The first move of the passive is to move the receiver to the front: The window … Then the old subject steps back with by: … by the boys.
Leave two slots in the middle: be plus past participle. Be carries the tense, the participle carries the meaning.
Students usually put one word in the gap because they think one verb is enough. Have them hold two fingers over two gaps until both are filled.
Ask the student to repeat: “Two verbs: one carries tense, one never changes.”
Two verbs: one carries tense, one never changes.
Scene 2: Four tenses: be moves, the participle stays
Present simple: The room is cleaned every day. Singular takes is, plural takes are.
Past simple: The room was cleaned yesterday. Singular was, plural were.
Present perfect: The room has been cleaned. After has or have comes been, then the participle.
Future: The room will be cleaned tomorrow. After will comes the base form be.
Common misconception: students want to show the past by changing cleaned to clean, which breaks both halves. One rule fixes it: the tense lives in be, the participle never moves.
Ask the student to repeat: “Tense goes to be; the participle stays still.”
Past simple: The room was cleaned yesterday. Singular was, plural were.
Present perfect: The room has been cleaned. After has or have comes been, then the participle.
Future: The room will be cleaned tomorrow. After will comes the base form be.
Common misconception: students want to show the past by changing cleaned to clean, which breaks both halves. One rule fixes it: the tense lives in be, the participle never moves.
Ask the student to repeat: “Tense goes to be; the participle stays still.”
Tense goes to be; the participle stays still.
Scene 3: The by-phrase: keep it or drop it
The by-phrase names the doer. Keep it in three cases: the doer is the point (The novel was written by Dickens), you are contrasting two doers, or the task asks for a full rewrite.
Drop it in three cases: the doer is unknown, unimportant, or a general everyone — as in “English is spoken here”.
Show both versions of one sentence and ask which sounds more natural. The shorter one usually does, because the reader cares that the window broke, not who broke it.
Ask the student to repeat: “If you do not know who did it, do not write by.”
Drop it in three cases: the doer is unknown, unimportant, or a general everyone — as in “English is spoken here”.
Show both versions of one sentence and ask which sounds more natural. The shorter one usually does, because the reader cares that the window broke, not who broke it.
Ask the student to repeat: “If you do not know who did it, do not write by.”
If you do not know who did it, do not write by.
04 Question types and worked steps
| Type | Example | Steps | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active to passive, past simple | The boys broke the window. | Move the object to the front; past singular be is was; the participle of broke is broken; add by plus the doer | The window was broken by the boys. |
| Choose the tense | The report ___ (finish) already. | Already signals present perfect; the subject is singular so use has; has takes been; the participle of finish is finished | has been finished |
| Drop the by-phrase | Mistakes were made by someone. | The doer is unknown, so the phrase can go | Mistakes were made. |
| Passive back to active | The cake was baked by my sister. | The by-phrase becomes the subject; was baked becomes the past simple baked; the old subject returns to the end | My sister baked the cake. |
Sanity check (teach this): Sanity check: a passive needs both be and a past participle, so one of them missing is a grammar error. The tense must match the original: broke is past, so the passive is was broken, never is broken. The subject must agree with be: the windows takes were, never was. After dropping the by-phrase the sentence must still stand; if only The window was remains, the original was wrong.
05 Independent practice (3 questions)
| Question | Answer | What to watch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rewrite | Someone stole my bike yesterday. | Move my bike to the front; past singular be is was; the participle of steal is stolen | My bike was stolen yesterday. |
| Choose the tense | New schools ___ (build) every year. | Every year signals present simple; new schools is plural so use are | are built |
| Drop the by-phrase | The letter was written by somebody. | The doer is unknown, so the phrase can go | The letter was written. |
| Return to active | The song is sung by the choir. | The by-phrase becomes the subject; is sung becomes the present simple sings; the object returns to the end | The choir sings the song. |
06 Common mistakes and what to say
| Mistake | Student writes | Say this |
|---|---|---|
| Only one verb | “The window is broke by the boys.” | “Two verbs are needed: be and a past participle. You wrote is broke — is is be, but broke is the past tense, not the participle. Write broken.” |
| Wrong tense in be | “The house is built in 1990.” | “1990 is past, so be must be past too: was built, not is built.” |
| Be does not agree | “The windows was cleaned.” | “Windows is plural, so be must be were. Was fights with the subject.” |
| Pointless by-phrase | “English is spoken by people here.” | “By people adds nothing. English is spoken here is enough.” |
07 Homework (paper, section and question numbers)
- Revise the present perfect versus past simple chapter — Whole chapter: read the question-type table and the four common errors, then practise tense choice
- English subject index — All chapters by level; start with the S2 chapters already online
- Tutor prep guides master index — Find related chapters by subject to reinforce tenses and clauses
08 Exit check (last 5 minutes)
| Question | Answer | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Turn “They clean the room” into the passive | The room is cleaned. | Answering The room is clean means the participle is missing: reteach act one, two gaps |
| “The letter ___ (send) yesterday.” | was sent | Answering is sent means the tense is wrong: reteach act two, four tenses |
| When can the by-phrase be dropped? | When the doer is unknown or unimportant | Answering never means the choice is not understood: reteach act three, three cases |
09 Tutor FAQ
Do S2 students need four passive tenses?
Yes, but only the four most common: present simple, past simple, present perfect and future. Others come in S4.
Why do students use broke as a participle?
Regular verbs share the past and participle form, so cleaned hides the difference. Keep a separate irregular participle list and test five each lesson.
Does the passive appear in writing exams?
It does, but rarely throughout. Reports and procedures use it; stories stay mostly active.
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A TutorZone lesson-prep guide. Written by the TutorZone team; questions and lesson flow are original and are not taken from any school or publisher material.