what is the best way to teach passive voice to students at intermediate level of english?

Question

I want to teach Passive voice to students

Answer 1

Cloze exercises are helpful. Using stem sentences are helpful. Transposing from active voice to passive voice is helpful. Make it into a game where they pair up and write a story in active voice, then swap with another pair and change it into passive. Play a class race-game where they score points, make it into a board game, get them to act it out, set it to music....

There is never just one 'best' way if you want to take different learning styles into account.

Answer 2

In my opinion, passive voice should be taught (ack, I used it!) as something to be understood, (ack, I did it again!), not produced, at least at a beginning or early intermediate level. Since I hold that belief, I would teach students to comprehend it when reading and have them practice converting passive to active voice.

ex. Passive voice should be taught. to "One should teach passive voice." or "Teachers should teach passive voice."

You might also try to find some readings that employ passive voice purposefully, or some bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that they can convert.

When I was studying passive in German, we read the short story, 'Es wird etwas geschehen.' (something will happen) by Heinrich Böll, where the use of the passive underlined his point of things happening for no reason or purpose.

Answer 3

Impress upon them that :
In sentences written in passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb; the subject is acted upon. The agent performing the action may appear in a "by the . . ." phrase or may be omitted.

Also check out these websites
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_actpass.html
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevoice.html

Answer 4

Tell them to make the subject of their sentence the thing that is being acted upon. Like "The ball was thrown by Jimmy."