Unit 5 : Grammar 2: The Passive Voice : cours 1 Bac SM

1Course Objectives

This section outlines the concrete learning goals that students in 1ère année baccalauréat (Sciences expérimentales) are expected to achieve by the end of this grammar unit on the passive voice.

By the End of This Unit, Students Will Be Able To

Objective 1

Identify active and passive voice structures in written texts, clearly distinguishing the doer (agent) from the receiver of the action.

Objective 2

Transform active sentences into grammatically correct passive sentences across seven tenses : Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous, Present Perfect, Future with will, and Modal Verbs.

Objective 3

Apply the passive voice formula — Subject + to be + V3 (+ by + Agent) — accurately in written production tasks.

Objective 4

Decide when to include or omit the by + agent phrase based on context and communicative purpose.

Objective 5

Recognize the main contexts where passive voice is preferred: scientific writing, journalism, formal announcements, and historical accounts .

Objective 6

Correct frequent passive voice errors: use of V2 instead of V3, tense mismatch between auxiliary to be and the main clause, and incorrect use of passive with intransitive verbs .

These objectives are aligned with the 1ère année baccalauréat (Sciences expérimentales) official curriculum for English. Mastery of the passive voice is assessed in both written comprehension and written expression tasks, making it a core grammar competency for the baccalaureate examination.

	$Learning Objective$	$Skill Type$	$Assessment Context$
$1$	$Identify active vs. passive structures$	$Reading Comprehension$	$Text analysis tasks$
$2$	$Transform active sentences into passive (7 tenses)$	$Grammar Production$	$Transformation exercises$
$3$	$Apply the passive formula in writing$	$Written Expression$	$Guided writing, essays$
$4$	$Include or omit 'by + agent' appropriately$	$Contextual Judgment$	$Gap-fill & rewriting tasks$
$5$	$Recognize preferred contexts for passive voice$	$Sociolinguistic Awareness$	$Text-type identification$
$6$	$Correct common passive voice errors$	$Error Analysis$	$Correction exercises$

Overview of unit objectives, skill types, and assessment contexts for the Passive Voice unit — 1ère année baccalauréat (Sciences expérimentales)

Before studying the passive voice, students must be confident in several foundational grammar concepts. This section briefly reviews the key knowledge required to understand and apply the passive voice correctly.

Subject (S)

The noun or pronoun that performs the action in a sentence. Example: 'The chef' in 'The chef prepared the meal.'

Verb (V)

The action or state word in a sentence. Example: 'prepared' in 'The chef prepared the meal.'

Object (O)

The noun or pronoun that receives the action. Example: 'the meal' in 'The chef prepared the meal.'

Every English sentence built around an action verb follows the Subject \to Verb \to Object (S-V-O) pattern. Being able to identify each element is the very first skill needed before transforming an active sentence into a passive one, because the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence .

Identifying S, V, O: Quick Check

Sentence

'Scientists discovered a new planet.' \to Subject: Scientists | Verb: discovered | Object: a new planet

Sentence

'The teacher explains the lesson.' \to Subject: The teacher | Verb: explains | Object: the lesson

Tip

Ask Who/What does the action? \to Subject. Ask What is done? \to Verb. Ask Who/What is affected? \to Object.

The passive voice is constructed using different tense forms of the auxiliary verb'to be' . You must therefore already know the six main tenses used at this level and how 'to be' behaves in each one.

$Tense$	$Active Example$	$Form of 'to be' needed in Passive$
$Present Simple$	$They clean the rooms.$	$is / are$
$Present Continuous$	$She is writing a report.$	$is being / are being$
$Past Simple$	$He built the house.$	$was / were$
$Past Continuous$	$They were fixing the car.$	$was being / were being$
$Present Perfect$	$She has finished the work.$	$has been / have been$
$Future with 'will'$	$They will announce the results.$	$will be$

The six tenses required for passive voice constructions at 1ère année baccalauréat level

Every verb in English has three forms that must be memorised. The past participle (V3) is the form used in ALL passive constructions, regardless of tense.

Three Verb Forms (V1 / V2 / V3)

Regular verbs

V1 (base) \to V2 (past simple) \to V3 (past participle): play \to played \to played | clean \to cleaned \to cleaned | finish \to finished \to finished

Irregular verbs

V1 \to V2 \to V3 (each form may be different): write \to wrote \to written | take \to took \to taken | break \to broke \to broken | do \to did \to done | eat \to ate \to eaten

Key rule

In the passive voice, only V3 is used — never V1 or V2 alone. The tense is carried by the auxiliary 'to be', not by the main verb.

Auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) do not carry the main meaning of a sentence; instead, they support the main verb to express tense, aspect, or modality. Two families of auxiliaries are particularly important for the passive voice:

'To be' as a tense auxiliary — it changes form to mark the tense of the passive sentence: is, are, was, were, has been, have been, will be, is being, was being... Modal verbs — can, must, should, may — are placed before 'be + V3' to build modal passive constructions (e.g., 'The report must be submitted by Friday.').

Modal Verbs: Passive Role

can

Expresses possibility or ability: 'This form can be downloaded online.'

must

Expresses obligation: 'Homework must be handed in on time.'

should

Expresses advice or recommendation: 'Errors should be corrected carefully.'

may

Expresses permission or possibility: 'Dictionaries may be used during the test.'

Structure

Modal + be + V3 (past participle) — the modal is never conjugated and 'be' stays in its base form.

Finally, a solid working vocabulary is essential. To correctly build and interpret passive sentences, students should be comfortable identifying the doer of an action (the agent) and the receiver of an action (the entity affected), and describing both using appropriate nouns and verb phrases. Without sufficient vocabulary, it becomes difficult to determine which element moves from object position to subject position when switching between voices.

Self Check: Are You Ready?

✔ Can you identify the subject, verb, and object in any simple sentence?

✔ Do you know the conjugation of 'to be' in present simple, past simple, present perfect, and future?

✔ Can you give V3 (past participle) for at least 20 common regular and irregular verbs?

✔ Do you know what modal verbs are and how they combine with a base-form verb?

If you answered yes to all four, you are fully ready to study the passive voice.

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Dans la classe

3Key Definitions: Active Voice, Passive Voice, and the Agent
4Key Grammatical Terms: Past Participle (V3), Auxiliary 'to be', and Intransitive Verbs
5The Core Structure of the Passive Voice
6Passive Voice Across Tenses
7When to Use the Passive Voice: Contexts and Agent Omission
8Application: Guided Practice Exercises
9Summary: Key Rules and Properties to Remember