Advanced Grammar

Active/passive voice, reported speech, concord

Advanced Grammar Concepts

Grade 8 grammar covers active and passive voice, reported speech, subject-verb concord, and more complex sentence structures. Mastering these concepts improves both your writing and your ability to answer language questions in exams.

Example

Active and Passive Voice

Active voice: The subject performs the action. 'The dog bit the man.' (subject = dog, action = bit) Passive voice: The subject receives the action. 'The man was bitten by the dog.' (subject = man, receives the action) To change active to passive: move the object to the front, use 'was/were' + past participle, add 'by + original subject'.

Note

Concord Rules

Subject-verb concord means the verb must agree with its subject: • 'The boy runs.' (singular) ✓ • 'The boys run.' (plural) ✓ • 'Everyone has a book.' (not 'have') ✓ • 'Neither the teacher nor the learners were present.' ✓ Watch out for tricky subjects like 'everyone', 'nobody', 'each'.

Key Vocabulary

Active voiceThe subject performs the action of the verb

Passive voiceThe subject receives the action of the verb

ConcordAgreement between the subject and the verb in a sentence

Past participleThe verb form used with 'has/have/was' (e.g. written, eaten, broken)

SASL Avatar

Loading avatar...

1 / 4

Active voice

Speed: