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Text lesson

LESSON 70: WE DON’T KNOW WHO DID IT! – ACTIVE VOICE Vs. PASSIVE VOICE

LESSON 70: WE DON’T KNOW WHO DID IT! – ACTIVE VOICE Vs. PASSIVE VOICE

Lesson 70 de Connecting usgt

B1 English - Lesson 70: CSI Grammar

CSI: GRAMMAR DIVISION

We don't know who did it!

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice

🚨 Warm-Up: Pop Culture Crimes

When we don't know the criminal, how do we report the crime?

Discuss with your class: In famous movies or series, awful things happen. If you were a journalist, which headline sounds better?

SpongeBob SquarePants A: "Plankton stole the Krabby Patty formula!"
B: "The Krabby Patty formula was stolen!"

Batman A: "Somebody destroyed the Batmobile last night!"
B: "The Batmobile was destroyed last night!"

"Option B sounds more dramatic because the OBJECT is the star of the sentence!"

📝 The Detective's Notepad (Vocab)

Tap the cards to learn essential crime-scene vocabulary.

Break into 🚪
Phrasal Verb

Allanar / Forzar entrada
To enter a house or building illegally by force.

Steal 📺
/stiːl/

Robar (un objeto)
Ex: They stole my TV. (You steal a THING).

Rob 🏦
/rɑːb/

Robar (a alguien/lugar)
Ex: They robbed the bank. (You rob a PLACE).

Torn 🛋️
/tɔːrn/

Rasgado / Roto
Past participle of Tear. When fabric is ripped.

⚖️ Grammar Core: Active vs. Passive

How to shift the focus from the criminal to the victim.

We use the Active Voice when we know who did the action and we want to emphasize them. We use the Passive Voice when we don't know who did it, or the object/victim is more important.

Active Voice

Focus on the DOER.

Somebody + stole + the TV.

Passive Voice

Focus on the RECEIVER.

The TV + was stolen.

🚨 CRITICAL ERROR AVOIDANCE: Steal vs. Rob
Many students say: "My TV was robbed." This is INCORRECT.
You steal objects (TV, money, car). -> My TV was stolen.
You rob people or places (Bank, John). -> The bank was robbed. / John was robbed.

📻 Evidence: The Sunday Break-In

Listen to the victim's statement. Can you spot the passive voice?

READY

[INCIDENT LOG #884]

We all got up very happy last Sunday. It was going to be a perfect weekend. First, we were going to have breakfast together. Then, we had planned a splendid day at the beach. But the happiness didn’t last.

When we came downstairs, we had a terrible surprise. Somebody had broken into our house.

The scene was awful. The sofa was torn, the TV wasn’t there anymore, and neither was the DVD player. Many things were missing. We had no idea who had done this.

We called the police, and they asked us a lot of questions. The police started to examine the house, and we were asked to leave while the scene was processed.

Our beautiful weekend was completely ruined.

✅ Practice 1: The Detective's Quiz

Test your knowledge. Is it Active or Passive? Rob or Steal?

Clues Analyzed: 0 / 4

1. "Somebody had broken into our house." Is this sentence Active or Passive?

2. "Our beautiful weekend was ruined." Is this sentence Active or Passive?

3. Choose the correct sentence for the crime:

4. How do you say "El banco fue robado" in English?

✍️ Practice 2: The Crime Report

Convert the victim's messy notes into an official Passive Voice report.

Instructions: Change the active ideas into Past Passive Voice (was/were + past participle).

Example: Our house / break into -> Our house was broken into.

🗣️ Practice 3: Breaking News

Report a chaotic event using the Passive Voice.

🌪️ The Reporter

A natural disaster (hurricane or earthquake) just hit the city. You are a live news reporter. Describe the damage using the Passive Voice!

"Many trees were destroyed. The school roof was blown away. Several cars were damaged."

🎙️ The Anchor

Listen to the reporter and ask follow-up questions.

"That is terrible. Were any people injured? Was the hospital damaged?"

🚓 Case Closed!

You have successfully investigated the grammar scene.

Final Interrogation:

If someone takes your cellphone on the bus... Do you say "I was stolen" or "I was robbed"?
(Shout the answer to your teacher: "I was robbed! My phone was stolen!")

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