ESL Grammar: PASSIVE VOICE (1) – Subject – Verb – Object

This ESL grammar lesson introduces the concepts of subjects, verbs, and objects as a precursor to learning passive voice. Students then practice writing subjects and objects in the blanks of various sentences.

ESL Grammar: What is the Subject-Verb-Object Structure?

In English, most sentences follow the Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) order. Here’s a breakdown:

• Subject (S): The person, animal, or thing doing the action.
• Verb (V): The action or state of being.
• Object (O): The person, animal, or thing receiving the action.

Examples of SVO Sentences

1. Simple Sentence:
   • Subject: The cat
   • Verb: chased
   • Object: the mouse
   • Sentence: The cat chased the mouse.
2. With Adjectives:
   • Subject: The quick brown fox
   • Verb: jumps
   • Object: over the lazy dog
   • Sentence: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
3. With Time Expressions:
   • Subject: She
   • Verb: will eat
   • Object: an apple
   • Sentence: She will eat an apple tomorrow.

Identifying the Subject, Verb, and Object

To identify the subject, verb, and object in a sentence, ask these questions:

1. Who or what is performing the action? This is the subject.
2. What action is being performed? This is the verb.
3. Who or what is receiving the action? This is the object.

Let’s analyze another example:

• Sentence: John kicked the ball.
  • Who performed the action? John (Subject)
  • What action was performed? kicked (Verb)
  • What received the action? the ball (Object)

The English grammar lesson below introduces the subject-verb-object structure, in preparation for learning the passive voice. Our series of ESL grammar lessons on subjects and verbs introduce these concepts and reinforce them through helpful and instructive exercises.

This lesson is available for free download, and you can download many more English grammar lessons focusing on advanced aspects of English grammar (past continuous tense, present perfect tense, present perfect continuous tense, passive voice, embedded questions, relative clauses) in our comprehensive, intermediate- to advanced-level ESL grammar textbook Great, Great Grammar! (Book 3: Tenses and More!).