Years 5 and 6 English · Key Stage 2 · Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Years 5 and 6 formal English, passive verbs and perfect tense

In Years 5 and 6, children learn to choose the right level of language for the occasion, recognising the vocabulary and sentence structures of formal speech and writing, including the subjunctive. They also use passive verbs to change how information is presented, and the perfect form of verbs to show how events relate in time and cause. All three give a writer more control over tone and emphasis.

Formal language, passive and perfect forms, explained

Register is the level of formality a writer or speaker chooses. A message to a friend can say “Can you tell me when it starts?”, while a letter to a museum is more likely to say “I would be grateful if you could tell me what time the event begins.” Children learn that formal English avoids slang and contractions, and tends towards single, more exact words (purchase rather than buy, request rather than ask for) and complete, carefully built sentences. They are not expected to write in an old-fashioned way. The aim is to notice which choices suit a letter to a head teacher, a news report or a presentation, and which suit a text to a cousin.

The subjunctive is a verb form used in some very formal writing and speech. Most children will have heard it without noticing, in “If I were you” rather than “If I was you”, or in “Were the weather to improve, we would meet outside.” In some formal sentences it also appears as the plain verb after words of recommendation or demand: “The school asks that every pupil be on time.” Children are taught to recognise these forms and to use a few of them in formal writing. In ordinary conversation, “if I was” is very common, and teachers explain this as a matter of register rather than of right and wrong.

A passive verb is used when the writer wants to put the thing affected by an action first, or leave out who did it. In “The window was broken by the ball”, the window comes first. In “The window was broken”, we are not told who did it at all. Passive verbs are made from a form of the verb be plus the past participle, such as is cooked, was built or has been cancelled. Teachers show children that active and passive sentences can say the same thing with a different emphasis, and that the passive is useful in science write-ups (the solution was heated), reports and news.

The perfect form of a verb uses have, has or had plus the past participle. The present perfect (I have lived here for three years) links the past to now. The past perfect (She had left before we arrived) shows that one past event happened before another. Writers use it to show time and cause together: “Because it had rained all week, the field was waterlogged.” Children revise the present perfect from Years 3 and 4, then use the past perfect to give background or explain why something happened. Questions on the passive, the perfect form and the subjunctive can appear in the grammar, punctuation and spelling test taken in May of Year 6, though schools teach them for use in real writing first.

The last objective covers the rest of the Year 5 and 6 grammar in the curriculum’s grammar appendix, such as relative clauses, modal verbs, cohesion across paragraphs, synonyms and antonyms, and punctuation for parenthesis and between clauses, which have their own guides. Throughout, children keep adding to the grammar terms they can use to talk about writing, and the Year 6 list brings in terms such as subject, object, active and passive.

Words your child will hear

Formal: Language suited to serious or official situations, with careful word choices, complete sentences and no slang.
Subjunctive: A verb form used in some formal sentences to talk about wishes, suggestions and unreal situations, as in “If I were you”.
Passive: A sentence in which the thing affected by the action comes first: “The window was broken.”
Active: A sentence in which the doer comes first: “The ball broke the window.”
Perfect form: A verb made with have, has or had plus the past participle, such as “has finished” or “had finished”.
Past participle: The verb form used after have, has, had or be in the passive, such as eaten, broken or walked.
Register: The level of formality of language, chosen to suit the audience and purpose.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to:

Develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English appendix 2 by recognising vocabulary and structures that are appropriate for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
Develop their understanding of English appendix 2 concepts by using passive verbs to affect the presentation of information in a sentence
Develop their understanding of English appendix 2 concepts by using the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
Develop their understanding of English appendix 2 concepts by learning the grammar for years 5 and 6 in English appendix 2

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: rewriting an informal notice formally

A pupil has written this for the school newsletter: “Sorry, but the school fair’s off because it chucked it down and the field’s a swamp. Mr Hall’s class made all the posters.” Rewrite it formally.

Change the vocabulary and remove contractions. “Sorry, but” becomes “We regret to announce that”. “Off” becomes “cancelled”. “Chucked it down” becomes “rained heavily”. “Swamp” becomes “waterlogged”. Contractions such as fair’s and field’s are written out in full. Mr Hall’s stays as it is, because that apostrophe shows possession, not a missing letter.
Use the passive to put the important thing first. The readers care about the fair, not who made the decision, so: “the school fair has been cancelled.” This is a passive verb (has been cancelled) in the perfect form. The doer is simply left out.
Use the perfect form to link cause and time. “The field is waterlogged” is a result. To explain it, we can use the past perfect: “Because it had rained heavily, the field was waterlogged.” The rain happened first, which the word had shows.
Keep the posters sentence in the passive, because the posters are the focus: “The posters were produced by Mr Hall’s class.” Here the doer is kept, with by, because it deserves credit.
Add a subjunctive to close. “Were the weather to improve, the fair would be held on the following Saturday.” “Were the weather to improve” is a formal way of saying “if the weather improved”.

We regret to announce that the school fair has been cancelled. Because it had rained heavily, the field was waterlogged. The posters were produced by Mr Hall’s class. Were the weather to improve, the fair would be held on the following Saturday.

Common mistakes and how to help

Thinking any sentence with “was” in it is passive

The passive does contain a form of be, so children spot was and assume it is passive. But “She was running” is an ordinary past tense, because the doer is still the subject.

What helps: Ask, “Is the subject doing the action or having it done to it?” A reliable test is whether you can add “by someone” at the end: “The window was broken by someone” works, but “She was running by someone” does not.

Believing formal writing means using the longest words possible

Children told to “make it more formal” often swap every word for a thesaurus choice and end up with something stiff, unclear or even wrong.

What helps: Formal is about tone and precision, not length. Ask, “Would you say this to the head teacher?” and prefer a clear exact word to a grand one.

Using the present perfect with a finished time: “I have seen him yesterday”

Have plus a participle feels like a natural past tense, so children add a time word without noticing the clash. The present perfect links the past to now, so it cannot sit with yesterday, last week or in 2019.

What helps: Say “I saw him yesterday” (a finished time) and “I have seen him today” or “I have seen him before” (time connected to now). Read the sentence aloud and listen.

Thinking “If I were” is a mistake because it sounds wrong

In everyday speech most people say “If I was”, so the subjunctive can sound like an error to children and parents alike.

What helps: Explain that “were” is the formal form, used in careful writing and speech, and that both are heard in real life. Practise it in “If I were the head teacher…” sentences.

How to help at home

Same message, two voices. Pick a simple message, such as asking to borrow a book, and say it as you would to a friend, then to a head teacher. Talk about which words and endings changed.
Write a real formal request. If something needs asking, such as whether a club has a space or a delivery has arrived, let your child draft the email or letter. Check for slang, contractions and a clear opening and closing.
Active or passive? Pick headlines and instructions from a leaflet or newspaper and ask whether the doer or the thing affected comes first. Then swap them round and see how the emphasis shifts.
Before and after. Ask your child to tell you something that happened today and something that had already happened before it, using “had”. For example, “By the time we got to school, I had lost my glove.”
If I were…. Make up wishes and what-ifs at tea time: “If I were the prime minister…” or “If I were a bird…”. It is a painless way to get “were” into everyday talk.

Builds on

Years 3 and 4: Conjunctions, present perfect, fronted adverbials
Years 3 and 4: Direct speech, commas and apostrophes

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Writing for different purposes
Key Stage 3: Organising and rhetorical devices
Key Stage 3: Drafting, editing and proofreading
Key Stage 3: Grammar in challenging texts and for effect
Key Stage 3: Standard English and register