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GCSE · Grammar

Y11.6 Writing Transformation Tasks

Calculators not allowed · about 60 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Transformation toolkit. Study this table before you begin. It shows the six sentence-transformation types you will practise in this pack.

Transformation type	What changes	Example (before)	Example (after)
Active to passive	Subject and object swap places; the verb becomes a form of "to be" plus a past participle	The tourists photographed the castle.	The castle was photographed by the tourists.
Direct to reported speech	Tenses move back one step ("backshift"); pronouns and time or place words change	'I will call you tomorrow,' said Zara.	Zara said that she would call me the next day.
Statement to question	Word order inverts; an auxiliary verb moves in front of the subject	You have finished the report.	Have you finished the report?
Two simple sentences to one complex sentence	A subordinating conjunction joins the ideas and shows a relationship between them	It began to rain. The match was postponed.	Because it began to rain, the match was postponed.
Informal to formal register	Slang, contractions and vague vocabulary are replaced with precise Standard English	The teacher reckons the trip's off.	The teacher believes that the trip has been cancelled.
Verb phrase to noun phrase (nominalisation)	An action described by a verb becomes a noun, often making writing more formal or analytical	The government announced the policy suddenly.	The government's sudden announcement of the policy...

(Total for Question 1 is 0 marks)

Each pair below shows an original sentence and a transformed version of it. Using the toolkit, identify which type of transformation has been used in each pair.

(a)Original: 'The council closed the road for repairs.'
Transformed: 'The road was closed for repairs by the council.'(1)

(b)Original: 'I have already paid the bill,' said Mr Adeyemi.
Transformed: 'Mr Adeyemi said that he had already paid the bill.'(1)

(c)Original: 'The bus is late again.'
Transformed: 'Is the bus late again?'(1)

(d)Original: 'The battery died. The torch stopped working.'
Transformed: 'Because the battery died, the torch stopped working.'(1)

(Total for Question 2 is 4 marks)

Which sentence is the correctly transformed passive version of: 'The examiner will mark the papers by Friday.'?

A) The papers were marked by the examiner by Friday.
B) The papers will be marked by the examiner by Friday.
C) The examiner will be marked the papers by Friday.
D) The papers will mark by the examiner by Friday.

(Total for Question 3 is 1 mark)

A local news report states: 'Several errors have been identified in the new road signage.' Explain one effect created by using the passive voice here rather than writing: 'The council identified several errors in the new road signage.'

(Total for Question 4 is 2 marks)

Transform each active sentence into the passive voice.

(a)'The storm damaged the pier.'(1)

(b)'Scientists will publish the results next year.'(1)

(c)'Someone has stolen my bike.'(1)

(Total for Question 5 is 3 marks)

Transform each passive sentence into the active voice.

(a)'The letter was written by Aunt Rose.'(1)

(b)'The window had been broken by the storm.'(1)

(Total for Question 6 is 2 marks)

Transform each piece of direct speech into reported (indirect) speech.

(a)'I will finish the project tomorrow,' said Tom.(2)

(b)'We have already left,' the twins explained.(2)

(Total for Question 7 is 4 marks)

Transform this reported speech back into direct speech: 'Maya said that she was feeling unwell and that she would go home early.'

(Total for Question 8 is 2 marks)

Transform the statement 'You have finished your homework.' as instructed in each part.

(a)Transform it into a question.(1)

(b)Now transform the related statement 'You will hand in your books now.' into a command.(1)

(Total for Question 9 is 2 marks)

Combine each pair of simple sentences into one complex sentence, using the subordinating conjunction given.

(a)'The rain stopped. The children went outside to play.' (use 'as soon as')(2)

(b)'The bridge was old. Engineers declared it unsafe.' (use 'because')(2)

(Total for Question 10 is 4 marks)

Transform each informal sentence into a consistently formal register, without changing its meaning.

(a)'The boss reckons we should just chuck the plan and start again.'(2)

(b)'Kids these days don't get how lucky they are.'(2)

(Total for Question 11 is 4 marks)

Transform each verb phrase into a noun phrase (nominalisation). You do not need to write a complete sentence.

(a)'The government decided to reduce taxes.'(1)

(b)'Scientists discovered the vaccine quickly.'(1)

(Total for Question 12 is 2 marks)

A student transformed 'The chef cooked the meal.' into the passive voice but wrote: 'The meal was cook by the chef.' Identify the error and write the correct passive sentence.

(Total for Question 13 is 2 marks)

Direct speech: 'I am going to the shop,' said Ben.
A student's attempted reported speech (incorrect): 'Ben said that I am going to the shop.'
Identify the error(s) and write the correct reported speech.

(Total for Question 14 is 2 marks)

This sentence is meant to be a formal letter, but two features are still too informal: 'I'm writing to inform you that the fete's been cancelled, which is a bit rubbish, due to the poor weather.' Identify two informal features and rewrite the sentence in a consistently formal register.

(Total for Question 15 is 2 marks)

This short news paragraph contains four transformation errors. Identify all four errors and rewrite the whole paragraph correctly.

'Although the storm had passed by morning the damage was already did by the time residents woke up. One resident told reporters that I had never seen flooding like it before. The council's response has been criticised by locals, who reckon the drains weren't cleared properly.'

(Total for Question 16 is 4 marks)

Write your own original active sentence (8-15 words) about a school sports day, then transform it correctly into the passive voice.

(Total for Question 17 is 2 marks)

Rewrite this exchange as a single reported-speech paragraph. Backshift all tenses and change pronouns accurately; you do not need to keep any of the original speech punctuation.

'I can't find my keys anywhere,' said Leo. 'Have you checked the kitchen table?' asked Priya. 'I already looked there twice,' replied Leo.

(Total for Question 18 is 6 marks)

Transform this informal spoken account into a formal written report suitable for a head teacher. Change the register throughout, and use at least one passive-voice sentence, one example of nominalisation and a range of complex sentence structures. You must keep all the key information from the original account.

'So basically we went to the science museum on the coach and it took forever because there was loads of traffic. When we got there this guy showed us round and he was dead funny, and we did this rocket workshop thing where you build your own rocket and launch it, which was so cool. Then we had lunch in this massive hall and some kids nearly missed the coach back because they were still in the gift shop. Overall everyone reckons it was one of the best trips we've done.'
(8 marks are available for the content and organisation of your report, and 8 marks for the technical accuracy of your transformation.)

(Total for Question 19 is 16 marks)

Mark scheme · Y11.6 Writing Transformation Tasks

Question 1

Question 2

(a) B1 active to passive voice transformation, oe
(a) Answer: Active to passive voice transformation.
(b) B1 direct speech to reported (indirect) speech transformation, oe
(b) Answer: Direct speech to reported (indirect) speech transformation.
(c) B1 statement to question transformation, oe
(c) Answer: Statement to question transformation.
(d) B1 two simple sentences combined into one complex sentence, oe
(d) Answer: Two simple sentences combined into one complex sentence.

Question 3

B1 B) The papers will be marked by the examiner by Friday.
Answer: B

Question 4

B1 identifies a plausible effect, e.g. the passive removes or downplays who is responsible for the errors (oe)
B1 develops the effect, e.g. this keeps the reader's focus on the problem itself rather than on assigning blame, giving the report a more neutral, official tone (oe)
Answer: Using the passive voice removes the council as the grammatical subject, so the sentence downplays who is responsible for the errors and keeps the focus on the problem itself, creating a more neutral, official tone appropriate to a news report.

Question 5

(a) B1 The pier was damaged by the storm, cao
(a) Answer: The pier was damaged by the storm.
(b) B1 The results will be published (by scientists) next year, cao; agentless form also accepted
(b) Answer: The results will be published next year. (Equally accepted with the agent: 'The results will be published by scientists next year.')
(c) B1 My bike has been stolen, cao
(c) Answer: My bike has been stolen.

Question 6

(a) B1 Aunt Rose wrote the letter, cao
(a) Answer: Aunt Rose wrote the letter.
(b) B1 The storm had broken the window, cao
(b) Answer: The storm had broken the window.

Question 7

(a) B1 backshifts the modal correctly: 'will' becomes 'would'
(a) B1 correctly changes the pronoun and time reference: 'I' becomes 'he'; 'tomorrow' becomes 'the next day', cao
(a) Answer: Tom said that he would finish the project the next day.
(b) B1 backshifts the tense correctly: present perfect 'have left' becomes past perfect 'had left'
(b) B1 correctly changes the pronoun: 'we' becomes 'they', cao
(b) Answer: The twins explained that they had already left.

Question 8

B1 correctly reverses the backshift: 'was feeling' becomes 'am feeling'; 'would go' becomes 'will go'; 'she' becomes 'I'
B1 uses correct direct-speech punctuation: opening and closing quotation marks, a comma before the reporting clause and a capital letter for the first word of the quotation, cao
Answer: 'I am feeling unwell and I will go home early,' said Maya.

Question 9

(a) B1 Have you finished your homework?, cao
(a) Answer: Have you finished your homework?
(b) B1 Hand in your books now, cao
(b) Answer: Hand in your books now.

Question 10

(a) B1 correctly joins the two ideas using 'as soon as' at the front of the sentence
(a) B1 correctly places a comma after the fronted subordinate clause, cao
(a) Answer: As soon as the rain stopped, the children went outside to play.
(b) B1 correctly joins the two ideas using 'because' at the front of the sentence
(b) B1 correctly places a comma after the fronted subordinate clause, cao
(b) Answer: Because the bridge was old, engineers declared it unsafe.

Question 11

(a) B1 replaces informal vocabulary ('reckons', 'chuck') with formal equivalents (e.g. 'believes', 'abandoned'), oe
(a) B1 the rewrite is grammatically correct Standard English and keeps the original meaning, cao
(a) Answer: The manager believes that the plan should be abandoned and a new one started.
(b) B1 replaces informal vocabulary and the contraction ('Kids', 'don't get') with formal equivalents (e.g. 'Young people', 'do not always appreciate'), oe
(b) B1 the rewrite is grammatically correct Standard English and keeps the original meaning, cao
(b) Answer: Young people today do not always appreciate how fortunate they are.

Question 12

(a) B1 The government's decision to reduce taxes, oe
(a) Answer: The government's decision to reduce taxes...
(b) B1 The scientists' quick discovery of the vaccine, oe
(b) Answer: The scientists' quick discovery of the vaccine...

Question 13

B1 identifies that the past participle is wrong: 'cook' should be 'cooked'
B1 The meal was cooked by the chef, cao
Answer: The meal was cooked by the chef.

Question 14

B1 identifies that the pronoun and tense were not backshifted: 'I' should become 'he' and 'am going' should become 'was going'
B1 Ben said that he was going to the shop, cao
Answer: Ben said that he was going to the shop.

Question 15

B1 identifies at least two informal features, e.g. the contractions 'I'm' and 'the fete's', and the colloquial phrase 'a bit rubbish' (any two)
B1 gives a consistently formal rewrite that keeps the original meaning, oe
Answer: I am writing to inform you that the fete has been cancelled due to the poor weather, which is disappointing.

Question 16

B1 adds the missing comma after the fronted subordinate clause: 'Although the storm had passed by morning,'
B1 corrects the wrong past participle: 'did' becomes 'done' ('the damage was already done')
B1 corrects the reported-speech pronoun error: 'I had never seen' becomes 'she had never seen' (or 'he had never seen')
B1 corrects the informal register: 'reckon' becomes 'believe' and the contraction 'weren't' is expanded to 'had not been'
Answer: Although the storm had passed by morning, the damage was already done by the time residents woke up. One resident told reporters that she had never seen flooding like it before. The council's response has been criticised by locals, who believe that the drains had not been cleared properly.

Question 17

B1 writes a clear, grammatically correct active sentence of an appropriate length on the given topic
B1 gives an accurately transformed passive version that keeps the same meaning, cao
Answer: Sample answer (indicative, not the only acceptable response): Active: 'The Year 11 relay team won the final race easily.' Passive: 'The final race was won easily by the Year 11 relay team.'

Question 18

Level 0 (0): No accurate reported speech achieved; direct-speech features (quotation marks) remain, or the meaning of the exchange is lost.
Level 1 (1-2): An attempt at reported speech; tense backshift and pronoun changes are inconsistent, with frequent errors.
Level 2 (3-4): Mostly accurate reported speech; tenses and pronouns are correctly backshifted in most instances, with occasional slips.
Level 3 (5-6): Fully accurate, fluent reported-speech paragraph; all tenses, pronouns and time or place references are correctly and consistently transformed throughout.
Indicative content:
- 'can't find' backshifts to 'could not find' (or 'couldn't find')
- Leo's pronoun 'I' becomes 'he' consistently throughout the paragraph
- Priya's question 'Have you checked the kitchen table?' becomes a reported question, e.g. 'asked whether he had checked the kitchen table'
- 'I already looked there twice' backshifts to, e.g. 'he had already looked there twice'
- reporting verbs (said, asked, replied) are used to introduce each reported clause, with no direct-speech punctuation remaining

Question 19

Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-2): Some key information from the original account is retained. Little sense of report format or formal purpose; limited organisation.
- Level 2 (3-4): Most key information is retained. Some attempt at a report format and formal purpose, with some clear organisation.
- Level 3 (5-6): All key information is retained and clearly reordered where needed. Generally well organised, in a form and register appropriate for a head teacher.
- Level 4 (7-8): All key information is retained, precisely selected and effectively reordered. Confidently organised as a formal report, fully appropriate for its audience and purpose.
Technical accuracy (transformation features) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1-2): Limited evidence of register change; informal features remain. One or none of the required features (passive voice, nominalisation, complex sentences) is used accurately.
- Level 2 (3-4): Some successful register change. Two of the three required features are used, with some accuracy.
- Level 3 (5-6): Consistent formal register throughout. All three required features are present and mostly accurate.
- Level 4 (7-8): Consistently accurate, sustained formal register throughout. All three required features are used precisely and effectively, alongside a wide range of accurate sentence forms.

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