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Common Core ELA8th GradeLanguage

L.8.1: Verbals, Voice and Mood

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.1 · Cluster: Conventions of Standard English.

Make a Verbals ScrambleAll 41 8th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 8, Language · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What L.8.1 Means in Plain English

Eighth graders explain what a verbal is doing: in “Running the trail was harder than expected,” running is a gerund acting as a noun. They write in active and passive voice, use all five moods, and fix a sentence that switches voice or mood halfway through.

Seventh graders (L.7.1) worked on phrases, clauses, sentence types and dangling modifiers. Eighth grade turns to the verb: verbals, voice (who acts) and mood (fact, command, question, condition or wish). In grades 9 and 10 (L.9-10.1), parallel structure and varied phrases take over.

L.8.1 I Can Statements

  • I can explain whether a verbal acts as a noun, adjective or adverb.
  • I can rewrite a sentence from passive to active voice and back.
  • I can spot and fix a shift in voice or mood.

L.8.1 Worked Example

Two sentences of lab directions with two shifts in them, one in mood and one in voice. Fixed, every step speaks to the reader the same way.

Prompt

Fix the shifts in voice and mood in these lab directions, then name the verbal in the first sentence and its job.

Not YetTo measure the plant, hold the ruler at the base of the stem. Then you should record the height, and the leaves are counted.Hold is a command (imperative), you should record slides into a statement (indicative), and the leaves are counted flips to passive voice, so the step no longer says who counts them.
Meets the StandardTo measure the plant, hold the ruler at the base of the stem. Then record the height and count the leaves.Every step is now an imperative in active voice, so the reader does each action. To measure is an infinitive working as an adverb: it tells why you hold the ruler.
Moves to Use
Name each verbal’s job: a gerund works as a noun, a participle as an adjective, an infinitive as a noun, adjective or adverb.Active voice: the subject acts. Passive voice: the subject receives the action.Pick one mood for a set of directions, usually the imperative, and hold it.When a clause suddenly hides who acts, check for a slide into passive.

Common Mistakes with L.8.1

Calling every -ing word a verb

“In ‘Shivering, the hikers waited,’ shivering is the verb.”

Try this: Have students find the sentence’s main verb first, then test each -ing word: does it name a thing or describe one?

Treating passive voice as an error

“Fixing” “The bridge was built in 1932” into “Some workers built the bridge in 1932”

Try this: Teach passive as a tool for when the actor is unknown or unimportant, and mark only the unplanned shift inside one sentence.

Sliding from command to statement

“Preheat the oven, and then you will want to add the eggs.”

Try this: Highlight the first verb’s mood in each set of directions, then check every later verb against it, one step at a time.

Where L.8.1 Fits

Comes BeforeL.7.1Explain what phrases and clauses do, vary sentence types, and fix dangling modifiers.
AlongsideL.8.3Choose active or passive voice and the conditional or subjunctive mood on purpose, for an effect.W.8.2Write explanatory pieces and procedures, where a mood shift in the steps confuses the reader.
Comes NextL.9-10.1Use parallel structure and vary sentences with participial, absolute and prepositional phrases.

Practice L.8.1

Sentence Scramble GeneratorFree ToolScrambled sentences built around a gerund, a participle or an infinitive phrase, so students rebuild each one and name what the verbal does.VerbalsActive and passiveGrade 8
Make a Scramble

Quick Check

  1. What two shifts does the weak version contain?
  2. What is the verbal in “To measure the plant, hold the ruler,” and what job does it do?
  3. Rewrite in active voice: “The winning goal was scored by Maya.”

L.8.1: Other Names

L.8.1CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.8.1

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.