AMITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

CLASS - VIII ENGLISH HANDOUT

TOPIC – ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE

Active Form
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing
receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Examples:
The professor ( ) teaches ( ) the students ( ) .
John ( ) washes ( ) the dishes ( ) .

Passive Form
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing
doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence.
You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or
should be emphasized.
You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not
want to mention who is doing the action.
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
Examples:
The students ( ) are taught ( ) by the professor ( ) .
The dishes ( ) are washed ( ) by John ( ) .

Tense Active Passive

Simple Present Once a week, Tom cleans the house. Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.

Present Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. Right now, the letter is being written by
Continuous Sarah.

Simple Past Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.

The salesman was helping the customer The customer was being helped by the
Past Continuous
when the thief came into the store. salesman when the thief came into the store.

Present Perfect Many tourists have visited that castle. That castle has been visited by many tourists.

Present Perfect Recently, John has been doing the work. Cannot be changed.
Continuous
 George had repaired many cars before he Many cars had been repaired by George
Past Perfect
received his mechanic's license. before he received his mechanic's license.

Chef Jones had been preparing the Cannot be changed.

Past Perfect
restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years
Continuous
before he moved to Paris.

Simple Future Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM. The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
will

Simple Future Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner A beautiful dinner is going to be made by
be going to tonight. Sally tonight.

Future At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be Cannot be changed.

Continuous washing the dishes.
will

Future At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be
Continuous washing the dishes. being washedby John.
be going to

Future Perfect They will have completed the project The project will have been completed before
will before the deadline. the deadline.

Future Perfect They are going to have completed the The project is going to have been
be going to project before the deadline. completed before the deadline.

Future Perfect The famous artist will have been Cannot be changed.
Continuous painting the mural for over six months by
will the time it is finished.

Future Perfect The famous artist is going to have been The mural is going to have been being
Continuous painting the mural for over six months by painted by the famous artist for over six
be going to the time it is finished. months by the time it is finished.

Used to Jerry used to pay the bills. The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
 My mother would always make the pies. The pies would always be made by my
Would Always
mother.

Future in the I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 I knew the work would be finished by 5:00
Past PM. PM.
Would

Future in the I thought Sally was going to make a I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be
Past beautiful dinner tonight. made by Sally tonight.
Was Going to

Note: The following cannot be changed into passive voice.

1. Present perfect continuous tense

2. Past perfect continuous tense
3. Future continuous tense
4. Future perfect continuous tense
5. Sentence having Intransitive verbs

Change these active sentences to passive. Choose if you need the agent or not.

1) People speak Portuguese in Brazil.

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2) The Government is planning a new road near my house .

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3) My grandfather built this house in 1943 .

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4) Picasso was painting Guernica at that time .

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5) The cleaner has cleaned the office .

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6) He had written three books before 1867 .

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7) John will tell you later.

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8) By this time tomorrow we will have signed the deal .

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9) Somebody should do the work.

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10) The traffic might have delayed Jimmy .

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11) Everybody loves Mr Brown.

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12) They are building a new stadium near the station .

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13) The wolf ate the princess .

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14) At six o’clock someone was telling a story .

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15) Somebody has drunk all the water!

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16) I had cleaned all the windows before the storm .

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17) A workman will repair the computer tomorrow .

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18) By next year the students will have studied the passive.

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19) James might cook dinner .

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20) Somebody must have taken my wallet .

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Complete the following process writing using passive voice.

1. How to Make Tea (Present Tense)

1. Boil a cup of water in a kettle/teapot.

2. When the water is still boiling, pour half a cup of milk into the boiling water.
3. Add tea leaves and sugar into the tea.
4. Allow it to boil for another 1 minute.
5. Stir the tea and serve hot.

First, a cup of water__________________ (a) in a kettle or teapot. When the water is still boiling,
______________________ (b) into the boiling water. Tea leaves _______________ (c) into the tea and it
is _________________(d) for another one minute. Finally, tea ______________ (e) and
_____________________ (f) hot.

2. How to make noodles (Past Tense)

1. Boil a glass of water in a pan.

2. Add the spices to the boiling water and stir for a minute.
3. Crunch the packaged noodles and empty the packet into the water.
4. Add vegetables of your choice.
5. Leave the mixture to simmer for three minutes and serve with tea or coffee.

This is how I made noodles yesterday. First, a glass ____________________ (a) pan. Next, the spices
_______________ (b) water and _____________________ (c) for a minute. Following this, the packaged
noodles __________________ (d) and the packet _________________ (e) into the water. Next,
vegetables of ______________________ (f) to the preparation. Finally, the mixture
_________________________ (g) for three minutes and served with tea or coffee