Active & Passive Voice

Let us first understand the meaning of voice, and what is active voice and passive voice.
What is Voice of a verb?
The voice of a verb expresses whether the subject in the sentence has performed or received the action.
Example:

 The watchman opens the door.

 The door is opened by the watchman.

Types of Voices of Verb

Verbs have two voices (i) Active Voice (ii) Passive Voice
Active Voice – When an action performed by the subject is expressed by the verb, it is an active voice. Active voice is used when
more straightforward relation and clarity is required between the subject and the verb.
Active Voice example:

 Hens lay eggs.

 Birds build nests.

Passive Voice – When the action expressed by the verb is received by the subject, it is passive voice. Passive voice is used when
the doer of the action is not known and the focus of the sentence is on the action and not the subject.
Passive Voice Examples:

 Eggs are laid by hens.

 Nests are built by birds.

Active and Passive Voice Rules for Conversion of Sentence

Rules for Active – Passive Voice Conversions
Rule 1. Identify the (S+V+O) Subject, Verb and object in the active sentence to convert to passive voice
Example:
He drives car. (Subject – He, verb – Drives, object – Car)
Rule 2. Interchange the object and subject with each other, i.e. object of the active sentence become the subject of the passive
sentence.
Example :
Active voice : She knits sweater. (Subject – She, Verb – Knits, Object – Sweater)
Passive Voice : The sweater is knitted by her. (Object sweater is interchanged with the subject She).
Rule 3. In passive voice sometimes the subject is not used, i.e. the subject in passive voice can be omitted if the sentence without
it gives enough meaning.
Example :
Milk is sold in litres
Rule 4. Change the base verb in the active sentence into the past participle ie. third form verb in a passive sentence i.e. preceded
by (By, With, to, etc). Base verbs are never used in passive voice sentences.
Example:

 Active voice: She prepares dinner.

 Passive voice: The dinner is prepared by her.
 Active voice: She knows him.
 Passive voice: He is known to her.
 Active voice: Juice fills the jar.
 Passive voice: The jar is filled with juice.

Rule 5. While conversion of Active voice sentence to Passive voice sentence, the pronoun used in the sentence also changes in
the following manner.

Active Voice Pronoun Passive Voice Pronoun

I Me

We Us

He Him

She Her

They Them

You You

It It

Rule 6. Use the suitable helping or auxiliary verb (is/am/are/was, etc.). The rules for using auxiliary verbs in passive voice
sentences are different for each tense.
Example:

 The letter is written by her

 A book was not bought by her
 Chocolates are being eaten by them.
 Forms of Active and Passive Voice For All Tenses
Simple Present Tense:

A.V: (Subject + Verb 1(s/es) + Object)

P.V: Subject (the object) + is/am/are + V3 + (by + the doer)

Active Sentences Passive Sentences

He writes an essay An essay is written by him

Sheena does the housework The housework is done by Sheena

She cares for the rabbit The rabbit is being cared for by her

Jacob always plays the guitar The guitar is always played by Jacob

 Active: People speak English around the world.

 Passive: English is spoken around the world (by people).

 Active: My parents take care of these kids.

 Passive: These kids are taken care of by my parents.

 Active: Does he call you baby?

 Passive: Are you called baby by him?

 Active: Who calls you every night?

 Passive: Who are you called by every night?

NOTE: In the passive voice, the doer of the action (generally in most cases) is not mentioned in the sentence as it is not what the focus
is on; a sentence in the passive voice focuses on the receiver of the action (someone/something that the action is done upon). But you
can always add the doer of the action if you want to or if it’s required.

Present Continuous tense:

In the active voice of the Present Continuous tense, we focus on the person who is doing an action currently in the present.

In the passive voice of the Present continuous tense, we focus on the object (the receiver of the action) that is receiving the action in the
present. The verb tense is formed using “is/am/are + being + V3.”

Active voice: Subject (doer) + is/am/are + V1+ing + object

Passive voice: The object (receiver of the action) + is/am/are + being + V3 + (by the doer)
Examples:

Active Sentences Passive Sentences

They are eating bananas The bananas are being eaten by them

Bob is drawing a diagram A diagram is being drawn by Bob

Samta is playing the piano A piano is being played by Samta

She is waiting for Reema Reema is being waited for by her

 Active voice: They are making a movie about me.

 Passive voice: A movie about me is being made (by them).

 Active voice: They are taking interviews for different posts.

 Passive voice: Interviews are being taken for different posts (by them).

 Active voice: The police are interrogating him right now.

 Passive voice: He is being interrogated (by the police) right now.

 Active voice: Everyone is praising your work.

 Passive voice: Your work is being praised by everyone.

Present Perfect tense:

Active voice
Subject + has/have + past participle (V3) + object

Passive voice Object + has/have + been + past participle (V3) + (by + subject)

Active: She has cooked the food.

Passive: The food has been cooked by her.

Both the above sentences are in the Present perfect tense and render the same meaning. But they are focusing on different things.

The first sentence, which is in the active voice, focuses on the doer of the action (subject): she. But the second sentence, which is in the
passive voice, focuses on the receiver of the action (object): the food.

In the passive voice of the present perfect tense, we talk about what has been completed or finished; who has finished it is not important
in the passive voice of the present perfect tense.
Examples:

 Active voice: I have written an amazing song.

 Passive voice: An amazing song has been written (by me).

 Active voice: Jon has helped me a lot.

 Passive voice: I have been helped a lot (by Jon).

 Active voice: Most people have tried alcohol.

 Passive voice: Alcohol has been tried (by most people).

 Active voice: Have you finished the project?

 Passive voice: Has the project been finished?

 Active voice: Has Jyoti invited you to the party?

 Passive voice: Have you been invited to the party by Jyoti?

Note- [except certain exemptions, no passive Voice formation for the following tenses can be formed, Present Perfect Continuous
Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Perfect Continuous Tense and Future Continuous Tense]

Simple Past tense:

We use the passive voice in the Simple Past tense when we want to focus on whom or what the action was acted upon in the past, not
who performed the action. With changing the voice from active to passive, the sentence structure also changes.

 They never invited me to their houses. (Active voice)

 I was never invited to their houses by them. (Passive voice)

Note that in the active voice, the focus of the sentence is on the doer of the action: who performed the action (They). But in the passive
voice, the focus has shifted to the receiver of the action: the object (me). Notice that we have added the doer (the original subject) of the
action in the passive voice by using the preposition ‘by’ and changed it to an objective pronoun (Them) from a subjective pronoun
(Them). It is not mandatory to do that at all; we generally don’t talk about the doer of the action in the passive voice.

Active voice: subject (doer) + V2 (past form) + object

Passive voice: subject + was/were + past participle (V3) + by + the doer (optional)

Examples:

 Active: She slapped me in front of everyone.

 Passive: I was slapped in front of everyone (by her).

 Active: The police arrested the thieves last week.

 Passive: The thieves were arrested last week (by the police).

 Active: Most people didn’t like his movies.

 Passive: His movies were not liked by most people.

 Active: Did they take him to the hospital?

  Passive: Was he taken to the hospital (by them)?

Past continuous tense:

The passive voice of Past continuous tense is used when you want to focus on the person or the thing that was receiving the action in
the past; that was being acted upon. When the receiver of the action (object of the verb) is more important than the doer itself, write the
sentence in the passive voice of Past continuous tense.

Active voice: subject (doer) + was/were + present participle (V1+ing)+ object

Passive voice: object + was/were + being + past participle (V3) + by + subject (optional)

 Active: I was training Megha yesterday.

(focusing on the doer of the action ‘I’)

 Passive: Megha was being trained (by me) yesterday.

(focusing on the object that was receiving the action ‘Megha’)
Examples:

 Active: I was taking the class at that time.

 Passive: The class was being taken at that time (by me).

 Active: He was eating dinner at 9 pm.

 Passive: Dinner was being eaten at 9 pm by him.

 Active: We were not recording the video.

 Passive: The video was not being recorded by us.

 Active: Was he not helping you?

 Passive: Were you not being helped by him?

Past Perfect tense:

Sentences are written in Past perfect passive voice when we want to focus on the receiver of the action: when we want to talk about
what or whom the doer of the action had acted upon.

Active voice: Subject had V3 object

Passive voice: object had + been V3 (by + subject)

Active: They had copied all my answers.

Passive: All my answers had been copied (by them).

Active: Someone had stolen my car before I reached home.

Passive: My car had been stolen (by someone) before I reached home.

Active: We had not recorded the video.

Passive: The video had not been recorded (by us).
Active: Had they contacted you for the class?
Passive: Had you been contacted for the class by them?

Simple Future tense:

A sentence is formed in the Future Indefinite passive voice when the emphasis is given on the receiver of an action, rather than who
does it.

Active voice: Subject will V1 object

Passive voice: object will be V3 (by + subject)

Active voice Passive voice

I will complete the task. The task will be completed (by me).

We will arrange the party in an hour. The party will be arranged in an hour.

The company will not hire you. You won’t be hired.

Future Perfect tense:

Active voice: Subject will have V3 object

Passive voice: object will have + been V3 (by + subject)

Active: The company will have fired Jon before the end of the year.
Passive: Jon will have been fired before the end of the year (by the company).

Active: The government will have closed these schools.

Passive: These schools will have been closed (by the government).

Active: I will have sold this house before 2025.

Passive: This house will have been sold before 2025 (by me).
How to change Voice of Imperative Sentence:

If the verb in the Active voice

expresses orders, requests, advices
etc. the word „Let‟ is usually placed at
Rule- I
the beginning of the Passive voice and
be verb is placed before the Past
Participle of the main verb.

Active Passive

Shut the door. Let the door be shut.

Example:
Tell him to go. Let him be told to go
How to change Voice of Imperative Sentence:

If the sentence begins with „Please‟ in Active

voice, „you are requested to‟ is used in the
Passive voice. In such cases an Intransitive
Rule- II
verb may also be changed into Passive with
„you are requested to‟. Another form of the
Passive is with the verb „should‟ and „be‟.

Active Passive

Please do not smoke. You are requested not to smoke..

Please go there. You are requested to go there.

Example:
Obey your teacher. Your teacher should be obeyed.

Keep your word. Your word should be kept.

How to change Voice of Interrogative Sentence:

If the interrogative sentence begins with

the Auxiliary verb „Do‟, the process of
changing is convenient by changing it into
Rule- I Assertive first and then into Interrogative.

For instance:
Active : Do you see the bird?
Assertive : You see the bird. Passive of Assertive: The bird is seen by you.
Passive: Is the bird seen by you?

Active : Did you see the man?

Assertive : You saw the man. Passive of Assertive: The man was seen by you.
Passive: Was the man seen by you?
How to change Voice of Interrogative Sentence:

If the interrogative sentence does

not begin with „Do‟ but begins with
Rule- II a Wh-word, it can be directly
changed into passive.

For instance:
Active : Who taught you English?

Passive: By whom were you taught English.

Active : Which book do you want?

Passive: Which book is wanted by you.

Another form of Voice is Quasi-Passive Voice.

What is Quasi-passive voice?

A quasi-passive voice is active in form but
passive in sense.

Active Passive

Honey tastes sweet. Honey is sweet when it is tasted.

The rose smells sweet. The rose is sweet when it is smelt.

Example:
The house is building. The house is being built.

The book is printing. The book is being printed.

 Passive voice with different preposition:

Active Passive

I know the fact. The fact is known to me.

Light filled the room. The room was filled with lights.

Her manners pleased us very much. We were very much pleased with her
manners.

The poems of Tagore interest me. I am interested in the poems of Tagore.