Voice: Active Voice, Passive Voice

Determiners	VerbsList	Tense
Voice	Narration	Preposition

Active Voice and Passive Voice

Table of Contents

Active Voice and Passive Voice

Why do we use Passive Voice

Change of Subjective Pronoun to Objective Pronoun


Convert sentences from Active Voice to Passive Voice

• Simple Present
• Present Continuous
• Present Perfect
• Simple Past
• Past Continuous
• Past Perfect
• Simple Future
• Future Perfect

Two objects in Active Voice

Uses of preposition to, with, in, when or at in Passive Voice

Uses of can, may, must in Passive Voice

Omission of the doer of the action in Passive Voice

Passive Voice of imperative sentences

Passive Voice of Interrogative Sentences

Voice: Active Voice and Passive Voice

Active Voice and Passive Voice

Voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments. When the subject is the agent or doer of the action, the verb is in the Active Voice. When the subject is the target or receiver of the action, the verb is said to be in the Passive Voice.

Why do we use Passive Voice?

Well, there are three main reasons to use Passive Voice--

1. If the subject is unknown, we use Passive Voice. For example,
   Passive: His money was stolen. In this sentence, we don’t know who stole his money.
   
   
2. To emphasize the object, we use Passive Voice. For example,
   Passive: Tom was not chosen for the cricket team. In this sentence, the coach is the subject and Tom is the object, so importance is given to Tom and not the coach and is omitted.
   
   
3. If the subject is obvious from the context, then we use Passive Voice. For example,
   Passive: The baby was born yesterday. In this sentence, mother is the subject and it is obvious, so there is no need to say it, and Passive Voice is used to describe these types of sentences.

Let us discuss Active Voice and Passive Voice in detail.

In Active Voice, subject does the action. In Passive Voice, subject is acted upon by the verb.

Look at the two sentences below--

• Sheila ate the mango.
• The mango was eaten by Sheila.

Both the sentences mean the same thing.

In the first sentence, the subject Sheila is shown as doing something. In the second sentence, the subject mango is shown as the target or receiver.

In the first sentence, the subject Sheila is the doer of the action, which means the subject is active. Therefore, the verb ate is said to be in the Active Voice. In the second sentence, the subject mango is the target or receiver of the action, which means the subject is not active, but passive. Therefore, the verb was eaten is said to be in the Passive Voice.

In Passive Voice, preposition by is used before person or object that did the action.

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Change of Subjective Pronoun to Objective Pronoun

When we convert a sentence from Active Voice to Passive Voice, we need to change the subjective pronoun to objective pronoun.

See the list below--

Subjective Pronoun		Object Pronoun
I	becomes	me
he	becomes	him
she	becomes	her
we	becomes	us
they	becomes	them
you	becomes	you

Sound knowledge of Verbs List and Tense is the prerequisite to learn Voice properly.

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Convert sentences from Active Voice to Passive Voice

Let us convert some sentences from Active Voice to Passive Voice.



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Simple Present

When you have a sentence that is in Simple Present Tense, auxiliary verbs am, is, are are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is changed to past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: I see the moon.
• Passive: The moon is seen by me.
  
  
• Active: He loves me.
• Passive: I am loved by him.
  
  
• Active: Cats kill mice.
• Passive: Mice are killed by cats.
  
  
• Active: We eat rice.
• Passive: Rice is eaten by us.
  
  
• Active: The teacher teaches the girls.
• Passive: The girls are taught by the teacher.

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Present Continuous

When you have a sentence that is in Present Continuous Tense, auxiliary verbs am being, is being, are being are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is changed to past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: She is singing a song.
• Passive: A song is being sung by her.
  
  
• Active: Rita is doing homework.
• Passive: Homework is being done by Rita.
  
  
• Active: They are eating the oranges.
• Passive: The oranges are being eaten by them.
  
  
• Active: Tom is writing a letter.
• Passive: A letter is being written by Tom.
  
  
• Active: Sheila is stitching a sweater.
• Passive: A sweater is being stitched by Sheila.

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Present Perfect

When you have a sentence that is in Present Perfect Tense, auxiliary verbs has been and have been are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is already in past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: I have read the book.
• Passive: The book has been read by me.
  
  
• Active: He has done the sums.
• Passive: The sums have been done by him.
  
  
• Active: I have not bought a new car.
• Passive: A new car has not been bought by me.
  
  
• Active: The hailstorm has ruined the crops.
• Passive: The crops have been ruined by the hailstorm.
  
  
• Active: They have lost the book.
• Passive: The book has been lost by them.

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Simple Past

When you have a sentence that is in Simple Past Tense, auxiliary verbs was and were are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is changed to past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: I ate a mango.
• Passive: A mango was eaten by me.
  
  
• Active: My father helped him.
• Passive: He was helped by my father.
  
  
• Active: My father did not help him
• Passive: He was not helped by my father.
  
  
• Active: The captain monitored the students.
• Passive: The students were monitored by the captain.
  
  
• Active: She painted the picture.
• Passive: The picture was painted by her.

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Past Continuous

When you have a sentence that is in Past Continuous Tense, auxiliary verbs was being and were being are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is changed to past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: He was doing the work.
• Passive: The work was being done by him.
  
  
• Active: They were helping us.
• Passive: We were being helped by them.
  
  
• Active: She was singing a song.
• Passive: A song was being sung by her.
  
  
• Active: The boys were flying kites.
• Passive: Kites were being flown by the boys.
  
  
• Active: The postman was delivering the letters.
• Passive: The letters were being delivered by the postman.

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Past Perfect

When you have a sentence that is in Past Perfect Tense, auxiliary verb had been is used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is already in past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: She had lost the book.
• Passive: The book had been lost by her.
  
  
• Active: We had finished the lesson.
• Passive: The lesson had been finished by us.
  
  
• Active: The boy had shot the cat.
• Passive: The cat had been shot by the boy.
  
  
• Active: Tom had made a mistake.
• Passive: A mistake had been made by Tom.
  
  
• Active: Her father had written the article.
• Passive: The article had been written by her father.

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Simple Future

When you have a sentence that is in Simple Future Tense, auxiliary verbs shall be and will be are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is already in past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: He will complete the work
• Passive: The work will be completed by him.
  
  
• Active: I shall buy a new jacket.
• Passive: A new jacket will be bought by me.
  
  
• Active: Tom will pay the bill.
• Passive: The bill will be paid by Tom.
  
  
• Active: The police will look into the matter.
• Passive: The matter will be looked into by the police.
  
  
• Active: He will sell the coconuts.
• Passive: The coconuts will be sold by him.

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Future Perfect

When you have a sentence that is in Future Perfect Tense, auxiliary verbs shall have been and will have been are used in the Passive Voice. The main verb is already in past participle.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: Rita will have opened the door.
• Passive: The door will have been opened by Rita.
  
  
• Active: She will have bought a new camera.
• Passive: A new camera will have been bought by Rita.
  
  
• Active: They will have missed the bus.
• Passive: The bus will have been missed by them.
  
  
• Active: Sheila will have done the job.
• Passive: The job will have been done by Sheila.
  
  
• Active: We shall have painted the wall.
• Passive: The wall will have been painted by us.

Note: We do not convert sentences that are in Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Perfect Continuous or Future Continuous into Passive Voice.

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Two objects in Active Voice

In the above examples, we have seen that all the sentences in Active Voice contain only one object. However, when we have a sentence that has two objects in Active Voice, upon converting it into Passive Voice, one of the objects becomes the subject and the other is retained as an object.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: My mother gave me a beautiful dress.
• Passive: A beautiful dress was given to me by my mother.
  or
• Passive: I was given a beautiful dress by my mother.
  
  
• Active: She taught us German.
• Passive: German was taught to us by her.
  or
• Passive: We were taught German by her.
  
  
• Active: Uncle John told us a story.
• Passive: A story was told to us by Uncle John.
  or
• Passive: We were told a story by Uncle John.
  
  
• Active: She will give you some good advice.
• Passive: Some good advice will be given to you by her.
  or
• Passive: You will be given some good advice by her.
  
  
• Active: The guide showed us the way.
• Passive: The way was shown to us by the guide.
  or
• Passive: We were shown the way by the guide.

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Uses of preposition to, with, in, when or at in Passive Voice

In some cases, we use preposition to, with, in, when or at instead of by when forming a sentence in Passive Voice.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: Leona knows him.
• Passive: He is known to Leona.
  
  
• Active: The students pleased the teacher.
• Passive: The teacher was pleased with the students.
  
  
• Active: Her conduct surprised everyone.
• Passive: Everyone was surprised at her conduct.
  
  
• Active: John married Sheila.
• Passive: Sheila was married to John.
  
  
• Active: A football match might interest the boys.
• Passive: The boys might be interested in a football match.
  
  
• Active: Honey tastes sweet.
• Passive: Honey is sweet when it is tasted.
  
  
• Active: The rose smells sweet.
• Passive: The rose is sweet when it is smelt.

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Uses of can, may, must in Passive Voice

We may use can, may, must and so on in the Passive Voice.

Look at the examples below --

• Active: She can finish this.
• Passive: This can be finished by her.
  
  
• Active: She may insult him.
• Passive: He may be insulted by her.
  
  
• Active: You must complete the work.
• Passive: The work must be completed by you.

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Omit the doer of the action in Passive Voice

In some sentences, we omit the doer of the action in Passive Voice.

Look at the examples below--

• Active: I lost the money.
• Passive: The money is lost.
  
  
• Active: Tom has posted the letter.
• Passive: The letter has been posted.
  
  
• Active: They can do it easily.
• Passive: It can be done easily.
  
  
• Active: The people chose him leader.
• Passive: He was chosen leader.
  
  
• Active: People call him Mahatma.
• Passive: He is called Mahatma.

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Passive Voice of Imperative Sentences

Look at the examples below and learn how to change voices of imperative sentences--

• Active: Give the order.
• Passive: Let the order be given.
  
  
• Active: Help the poor.
• Passive: Let the poor be helped.
  
  
• Active: Do your homework at once.
• Passive: Let your homework be done at once.
  
  
• Active: Take care of it.
• Passive: Let it be taken care of.
  
  
• Active: Stand up
• Passive: You are required to stand up.
  
  
• Active: Do not waste your time.
• Passive: Let not your time be wasted.
  
  
• Active: Never tell a lie.
• Passive: Never let a lie be told.

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Passive Voice of Interrogative Sentences

Look at the examples below and learn how to change voices of interrogative sentences--

• Active: When did you complete the work?
• Passive: When was the work completed by you?
  
  
• Active: How did you solve this program?
• Passive: How was this program solved by you?
  
  
• Active: Why did she insult him?
• Passive: Why was he insulted by her?
  
  
• Active: Who taught you French?
• Passive: By whom you were taught French?
  
  
• Active: Can he lift this load?
• Passive: Can this load be lifted by him?

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Determiners	VerbsList	Tense
Voice	Narration	Preposition