ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE Notes

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Sentences can be active or passive.

Active Voice

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:
Passive Voice
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:
There are two basic rules for converting sentences from Active Voice into Passive
Voice, which are common for all tenses.
1. The places of subject and object will be interchanged in the sentence.

2. Only 3rd form of the verb or Past Participle (e.g. written) will be used as a
main verb in Passive Voice.
3. The rules for using ‘Auxiliary Verb’ in a sentence are different for each
tense, as follows:
Tense Active voice Passive voice
Simple present Speak/speaks Is/am/are spoken
tense
Examples
Examples
English is spoken here.

They speak English here.
English is spoken by him.

He speaks English.
Present Verb form: is/am/are + verb Verb form: is/am/are + being +
continuous tense +ing form of the verb past participle form of the verb
Examples Examples
She is writing a letter. A letter is being written by her.
I am learning my lessons. My lessons are being learnt by

me.
Present perfect Verb form: has/have + past Verb form: has/have + been +
tense participle form of the verb past participle form of the verb

Examples: Examples:
I have written a novel. A novel has been written by me.
She has finished the job. The job has been finished by her.
Simple past Verb form: past tense form Verb form: was/were + past
of the verb participle form of the verb
Examples: Examples:
I wrote a letter. A letter was written by me.
Ram broke a glass. A glass was broken by Ram.
Past continuous Verb form: was/were + -ing Verb form: was/were + being +
tense form of the verb past participle form of the verb

Examples Examples
I was learning my lessons. My lessons were being learnt by
me.
She was writing a report.
A report was being written by
her.
Past perfect tenseVerb form: had + past Verb form: had + been + past
participle form of the verb participle form of the verb
Examples Examples:
I had finished the project. The project had been finished by
me.
Her lessons had been learned by

She had learned her lessons.
her.
Simple future Verb form: will/shall + first Verb form: will/shall + be + past
tense form of the verb participle form of the verb

Examples Examples:
I will finish the job. The job will be finished by me.
She will solve the problem. The problem will be solved by
her.
Future perfect Verb form: will/shall + have Verb form: will/shall + have +
+ past participle form of the been + past participle form of the
verb verb
Examples Examples
I will have finished the job. The job will have been finished
by me.
She will have solved the
problem. The problem will have been
solved by her.
Here you are going to learn how to change voice of interrogative sentences.
Questions beginning with do/does
The primary auxiliary verbs do, does or did does not appear in the passive form
Normal structure of interrogative sentence in active voice starting with do/does is
Do/does + subject + verb + object? (Active Voice)

Ex: Does she cook the food? (Active Voice)
(Here ‘she’ is subject, ‘cook’ is verb and ‘the food’ is object.)
While changing the sentence into passive, this structure becomes
Am/is/are + subject + V-3 + by + agent? (Passive Voice)
Ex: Is the food cooked by her? (Passive Voice)
(Here ‘The food’ becomes subject in passive voice, ‘cooked’ is V-3 (past
participle) of cook, and ‘her’ is agent (doer)
Questions beginning with did
Normal structure of interrogative sentence in active voice starting with did is
Did + subject + verb + object? (Active Voice)
Ex: Did she cook the food? (Active Voice)
(Here ‘she’ is subject, ‘cook’ is verb and ‘the food’ is object.)
Was/were + subject + V-3 + by + agent? (Passive Voice)
Ex: Was the food cooked by her? (Passive Voice)
(Here ‘The food’ becomes subject in passive voice, ‘cooked’ is V-3 (past
participle) of cook, and ‘her’ is agent (doer))
‘Wh’ questions
Questions starting with what, why, where, when, who, whom etc are known as
‘wh’ questions
Normal structure of ‘wh’ questions in active voice is
‘Wh’ word + auxiliary + subject + verb + object? (Active Voice)
Ex: Why did she punish you? (Active Voice)
(Here ‘she’ is subject, ‘punish’ is verb and ‘you’ is object.)
‘Wh’ word + auxiliary + subject + V-3 + agent? (Passive Voice)
Why were you punished by her? (Passive Voice)
(Here ‘you’ becomes subject in passive voice, ‘punished’ is V-3 (past participle) of
punish, and ‘her’ is agent (doer)
The verbs has, have, had, will, shall, can, may etc., do not change their position
at the beginning of the sentence when the active voice is changed to the passive
voice.
Active voice: Have you invited them?

Passive voice: Have they been invited by you?
Active voice: Will you help him?

Passive voice: Will he be helped by you?
Questions beginning with ‘who’

In such kind of sentences who acts as subject.
See some examples to clear this
 Who wrote this letter? (Active Voice)
By whom this letter was written? (Passive Voice)
 Who will call him? (Active Voice)
By whom he will be called? (Passive Voice)
Questions beginning with ‘whom’
 Whom has the principal honoured? (Active Voice)
Who has been honoured by the principal? (Passive Voice)
 Whom has the police arrested? (Active Voice)
Who has been arrested by police? (Passive Voice)
Imperative sentences are sentences which express advice, request or command.

For example
 Close the door.
 Please give me the bottle.
 Pick up the phone.
Imperative sentences containing request
Passive voice of sentences containing request start with ‘You are requested to’.
Generally, sentences containing request have the word ‘please’ in it.
Normal structure of sentence in passive voice is as under
You are requested to + verb + ...
Ex:
 Please close the door. (Active Voice)
You are requested to close the door. (Passive Voice)
 Please bring me some apples. (Active Voice)
You are requested to bring me some water. (Passive Voice)
Imperative sentences containing advice
Passive voice of sentences containing advice start with ‘You are advised to’
You are advised to + verb + …
Ex:
 Do yoga daily. (Active Voice)
You are advised to do yoga daily. (Passive Voice)
 Do your homework neatly. (Active Voice)
You are advised to do your homework neatly. (Passive Voice)
Imperative sentences containing command or order
Passive voice of sentences containing command or order generally start with ‘Let’
Let + subject + be + V-3
Ex:
 Switch off the fan. (Active Voice)
Let the fan be switched off. (Passive Voice)
 Call the attendant. (Active Voice)
Let the attendant be called. (Passive Voice)
Two objects in an active sentences – two possible passive sentences
When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible passive

sentences.
The professor gave the books to the students. (Active Voice)

 The students were given the books by the professor. (Passive Voice)
 The books were given to the students by the professor. (Passive Voice)
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ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Sentences can be active or passive.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]

1. The places of subject and object will be interchanged in the sentence.

Tense Active voice Passive voice

Simple present Speak/speaks Is/am/are spoken

English is spoken here.

English is spoken by him.

Present Verb form: is/am/are + verb Verb form: is/am/are + being +

She is writing a letter. A letter is being written by her.

I am learning my lessons. My lessons are being learnt by

I have written a novel. A novel has been written by me.

of the verb participle form of the verb

I wrote a letter. A letter was written by me.

Ram broke a glass. A glass was broken by Ram.

tense form of the verb past participle form of the verb

I was learning my lessons. My lessons were being learnt by

A report was being written by

participle form of the verb participle form of the verb

I had finished the project. The project had been finished by

Her lessons had been learned by

tense form of the verb participle form of the verb

I will finish the job. The job will be finished by me.

She will solve the problem. The problem will be solved by

+ past participle form of the been + past participle form of the

problem. The problem will have been

Normal structure of interrogative sentence in active voice starting with do/does is

Do/does + subject + verb + object? (Active Voice)

Active voice: Have you invited them?

Active voice: Will you help him?

Questions beginning with ‘who’

Imperative sentences are sentences which express advice, request or command.

Two objects in an active sentences – two possible passive sentences

When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible passive

The professor gave the books to the students. (Active Voice)

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