ACTIVE / PASSIVE VOICE

A sentence in the active form can be changed into the passive form. Similarly a sentence in the
passive form can be changed into the active form.

 Active: Brutus stabbed Caesar.

 Passive: Caesar was stabbed by Brutus.
 Active: The boy killed the spider.
 Passive: The spider was killed by the boy.
 Active: The teacher punished the boy.
 Passive: The boy was punished by the teacher.
 Active: His behavior vexes me.
 Passive: I am vexed by his behavior.

Notes:

When it is clear who the agent (doer of the action) is, it is not necessary to mention it in the
passive form. In fact, this omission often makes the sentence look neater.

 Active: The audience loudly cheered the Mayor’s speech.

 Passive: The Mayor’s speech was loudly cheered (by the audience).

The active voice is preferred when the agent (i.e. the person who performs the action) is to be
made prominent. The passive voice is preferred when the agent is unknown or when we do not
care to mention the agent.

The passive form is preferred in the following sentences because the agent is either unknown
or unimportant.

 Passive: My pocket has been picked.

 Active: Somebody has picked my pocket.
 Passive: I shall be obliged to go.
 Active: Circumstances will oblige me to go.
 Passive: Promises should be kept.
 Active: One should keep one’s promises.
ACITVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
A sentence can be written in either active voice or passive voice without changing the meaning
of it.
When the verb in a sentence shows that the subject is the doer of the action, the verb is in the
active voice.
Examples:
1. Children painted these pictures. (Children – subject; painted – verb; pictures – object)
2. James writes a letter (James – subject; writes – verb; letter – object)
When the verb in a sentence shows that the subject is not the doer of the action, the verb is in
the passive voice. (Generally you will find “by” in the sentence. If “by” is not there, you can
put a question “Who?”, you will get an answer.)
Examples:
1. These pictures were painted by children: (pictures – subject; painted – verb; children -
object
2. A letter is written by James (letter – subject, written – verb; James – Object)
Rules for conversion from Active to Passive Voice
1. The subject and object are interchanged
2. The preposition BY is added before the object
3. The verb is changed to past participle (3rd form of verb)
4. A new auxiliary is added to the Past Participle form of verb.
5. If the subject or the object in an active voice sentence is a pronoun (I, we, you, he, she,
they, it) it changes: (I-me; we-us; you-you; he-him; she-her; they-them; it-it) and vice-versa.
e.g. I wrote a letter – A letter was written by me. The prefect does keep accusing me daily – I
am being accused by the prefect daily.
6. If the subject in the active voice sentence is unknown or unimportant or obvious, by +
object is omitted. We make butter from cow’s milk. Butter is made from cow’s milk.
7. If the verb in the active voice sentence has a modal in it, the verb is changed to – modal
+ be + the past participle. e.g. Rajesh can lift this box. This box can be lifted by Rajesh. We
should obey the rules. The rules should be obeyed.
8. When there are two objects, only one object is interchanged. The second object remains
unchanged. (He told me a story – He- subject; me – object 1; a story – object 2) ( I was told a
story by him; A story was told to me by him)

The table below shows how the verb is changed into its passive voice form in different tenses.
Tense Active Voice Passive Voice
The simple present He eats an apple An apple is eaten by him.
The present continuous He is eating an apple. An apple is being eaten by him.
The present perfect He has eaten an apple. An apple has been eaten by him.
The simple past He ate an apple. An apple was eaten by him.
The past continuous He was eating an apple An apple was being eaten by him
The past perfect He had eaten an apple An apple had been eaten by him
The simple future He will eat an apple An apple will be eaten by him.
The Future continuous He will be eating an An apple will have been eaten by
apple. him.
The Future in the past He would have eaten an An apple would have been eaten
apple by him

Note: Some of the sentences like – sentences constructed using auxiliary verbs (Tashi is a
good boy); perfect continuous tenses ( in all the three time periods – Present, Past, Future)
(My room mate has been copying my homework) and intransitive verbs ( I go to temple or she
has gone to the market) cannot be converted into passive form .

TENSES ACTIVE FORM PASSIVE FORM

 S + V1 OR V5 + O + E (extension)  O + A.V (is, am, are) + V3 +
SIMPLE PRESENT by + agent.
 I + teach (V1) + English.
OR  He + teaches (V5) + English.  English + is + taught + by +
me.
PRESENT Use of V1& V5  English + is + taught + by +
INDEFINITE. him.
 V1 if subject is I, we, you, they, or
any plural noun and V5 if subject is
 Used to present a habit he, she, it, or a singular noun.  Subject changes into agent.
or routine.  Pronoun subjects change into
agent by changing its form
into object pronoun i.e. ‘me’
for ‘I’ and ‘him’ for ‘he’
 If the subject is a name, it
remains the same
 S + A.V.(is, am, are) + V4 + O + E O+ A.V(is, am, are) + being
PRESENT + V3 + by + agent
CONTINUOUS
 I + am + writing + a letter.  A letter + is + being + written
OR + by + me.

PRESENT  He + is + writing + a letter  A letter + is + being + written

IMPERFECT. + by + him.
Use of A.V.(Auxiliary Verbs)
 Used to show continuity
of action in present I
context. am
He, she, it & singular noun
is
We, you, they, & plural noun
are
 S + A.V.(have, has) + V3 + O + E  O + A.V.(have, has) + been +
PRESENT PERFECT. V3 + by + agent
 I + have + made + a nice chair  A nice chair + has + been +
 Used to present the made by + me.
action that has completed  The problem +has +been
just before some time or He + has + solved + the problem +solved + by + him
immediate past.
Use of ‘have’ and ‘has’

 ‘has’ is used with he, she, it and a

singular noun; with other subjects
we use ‘have’ as A. V.

 S + A.V.(have, has) + been + V4 +

PRESENT PERFECT O + since/for + time.
CONTINUOUS.
 I have been playing football since
 Used to represent an childhood.
action that has started NO PASSIVE FORM.
before and is still going  He has been practicing mask dance
on. for fifteen years.

Use of ‘since’ and ‘for’

Since – used for point of time.

For – used for a period of time.

 S + V2 + O + E (extension)  S + A.V (was, were) + V3 +

SIMPLE PAST by + agent.
 I + taught (V2) + English.
OR  English + was + taught + by
+ me.
PAST INDEFINITE  He + taught (V2) + English.  English + was + taught + by
+ him.
Used to express habit
or routine in past
context.

 S + A.V.(was, were) + V4 + O + E  O+ A.V(was, were) + being

PAST CONTINUOUS + V3 + by + agent

OR  I + was + writing + a letter.  A letter + was + being +

written + by + me.
PAST IMPERFECT
 He + was + writing + a letter  A letter + was + being +
Used to show continuity written + by + him.
of action in the past
context.
Use of A.V.

I, He, she, it & singular noun

was
We, you, they, & plural noun
were

 S + A.V.(had) + V3 + O + E  O + A.V.(had) + been + V3 +

PAST PERFECT by + agent
Used to show a  I + had + made + a nice chair  A nice chair + had + been +
completed action in the made by + me.
past context or
something that was  He + had + solved + the problem  The problem +had +been
done long time back. +solved + by + him

PAST PERFECT  S + A.V. (had) + been + V4 + O +

CONTINUOUS since/for + time.

Used to show an action

that had started before I have been playing football since NO PASSIVE FORM.
the said time and was childhood.
going on at the said
point of time in the
past.  He has been practicing mask dance
for fifteen years.

 S + shall/will + V1 + O + E  O + shall/will + be + V3 + by
SIMPLE FUTURE + agent.

OR  I + shall + teach + English.  English + will + be + taught

+ by + me.
FUTURE  He + will + teach + English.  English + will + be + taught
INDEFINITE + by + him.
Use of ‘shall’ & ‘will’
Used to show the
intention of doing I, we, you, they and plurals
something as a part of shall
routine or on regular He, she, it and singulars
basis in future. will

NOTE
In modern English use of ‘will’ is
accepted with all the subjects.
 S + shall/will + be + V4 + O + E
FUTURE
CONTINUOUS  I + shall + be + writing + a letter.
OR NO PASSIVE FORM.

FUTURE  He + will + be + writing + a letter

IMPERFECT

Used to present an Use of A.V.

action that will be going
on at the said point of I, He, she, it & singular noun
time in future. was
We, you, they, & plural noun
were

 S + shall/will + have + V3 + O + E O + shall/will + have + been

FUTURE PERFECT + V3 + by + agent

Used to express an  I + shall + have + made + a nice  A nice chair + will + have +
action that will have chair + by the next week been + made by + me + by the
finished or completed next week.
by the said point of
time in future.  He + will + have + solved + the  The riddle +will + have
riddle + by evening. +been +solved + by + him +
by evening.

 S + shall/will + have + been + V4 +

FUTURE PERFECT O + for/from + time.
CONTINUOUS NO PASSIVE FORM.

Used to express an  I shall have been playing football

action that will have from tomorrow.
started before the said
point of time in future
and will be going on at He will have been practicing mask
the said point of time in dance for fifteen years.
future.

Note: Whenever it is evident who the agent (i.e., doer of the action) is, it is
unnecessary to mention him in the passive form, and this omission gives a neater
turn to the sentence. Thus in the last example the agent is not mentioned in the
passive form because only those who heard the speech could have cheered it.