Active and Passive voices

•What are Active and passive voice .

•When to Use Passive Voice .
•some rules of the pasive voice .
What are Active and passive voice
⛤Voice : refers to the form of a verb that indicates when a
grammatical subject performs the action or is the receiver of
the action.

⛤Active Voice : a form or set of forms of a verb in which the

subject is typically the person or thing performing the action
and which can take a direct object.
• When a sentence is written in the active voice, the subject
performs the action.
Active and passive cont..d

⛤Passive Voice : a form or set of forms of a verb in which

the subject undergoes the action of the verb.
• In the passive voice, the subject receives the action.

Example:
Active: The award-winning chef prepares each meal with loving care
Passive: Each meal is prepared with loving care by the award-winning chef.
When to Use Passive Voice
• Use of passive voice
➡ to emphasize the receiver of the action instead of the doer
• The dog is killed. (here, the main character is the object “the dog“rather than the killer
• Bread is baked. (here, also bread is the emphasized one)

➡ when the doer of an action is unknown,unimportant or forgotten

• The answers have been filled in.
• The referee was killed yesterday.
➡when we do not wish to mention the doer of the action
• A mistake was made. ( for “I made a mistake.”)
• You have been misinformed. ( for “You are wrong.”)
use of passive con’t

➡when the subject of active sentence is “people”

• People all over the world know America. It is better to express this as:
• America is known all over the world.

 The reverse is true for the use of active voice.

What are the Rules of Passive Voice?
➡ The verb should generally be transitive, to change active sentences into
passive.
Transitive Intransitive
She ate an apple.(active) The baby has slept.(we can not change it)
An apple was eaten(by her).(passive)
➡ Verb to Be and the past participle of transitive verb should be used in
passive voice.
A letter must be written(by her).
 It is also possible to use get in place of be in colloquial speech.
➡ The subject of the active sentences become the object of ‘by’ in the passive.
He killed a dog.(active)
A dog was killed (by him). (passive)
 Note:When active sentences are changed into passive, the meaning remain unchanged.
Rules of passive voice con’t
➡ Two ways of passive construction are possible when active sentences have
two object, direct and indirect object.
Carl gave James the book.
Subject verb indirect direct
object object

James was given the book.(more usual)

Or The book was given to James.

 Note: Unless you want to mention the doer of an action, you can leave out
by+noun/pronoun.
The pattern of passive voice with different
tenses
• For the simple present tense use am, is or are with a past participle to form the
passive voice. i.e
Active : S+V1 Passive: S+am/is/are + past participle
The caretaker locks the door. The doors are locked by the caretaker.

• For the present continuous tense use am, is or are with being followed by a
past participle to form the passive voice.
Active :S+am/is/are + -ing Passive: S+am/is/are + being + -V3
The singer is singing a song beautifully. The song is being sung beautifully by
the singer.
• For the present perfect tense use have or has with been followed by a past
participle to form the passive voice.
The singer is singing a song beautifully. The song is being sung beautifully by
the singer.
cont..
• For the present perfect tense use have or has with been followed by a past
participle to form the passive voice.
Active : S+has/have + -V3 Passive: S+has/have + been + -V3
Ali has scored two goals. Two goals have been scored by Ali.
They have built a large house. A large house has been built by them.
• For the simple past tense use was or were with a past participle to form the
passive voice.
Active :S + -V2 Passive: S+was/were + -V3
He took these photos. These photos were taken by him.
• For the past continuous tense use was or were with being followed by a past
participle to form the passive voice.
Active : S+was/were + -ing Passive: S+was/were + being + -V3
She was reading a book. The book was being read by her.
cont..
• For the past perfect tense use had with been followed by a part participle to
form the passive voice.
Active : S+had + -V3 Passive:S+ had + been + -V3
Ruth had given a gift to Abiy. A gift had been given to Abiy by Ruth.
• For the simple future tense use shall or will + be with being followed by a past participle to
form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
We will celebrate her birthday. Her birthday will be celebrated by us.
• For the future perfect use shall or will with been followed by a past participle to form the
passive
Active : will + have + -V3 Passive: will + have + been + -V3
John will have repaired his bicycle. His bicycle will have been repaired by John.
I have to do this work. This work has to be done.
cont..
•  To form the passive voice of a present modal: modal+ be+ v3
Active voice Passive voice
He could repair the car in two days. The car could be repaired in two days.
Students should study the lessons. The lessons should be studied students.

• To form the passives of Perfect modal: modal+ have+been+V3

Active voice Passive voice
He might have eaten the meal. The meal might have been eaten by him.
You should have studied the book. The book should have been studied by you.

• Note that: it is not common for us to change present perfect continuous, past perfect
continuous, future continuous, and future perfect continuous in to passive voice.
Structurally, we can change those tenses in to passive but it is better to use their active voice
instead of their passive form. When we change this tenses to passive the sentence become
sound awkward.
Questions in passive voice
1.Yes/no questions
Yes/No Questions beginning with “do/does” :
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))
Yes/No Questions beginning with “am/is/are”
Normal structure of interrogative sentence in active voice starting with “am/is/are” is
Am/is/are + subject + verb + ing + object ? (Active Voice)
Am/is/are + subject + being + V-3 + by + agent ? (Passive Voice)
Ex: Is she cooking the food? (Active Voice)
Ex: Is the food being cooked by her? (Passive Voice)
cont....
 Yes/No Questions beginning with “did , were , was ”
 Normal structure of interrogative sentence in active voice starting with “did , were , was” is
Did + subject + verb + object ? (Active Voice)
 Was/were + subject + V-3 + by + agent ? (Passive Voice)
Ex: Was the food cooked by her? (Passive Voice)
Ex: Did she cook the food? (Active Voice)
More Examples :
• Does she praise her employers ? ( active voice )
• Are her employers praised ( by her ) ? ( passive voice )
• Were they sweeping the carpet ? ( active voice )
• Was the carpet being swept ( by them ) ? ( passive voice )
cont...
 ‘Wh’ questions Questions starting with “what, why, where, when, how, 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)
‘Wh’ word + auxiliary + subject + V-3 + by + agent ? (Passive Voice)
Ex: Why did she punish you? (Active Voice)
Why were you punished by her? (Passive Voice)

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE

WHAT , WHEN , WHY , WHERE , HOW , WHICH NO CHANGE

WHO BY WHOM

BY WHOM WHO
cont....
 Note : If you don't want to mention the doer of the action ,you leave out “ By + noun/pronoun”.
1.Whom has she given the pen ? ( active voice )
Who has the pen been given ( by her ) ? ( passive voice )
2.Who doesn't play chess ? ( active voice )
By whom isn't chess played ? (passive voice )
By whom is chess not played ? ( passive voice )
3.What mistake did he commit ? ( active voice )
What mistake was committed by him ? ( passive voice )
When will a song be sung ( by your brother ) ? (passive voice )
5.Why is she drinking milk now ? ( active voice )
Why is milk being drunk now ( by her ) ? ( passive voice )
6.Where had he thrown the ball ? ( active voice )
Where had the ball been thrown ( by him ) ? ( passive voice )
7.How does she answer the questions ? (active voice )
How is the questions are answered ( by her ) ? ( passive voice )
8.Which student does the teacher like most ? ( active voice )
Which student is liked most ( bu the teacher ) ? ( passive voice