ACTIVE 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.

What is an active and passive voice?

In active voice, the subject of the verb is doing the action, but in passive voice the subject of the verb is being acted on. To change a sentence to passive voice, make the object the subject and use the correct form of the verb 'be' with the past participle of the main verb.

Voice refers to the form of a verb that indicates when a grammatical subject performs the action or is the receiver of the action.

When a sentence is written in the active voice, the subject performs the action; in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.

Active Voice example:

Hens lay eggs.

Birds build nests.

Passive Voice Examples:

Eggs are laid by hens.

Nests are built by birds.

Conversion of Active and Passive voice examples

Rita wrote a letter. (Subject + Verb + Object)

A letter was written by Rita.  (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject).

She cooks food. (Subject + Verb + Object)

The food is cooked by her. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject)

Rules for Active – Passive Voice

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 

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

Present Continuous Tense

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

Present Perfect Tense 

Active Sentences	Passive Sentences
Has he done the work?	Has the work been done by him?
Have they left the apartment?	Has the apartment been left by them?
He created this masterpiece	This masterpiece is created by him
He read the newspaper	The newspaper is being read by him

Simple Past Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
Ria paid the bills	The bills were paid by Ria
The teacher called the student	The student was called by the teacher
She did not buy the fruits	The fruits were not bought by her

Past Progressive/Continuous Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
They were waiting for him	He was being waited for by them
Astha was learning French	French was being learnt by Astha
She was playing kabaddi	Kabaddi was being played by her

Past Perfect Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
She won the match	The match had been won by her
I had finished her work	Her work had been finished by me
He had missed the last metro	The last metro had been missed by him

Simple Future Tense 

Active Voice	Passive Voice
He will write a letter	A letter will be written by him
He will repair her cycle	Her cycle will be repaired by him
He shall start the meeting	The meeting will be started by him

Future Perfect Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
Meena will not have changed the bedsheet	The bed sheet will not have been changed by Meena
They will have won the match	The match will have been won by them
Reena will have washed the skirt	The skirt will have been washed by Reena

Question 1.
Change the following sentences from the Active Voice to the Passive Voice.

1. They feed the elephants at the zoo twice a day.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

2. The Prime Minister will survey the tsunami-affected areas.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

3. The author has written a special edition for children.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

4. The volunteers are helping the villagers rebuild their houses.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

5. They have written letters appealing to the district administration for help.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

6. Why did you do such a thing?
……………………………………………………………………………………………

7. He was driving a brand–new car.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

8. He had finished the work by the time we reached.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

9. The government is spending very little money on the maintenance of roads.
……………………………………………………………………………………………

10. Barnaby had not forgotten the sugarcoated explosives.
……………………………………………………………………………………………
Answer:
1. The elephant at the zoo are fed twice a day
2. The tsunami affected are will be surveyed by the Prime Minister.
3. A special addition has been written for children.
4. The villagers are being helped in rebuilding their houses by the volunteers.
5. The letters have been written by them appealing to the district administration for help.
6. Why was such a thing done by you?
7. A brand new car was being driven by him.
8. The work had been finished by the time we reached.
9. Very little money is being spent by the government on the maintenance of roads.
10. The sugarcoated explosives had not been forgotten by Barnaby.

Active and Passive Voice

Exercise

Rewrite the following sentences putting the verbs given in the appropriate Voice form.

The school …………. last year. (build)

Meeting …………. tomorrow at 6 p.m. (hold)

Next year the Industrial fair …………. at Chennai .(hold)

This lesson …………. these days. (teach)

Ranjit with his friends …………. yesterday.

All except Ved were present in the meeting that …………. yesterday .(hold)

These roads ……….. three years ago. (repair)

You………….. the whole story when you reach there, (tell)

Gopal ……….. (advise) by the teacher yesterday to be regular.

Such methods……………. (use) by the children to please their elders these days .

Last year he ………… (promote) to the tenth class.

Bhim ………… (surprise) when he sees you here tomorrow .

Nothing ………….(hide) from God.

The Tat Mahal ………… (complete) in 1653.

A room …………….. (book) in a hotel at Simla .

This lesson ………….. (teach) to us these clays.

Exercise

1.Complete the following paragraph using the Passive form of the verbs given in the brackets:

Thousands of people…………..  (kill) in the earthquake in Gujarat last month Many villages …………..   (destroy) completely. Now new houses…………..  (build) for the homeless. So far ten builders…………..   (arrest) for making unsafe houses. It………….. (hope) that very soon life ………….. (make) normal for the people there.

2. Complete the following lines with passive form of verbs given in brackets:

 A new bill…………..   (introduce) in the Parliament during the next session. The draft of the bill…………..  (examine) currently by experts. It…………..  (send) to the experts in December last year.

3.Complete the following lines with appropriate passive form of verbs given in bracket :

 Vibha is feeling proud of her father because he …………..  (elect) an M.P. It seems that she does not know that unfair means …………..(fuse) by him in the election. He…………..  (dislike) by the people for his wrong practices and impolite manners.

Answers:-

1.were killed : were destroyed : are being built ; have been arrested : is hoped : will be made.

2. will be introduced ; has been examined: was sent.

3. has been elected : were used : is disliked.