Active Voice Passive Voice

Diploma in English Teacher Training
Module 01
Basic Grammar and Four skills
Active voice and Passive voice
Lecturer Incharge- Sandaruwani Abewardhana 1
B.Ed. In English, Hnd.in English,TKT qualified, B.ED (Hons) pending

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. For example,
o The watchman opens the door.
o The door is opened by the watchman.
Types of Voices of Verb
Verbs have two voices (i) Active Voice (ii) Passive Voice
Active Voice
● When an action performed by the subject is expressed by the verb, it is an active voice.
● Active voice is used when more straightforward relation and clarity is required between the
subject and the verb. For example,
o Hens lay eggs.
o Birds build nests.
Passive Voice
● When the action expressed by the verb is received by the subject, it is passive voice.
● Passive voice is used when the doer of the action is not known and the focus of the sentence
is on the action and not the subject. For example,
o Eggs are laid by hens.
o Nests are built by birds.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Conversion of Sentence

Below are the active-passive voice rules to follow for changing an active sentence into a passive
voice. Before heading to the rules of active-passive voice, let’s check the examples of active and
passive voice sentences.
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)
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)
Lecturer Incharge- Sandaruwani Abewardhana

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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 i.e., 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

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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

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

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
Note: Except certain exemptions, no passive Voice formation for the following tenses can be
formed - Present Perfect Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Perfect
Continuous Tense and Future Continuous Tense.

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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

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

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

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

The bed sheet will not have been changed
Meena will not have changed the bedsheet
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

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Practice Questions:
Directions: In the following questions, a sentence has been given in either Active or Passive Voice.
From the four options select the one which best expresses the same sentence in the opposite
voice than mentioned in the question.
1. Never disobey your elders
1. You are asked not to disobey your elders.

2. You are ordered not to disobey your elders.
3. Do not disobey your elders.
4. You are not to disobey your elders.
Answer: 1
2. The students were listening to the teacher.
1. The teacher is listened to by the students.

2. The teacher listened to students.
3. The teacher was listening to by the students
4. The teacher was listened to by the students.
Answer: 4
3. I have to do it.
1. It is be done by me.
2. It should to be done by me.
3. It has to be done by me.
4. It would to be done by me.
Answer: 3
4. Tell the maid to prepare tea.
1. You are ordered to tell the maid to prepare tea.

2. You are said to tell the maid to prepare tea.
3. You are advised to tell the maid to prepare tea.
4. You are asked to tell the maid to prepare tea.
Answer: 4
5. Who stole your bike?
1. Your bike was stolen by him?

2. By whom was your bike stolen?
3. Your bike was stolen by whom?
4. By whom your bike stolen?
Answer: 2

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Diploma in English Teacher Training

Active voice and Passive voice

Lecturer Incharge- Sandaruwani Abewardhana 1

B.Ed. In English, Hnd.in English,TKT qualified, B.ED (Hons) pending

Active and Passive Voice Rules for Conversion of Sentence

Lecturer Incharge- Sandaruwani Abewardhana

Lecturer Incharge- Sandaruwani Abewardhana

Forms of Active and Passive Voice for All Tenses

Simple Present Tense

Present Continuous Tense

Active Sentences Passive Sentences

Present Perfect Tense

Active Sentences Passive Sentences

Lecturer Incharge- Sandaruwani Abewardhana