Description
Active and Passive Voice: Definitions, Differences & Conversion of One Voice Into Another.
Q. What is Active Voice?
A.. Active Voice tells what a person or thing does.
B.. The subject performs the action and typically comes before the action (verb). Ex: Tom painted the house. Here subject is Tom and comes before the verb painted.
C. The object is who or what receives the action and typically comes after the action (verb). In the above example, the object is house.
D. Structure: Subject + Verb + Object
Q. What is Passive Voice?
A.. Passive Voice tells what is done to someone or something.
B.. The subject performs the action and typically comes after the action (verb). Ex: The house was painted by Tom. Here subject is Tom and comes after the verb painted.
C. The object is who or what receives the action and typically comes before the action (verb). In the above example, the object is house and comes before the verb painted.
D. Structure: Object + Verb + Subject
Active Voice To Passive Voice Conversion: The sequence of the subject and object of the sentence is reversed in converting from Active Voice to Passive Voice. Also, the form of the verb of sentence also changes.
Ex: AV: I bought a car.
PV: A car was bought by me.
Concept
Voice refers to the form of a verb that indicates when a 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.
Example:
(i) George writes a letter.
(ii) A letter is written by George.
Here, first sentence represents that the subject 'George' does something.
Hence, it is in active voice.
The verb 'written' in the second sentence indicates that something done by George.
Hence the verb is in passive voice.
Rules for changing a sentence from active voice to passive voice:
- The element/object in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive voice. i.e. Subject should be placed in place of Object and object should be in place of Subject.
- “By” is used with a non or a pronoun for showing doer
- The verb in the active voice is converted into the past participle form in passive voice. As a helping verb, the main verb is preceded by form of "be". The form of "be" should accept with the numbers of the subject and the tense of the verb in the active voice.
- The elements like "me, her, him, them, us", in active voice are changed to " I, she, he, they, we", in passive voice.
- We can change voice of only a transitive verb that is a verb with an object
- We can’t change voice of an intransitive verb that is a verb without an object
| TENSE | ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE |
|---|---|---|
| Present Indefinite | Does/Do | Is/Am/are |
| Present Continuous | Is/Am/are | Is/Am/are + being |
| Present Prefect | Has/Have | Has Been/Have Been |
| Present Prefect Cont | Has /Have Been | Has/Have Been + being [RARE] |
| Past Indefinite | Did | Was/Were |
| Past Continuous | Was/Were | Was/Were + being |
| Past Perfect | Had | Had been |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Had Been | Had been+ being [RARE] |
| Future Indefinite | Will | Will be |
| Future Continuous | Will be | Will be + being [RARE] |
| Future Perfect | Will have | Will have been |
| Future Perfect Continuous | Will have been | Will have been + being [RARE] |
| PASSIVE VOICE OF MODAL VERBS | |
|---|---|
| Can, Could Should, Shall Must May/Might Has to/Have to Had to Used to, Would Would like to Will have to May/Might have to | Be |
| Could have, Should have Must have Would have May have/Might have | Been |
Examples
| S. No. | Format of Example |
|---|---|
| 1. | Tense: Present Indefinite Example 1. AV: He Plays football PV: Football is played by him. Example 2: AV: I play my guitar every day. PV: My guitar is played by me every day. |
| 2. | Tense: Present Continuous Example 1. AV: Is she attending the class today? PV: Is the class being attended by her today? Example 2: AV: Is Raju purchasing mobile right now? PV: Is the mobile being purchased by Raju right now? |
| 3. | Tense: Present Prefect Example 1. AV: I have watched this movie. PV: This movie has been watched by me. Example 2: AV: Have you met him? PV: Has he been met by you? |
| 4. | Tense: Present Perfect Continuous Example 1. AV: I have been asking you since morning PV: You have been being asked by me since morning. Example 2: AV: She had been reading that novel for months. PV: That novel had been being read by her for months. |
| 5. | Tense: Past Indefinite Example 1. AV: I didn’t do it, trust me! PV: It was not done by me, trust me! Example 2: AV: What did he eat today? PV: What was eaten today by him? |
| 6. | Tense: Past Continuous Example 1. AV: Amit was playing football PV: Football was being played by Amit Example 2: AV: They were playing football PV: Football was being played by them |
| 7. | Tense: Past Perfect Example 1. AV: I had never experienced such difficulty. PV: Such difficulty had never been experienced by me. Example 2: AV: I had not listened to him. PV: He had not been listened to by me. |
| 8. | Tense: Past Perfect Continuous Example 1. AV: She had been reading that novel for months PV: That novel had been being read by her for months. Example 2: AV: She had not/hadn`t been watching the movie for two hours when her husband got home. PV: The movie had not/hadn`t been being watched by her for two hours when her husband got home. |
| 9. | Tense: Future Perfect Example 1. AV: They will have played football PV: Football will have been played by them Example 2: AV: Aditi will have met Ankita by the evening PV: Ankita will have been met by Aditi by the evening |
| 10. | Tense: Future Indefinite Example 1. AV: She will take dinner at 9 pm. PV: Dinner will be taken by her at 9 pm. Example 2: AV: The tailor will alter my shirt tomorrow. PV: My shirt will be altered by the tailor tomorrow. |
| 11. | Tense: Future Continuous Example 1. AV: He will be opening the door at that moment. PV: The door will be being opened by him at that moment. Example 2: AV: He is going to be reciting the Holy Quran after praying tomorrow morning. PV: The Holy Quran will be being recited by him after praying tomorrow morning. |
| 12. | Tense: Future Perfect Continuous Example 1. AV: He will have been watching cartoons since morning when you reach there PV: Cartoons will have been being watched by him since morning when you reach there. Example 2: AV: We will have been teaching English for two years at Learn ESL. PV: English will have been being taught by us for two years at Learn ESL. |
Quiz
1. John was composing a mail to his mother.
Out of the four options, choose the one which best expresses the given active (or passive) sentence in passive (or active) voice?
-
a) A mail was composed to his mother by John.
d) A mail has been composed to his mother by John.
c) A mail was being composed by John to his mother.
d) A mail was composed by John to his mother.
-
a) Get someone to break the box.
b) Have the broken box.
c) They have broken the box.
d) Break the box.
-
a) I had been invited by them.
b) I was not invited by them.
c) I have not been invited by them.
d) I am not invited by them.
-
a) Parents will bring up children.
b) Parents are bringing up children.
c) Parents brought up children.
d) Parents bring up children.
-
a) This matter should be looked into by you.
b) This matter has been looked into by you.
c) This matter into looked by you.
d) This matter may be looked into by you.
-
a) He is known by me.
b) He was known to me.
c) He has been known by me.
d) He is known to me.
-
a) Why is time wasted by you?
b) Why is time been wasted by you?
c) Why has time been wasted by you?
d) Why is time being wasted by you?
-
a) A little mouse may even help a lion.
b) Even a little mouse may help a lion.
c) A little mouse can even help a lion.
d) Even a little mouse ought to help a lion.
-
a) The Independence day was celebrated by the residents.
b) The Independence day is celebrated by the residents.
c) Celebration of Independence day was done by the residents.
d) The Independence day has been celebrated by the residents.
-
a) This work will have been finished.
b) This work will be finished by tomorrow.
c) This work will finished tomorrow.
d) This work will have been finished by tomorrow.