ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Active and Passive Voice

TOPIC: VOICE 

In grammar, the voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object etc). When the subject is the agent or doer of the action, the verb is in the active voice. When the subject is the target or undergoer of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice.

EXAMPLE: Active - Dinesh killed a tiger.

                       Passive - A tiger was killed by Dinesh. 

1. examine the following sentences carefully:

(a) The man must have eaten five bananas.

(b) Vipin mailed the letter.

2. Now observe the following sentences carefully:

(a) Five bananas must have been eaten by the man.

(b) The letter was mailed by Vipin.

In the above sentences, the verb in 1(a) have eaten and 1(b) mailed express the actions done by the subjects The man and Vipin respectively. When the subject of the verb does the action, the voice of the verb is said to be in Active.

In  sentences 2(a) and 2(b), the verbs have been eaten and was mailed express the actions done on the subjects Five bananas and The letter respectively. When the subject of the verb in a sentence receives the action, the voice of the verb is said to be Passive. Here the word 'by' identifies the sentence as being in the passive voice.

CHANGE OF VOICE:

While changing a verb from active to passive voice, the following general rules should be followed.

(a) The object of the active voice is made the subject of the passive voice.

(b) The subject of the active voice is made the object of the passive voice.

(c) The passive voice must contain the third form of the main or finite verb.

(iv) The form of the verb is used according to the tense.

CHANGE OF PERSON

Subjective Case	Possessive case	Objective Case
I	My	Me
We	Our	Us
You	Your	You
He	His	Him
She	Her	Her
They	Their	Them

FORMATION OF PASSIVE VOICE

Present Indefinite/Simple

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + first form of verb + s/es + object

Passive:           Object + is/am/are + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            He writes a letter.

Passive:           A letter is written by him.

Active:            She sings a song.

Passive:           A song is sung by her.

Active:            They invite me.

Passive:           I am invited by them.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + do/does + not + first form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + is/am/are + not + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            I do not distribute newspapers.

Passive:           Newspapers are not distributed by me.

Active:            She does not buy mobiles.

Passive:           Mobiles are not bought by her.

Active:            You do not help me.

Passive:           I am not helped by you.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Do/does + subject + first form of verb + object?

Passive:           Is/am/are + object + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Do you obey your elder brother?

Passive:           Is your elder brother obeyed by you?

Active:            Does she pluck the flowers?

Passive:           Are the flowers plucked by her?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Do/does + subject + not + first form of verb + object?

Passive:           Is/am/are + object + not + third form of verb + by + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Does Mohit not plant a tree?

Passive:           Is a tree not planted by Mohit?

Active:            Do you not read a book?

Passive:           Is a book not read by you?

Present Continuous

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + is/am/are + first form of verb + ing + object

Passive:           Object + is/am/are + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            My friend is cooking the food.

Passive:           The food is being cooked by my friend.

Active:            You are teaching me.

Passive:           I am being taught by you.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + is/am/are + not + first form of verb + ing + object

Passive:           Object + is/am/are + not + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            She is not purchasing a house.

Passive:           A house is not being purchased by her.

Active:            I am not cutting a tree.

Passive:           A tree is not being cut by me.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Is/am/are + subject + first form of verb + ing + object?

Passive:           Is/am/are + object + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Are they plucking some flowers?

Passive:           Are some flowers being plucked by them?

Active:            Is he reading the book?

Passive:           Is the book being read by him?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Is/am/are + subject + not + first form of verb + ing + object?

Passive:           Is/am/are + object + not + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Is he not flying a kite?

Passive:           Is a kite not being flown by him?

Active:            Are you not singing a song?

Passive:           Is a song not being sung by you?

Present Perfect

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + has/have + third form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + has/have + been + third form verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            She has taken a cup of tea.

Passive:          A cup of tea has been taken by her.

Active:           You have found the address.

Passive:          The address has been found by you.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + has/have + not + third form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + has/have + not + been + third form verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            He has not eaten a banana.

Passive:           A banana has not been eaten by him.

Active:            They have not plucked the flowers.

Passive:           The flowers have not been plucked by them.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Has/have + subject + third form of verb + object?

Passive:           Has/have + object + been + third form verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Have they won the match?

Passive:           Has the match been won by them?

Active:            Have they done their works?

Passive:           Have their works been done (by them)?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Has/have + subject + not + third form of verb + object?

Passive:           Has/have + object + not + been + third form verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Has he not written this letter?

Passive:           Has this letter not been written by him?

Active:            Have they not done their works?

Passive:           Have their works not been done (by them)?

NOTE: There is no passive form of Present Perfect Continuous tense.

Past Indefinite

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + second form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + was/were + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            She employed three hundred men.

Passive:           Three hundred men were employed by her.

Active:            They built three houses.

Passive:           Three houses were built by them.

Active:            They invited me.

Passive:           I was invited by them.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + did + not + first form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + was/were + not + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            I did not see him.

Passive:           He was not seen by me.

Active:            She did not buy mobiles.

Passive:           Mobiles were not bought by her.

Active:            You did not help me.

Passive:           I was not helped by you.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Did + subject + first form of verb + object?

Passive:           Was/were + object + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Did he open the shop?

Passive:           Was the shop opened by him?

Active:            Did she pluck the flowers?

Passive:           Were the flowers plucked by her?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Did + subject + not + first form of verb + object?

Passive:           Was/were + object + not + third form of verb + by + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Did they not enjoy the magic show?

Passive:           Was the magic show not enjoyed by them?

Active:            Did you not read a book?

Passive:           Was a book not read by you?

Past Continuous

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + was/were + first form of verb + ing + object

Passive:           Object + was/were + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:             I was learning my lesson.

Passive:           My lesson was being learnt by me.

Active:            They were distributing the sweets among the children.

Passive:           The sweets were being distributed by them among the children.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + was/were + not + first form of verb + ing + object

Passive:           Object + was/were + not + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            The farmer was not ploughing the field.

Passive:           The field was not being ploughed by the farmer.

Active:             I was not cutting a tree.

Passive:           A tree was not being cut by me.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Was/were + subject + first form of verb + ing + object?

Passive:           Was/were + object + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Were they plucking some flowers?

Passive:           Were some flowers being plucked by them?

Active:            Was he reading the book?

Passive:           Was the book being read by him?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Was/were + subject + not + first form of verb + ing + object?

Passive:           Was/were + object + not + being + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Was she not driving a motor car?

Passive:           Was a motor car not being driven by her?

Active:            Were the farmers not sowing the seeds?

Passive:           Were the seeds not being sown by the farmers?

Past Perfect

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + had + third form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + had + been + third form verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            She had already taken a cup of tea.

Passive:          A cup of tea had already been taken by her.

Active:           I had already done my work.

Passive:          My work had already been done my work.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + had + not + third form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + had + not + been + third form verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            He had not eaten a banana.

Passive:           A banana had not been eaten by him.

Active:            They had not plucked the flowers.

Passive:           The flowers had not been plucked by them.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Had + subject + third form of verb + object?

Passive:           Had + object + been + third form verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Had they won the match?

Passive:           Had the match been won by them?

Active:            Had he knocked at the door?

Passive:           Had the door been knocked at by him?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Had + subject + not + third form of verb + object?

Passive:           Had + object + not + been + third form verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Had she not washed the clothes?

Passive:           Had the clothes not been washed by her?

Active:            Had they not played a cricket match?

Passive:           Had a cricket match not been played by them?

NOTE: There is no passive form of Past Perfect Continuous tense.

Future Indefinite

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + will/shall + first form of verb + object.

Passive:           Object + will/shall + be  + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:             He will win the match.

Passive:           The match will be won by him.

Active:            I shall teach you.

Passive:          You will be taught by me.

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + will/shall + not + first form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + will/shall + not + be + third form of verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            They will not watch TV.

Passive:           TV will not be watched by them.

Active:             I shall not cook rice.

Passive:           Rice will not be cooked by me.

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Will/shall + subject + first form of verb + object?

Passive:           Will/shall + object + be + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Will they praise him?

Passive:           Will he be praised by them?

Active:            Shall we run a race?

Passive:           Will a race be run by us?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Will/shall + subject + not + first form of verb + object?

Passive:           Will/shall + object + not + be + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Will your friend not invite him?

Passive:           Will he not be invited by your friend?

Active:            Will you not sing a song?

Passive:           Will a song not be sung by you?

Future Perfect

Affirmative Sentence

Active:            Subject + shall have/will have + third form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + shall have been/will have been + third form verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            They will have planted a tree.

Passive:          A tree will have been planted by them.

Active:           We shall have sold our house.

Passive:          Our house will have been sold (by us).

Negative Sentence

Active:            Subject + will/shall + not + have + third form of verb + object

Passive:           Object + will/shall + not + have +  been + third form verb + preposition + subject

Examples:

Active:            They will not have planted a tree.

Passive:           A tree will not have been planted by them.

Active:            We shall not have sold our house.

Passive:           Our house will not have been sold (by us).

Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Will/shall + subject + have + third form of verb + object?

Passive:           Will/shall + object + have + been + third form of verb + preposition + subject?

Examples:

Active:            Will they have planted a tree?

Passive:           Will a tree have been planted by them?

Active:            Shall we have sold our house?

Passive:           Will our house have been sold (by us)?

Negative Interrogative Sentence

Active:            Will/shall + subject + not + have + third form of verb + object?

Passive:           Will/shall + object + not + have been + third form of verb + preposition + 
                         subject?

Examples:

Active:            Will they not have planted a tree?

Passive:           Will a tree not have been planted by them?

Active:            Shall we not have sold our house?

Passive:           Will our house not have been sold (by us)?

NOTE: There is no passive form of Future Continuous and Future Perfect Continuous tense.