Active voice Passive voice

1. By : Anza Afzal Dar Active voice/ Passive voice

2. Active voice When a subject of a sentence does an action. Or When a work is done by the subject of a sentence. Or When a subject shows an action towards an object. The police arrested the criminal. Active voice Subject is doing the action. The judge read the case. Active voice Subject of the action

3. Passive voice When the verb is passive, the subject undergoes the action denoted by the verbrather than doing it. The criminal was arrested by the police. Passive voice Subject is receiving the action. The case was read by the judge. Passive voice Receiver of the action The house is cleaned by my mom. Passive voice Receiver of the action

4. General Rules Change subject to object. Change object to subject. Write by before object. Use 3rd form of verb.

5. Table of Personal pronouns:

6. Present Indefinite (Simple) Tense • Affirmative • Active Voice: S + V1 • Passive voice: S + am/ is/ are + V3 • Example: • I make a cake. (Active) • A cake is made by me. (Passive) • Interrogatives • Active: Do/Does + S + V1 + object • Does she teach English at school? • Passive: Be + S + V3 + prep + object • Is English taught by her at school?

7. Negative • Active: S + do/does + not + V1 + object • She does not/doesn`t teach English at school. • Passive: S + be + not + V3 + prep + object • English is not/isn`t taught by her at school. • Negative interrogatives • Active: Don`t/Doesn`t + S + V1 + object • Doesn`t she teach English at school? • Passive: Be not + S + V3 + prep + object • Isn`t English taught by her at school?

8. WH/Information questions • Active: WH + do/does + S + V1 + object • Where does she teach English every day? • Passive: WH + be + S + V3 + prep + object • Where is English taught by her every day?

9. Present continuous/progressive • Affirmatives • Active: S + be + V1 ing + object • They are paving the road right now. • Passive: S + be+ being + V3 + prep • The road is being paved by them right now. • Interrogatives • Active: Be + S + V1 ing + object • Are they paving the road right now? • Passive: Be + S + being + V3 + prep + object • Is the road being paved by them right now?

10. … • Negatives • Active: S + be + not + V1 ing + object • They are not paving the road right now? • Passive: S + be + not + being + V3 + prep + object • The road is not/isn’t being paved by them right now. • Negative interrogatives • Active: Be not + S + V1 ing + object • Aren`t they paving the road right now? • Passive: Be not + S + being + V3 + prep + object • Isn`t the road being paved by them right now?

11. … • WH/Information questions • Active: WH + be + S + V1 ing + object • When are they paving the road? • Passive: WH + be + S + being + V3 + object • When is the road being paved by them?

12. Present perfect tense • Affirmatives • Active: S + have/has + V3 + object • He has written a poem. • Passive: S + have/has + been + V3 + prep + object • A poem has been written by him. • Interrogatives • Active: Have/Has + S + V3 + object • Has he written a poem? • Passive: Have/Has + S + been + V3 + object • Has a poem been written by him?

13. Negatives • Active: S + have/has + not + V3 + object • He has not/ hasn`t written a poem. • Passive: S + have/has + not + been + V3 + prep + object • A poem has not/hasn`t been written by him. • Negative interrogatives • Active: Have/Has not + S + V3 + object • Hasn`t he written a poem? • Passive: Have/Has not + S + been + V3 + prep + object • Hasn`t a poem been written by him?

14. WH/Information questions • Active: WH + have/has + S + V3 + object • Why have they killed him? • Passive: WH + have/has + S + been + V3 + prep + object • Why has he been killed by them?

15. Note: keep in mind that it is not common in written English to change the active sentences from present perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, and future perfect progressive tenses into passive sentences in written English, but they could be rarely changed in spoken English. In order to help you, know their use in spoken English, we have provided the structures for all the above mentioned tenses.

16. Simple past/past indefinite tense • Affirmatives • Active: S + V2 + object • Ali sang a beautiful song last year. • Passive: S + was/were + V3 + prep + object • A beautiful song was sung by Ali  last year. • Interrogatives • Active: Did + S + V1 + object • Did you buy a grammar book last week? • Passive: Was/Were + S + V3 + prep + object • Was a grammar book bought by you last week?

17. Negatives • Active: S + did + not + V1 + object • They did not/didn’t invite us to the party. • Passive: S + was/were + not + V3 + prep + object • We were not invited by them to the party. • Negative interrogatives • Active: Did not + S + V1 + object • Didn`t they invite you to the party? • Passive: Was/Were not + S + V3 + prep + object • Weren`t you invited by them to the party?

18. WH/Information questions • Active: WH + did + S + V1 + object • When did you watch that movie? • Passive: WH + was/were + subject + V3 + prep + object • When was that movie watched by you?

19. Past continuous/progressive tense • Affirmatives • Active: S + be2 + V1 ing + object • He was painting the wall yesterday. • Passive: S + was/were +being + V3 + prep + object • The wall was being painted by him yesterday. • Interrogatives • Active: Be2 + S + V1 ing + object • Were they painting the wall yesterday? • Passive: Be + S + being + V3 + prep + object • Was the wall being painted by them yesterday?

20. Negatives • Active: S + be2 + not + V1 ing + object • We were not painting the wall yesterday. • Passive: S + be2 + not + being + V3 + prep + object • The wall was not/wasn`t being painted by us yesterday.  • Negative interrogatives • Active: Be not + S + V1 ing + object • Weren`t they painting the wall yesterday? • Passive: Be not + S + being + V3 + prep + object • Wasn`t the wall being painted by them yesterday?

21. WH/Information questions • Active: WH + be2 + S + V1 ing + object • When were they painting the wall? • Passive: WH + be2 + S + being + V3 + prep + object • When was the wall being painted by them?

22. Past perfect tense • Affirmatives • Active: S + had + V3 + object • They had played cricket before the rain started. • Passive: S + had + been + V3 + prep + object • Cricket had been played by them before the rain started. • Interrogatives • Active: Had + S + V3 + object • Had they played cricket before the rain started? • Passive: Had + S + been + V3 + prep + object • Had cricket been played by them before the rain started?

23. Negatives • Active: S + had + not + V3 + object • They had not/hadn`t played cricket before the rain started. • Passive: S + had + not + been + V3 + prep + object • Cricket had not/hadn`t been played by them before the rain started. • Negative interrogatives • Active: Had not + S + V3 + object • Hadn`t they played cricket before the rain started? • Passive: Had not + S + been + V3 + prep + object • Hadn`t cricket been played by them before the rain started? • WH/Information Questions • Active: WH + had + S + V3 + object • Where had they played cricket before the rain started? • Passive: WH + had + S + been + V3 + prep + object • Where had cricket been played by them before the rain started? 

24. Future indefinite Tense Active voice: S + will/ shall + V1 Passive voice: S + will be + V3 Active and passive voice example: Our parents will take us to the park. (Active) We will be taken to the park by our parents. (Passive)

25. Future Continuous Active Voice: S + will/ shall + be + V-ing The Passive: S + will/ shall + being + V3 Active and passive voice example: He will be writing a book. (Active) A book will being written by him.

26. Future perfect tense • Affirmatives • Active: S + will have + V3 + object • I will have done my homework by the time my favorite movie starts on TV. • Passive: S + will have + been + V3 + prep + object • My homework will have been done by me by the time my favorite movie starts on TV. • Interrogatives • Active: Will + S + have + V3 + object + ROTS • Will I have done my homework by the time my favorite movie starts on TV? • Passive: Will + S + have been + V3 + prep + object • Will my homework have been done by me by the time my favorite movie starts on TV?

27. Negatives • Active: S + will not have + V3 + object • I will not have done my homework by the time my favorite movie starts on TV. • Passive: S + will not + have been + V3 + prep + object • My homework will not have been done by me by the time my favorite movie starts on TV? • WH/Information questions • Active: WH + will + S + have + V3 + object • Where will you have built a new house by the time your business improves? • Passive: WH + will + S + have been + V3 + prep + object • Where will a new house have been built by you by the time your business improves?

28. Changing an imperative sentence in active voice to passive  Imperative sentences are sentences, which express advice, request or command.For example, Close the door. Please give me the bottle. Pick up the phone. These sentences express advice, request or command.

29. Let + object + be + V3. Active: Carry it home. Passive: Let it be carried home. Active: Do it at once. Passive: Let it be done at once. Active: Open the door. Passive: Let the door be opened. Active: Throw the ball. Passive: Let the ball be thrown.

30. When the active voice is in the negative, the passive voice takes the form: Let + object + not + be + past participle. Active: Do not beat the dog. Passive: Let the dog not be beaten. Note that do is not used in the passive form. We can begin the passive sentence with you  if we want to put emphasis on the person addressed to.

31. Active: Help me. Passive: Let me be helped. Passive: You are requested to help me. Active: Learn the poem. Passive: Let the poem be learned. Passive: You are asked to learn the poem. Active: Don’t touch it. Passive: Let it not be touched. Passive: You are warned not to touch it.

32. Imperative sentences containing request Passive voice of sentences containing request start with ‘ You are requested to’. Generally, sentences containing request have the word ‘please’ in it. Normal structure of sentence in passive voice is as under Please close the door. (Active Voice)You are requested to close the door. (Passive Voice) Please bring me some apples. (Active Voice)You are requested to bring me some apples. (Passive Voice) Please show me your tickets. (Active Voice)You are requested to show me your tickets. (Passive Voice

33. Imperative sentences containing advice Passive voice of sentences containing advice start with ‘You are advised to’ Normal structure of sentence in passive voice is as under Do yoga daily. (Active Voice)You are advised to do yoga daily. (Passive Voice) Do your homework neatly. (Active Voice)You are advised to do your homework neatly. (Passive Voice) Do not drink. (Active Voice)You are advised not to drink. (Passive Voice)

34. Imperative sentences containing command or order Passive voice of sentences containing command or order generally start with ‘Let’ Normal structure of sentence in passive voice is as under Let + subject + be + V-3 Ex: Switch off the fan. (Active Voice)Let the fan be switched off. (Passive Voice) Call the attendant. (Active Voice)Let the attendant be called. (Passive Voice) Cook the food. (Active Voice)Let the food be cooked. (Passive Voice) You can change the sentences containing command or order into passive using ‘You are ordered to’ also. Normal structure of sentence for that is

35. Imperative sentences containing suggestion There are some sentences which contain suggestion. Let’s see how to convert these sentences into passive by some examples. Ex: Respect parents. (Active Voice)Parents should be respected. (Passive Voice) Love the kids. (Active Voice)The kids should be loved. (Passive Voice) Follow your dreams. (Active Voice)Your dreams should be followed. (Passive Voice)

36. Active And Passive Voice With Modal Verbs • Words shown below are known as modal verbs in English grammar. • Can, Could,May, Might. Will,Would,Must, Shall,Should, Ought to • Normal structure of sentence in active voice with modals in it is • Subject + modal + verb + object. (Active Voice) • Ex: She can 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 • Subject + modal + be + V3 + by + agent. (Passive Voice) • Ex:. The food can be cooked by her.(Passive Voice)

37. Thieves may steal your accessories. (Active voice) Your accessories may be stolen by thieves. (Passive voice) Your accessories may not be stolen by thieves. May your accessories be stolen by thieves? Maintenance could have obtained a nice garden. A nice garden could have been obtained by maintenance. A nice garden couldn’t have been obtained by maintenance. Could a nice garden be obtained by maintenance?