Active and Passive Voice – Rules, Sentence Conversion, Verb, Tense (English, Study Material, Exam Preparation, Example, Question, Answer)

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.

Types of Voices of Verb

Verbs have two voices:

1. Active Voice
2. 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.

Active Voice Examples

• Hens lay eggs.
• 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.

Passive Voice Examples

• Eggs are laid by hens.
• 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)

Rules for Active – Passive Voice Conversions

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: 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 4. 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

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

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]

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

Practice Questions : For Active And Passive Voice

The significance of knowing the rules of active and passive voice for the English language section of various competitive exams can only be understood by knowing the type of questions asked in the examination, based on the same.

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.

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: Option A - You are asked not to disobey your elders

Question 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: Option D - The teacher was listened to by the students.

Question 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: Option C - It has to be done by me.

Question 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: Option D - You are asked to tell the maid to prepare tea.

Question 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: Option B - By whom was your bike stolen?