Defining “Voice”
• “Voice” is a
characteristic of verbs
which indicates the
relation of the verb’s
action to its subject.
• The voice of a verb
may be either “active”
or “passive.”

Active & Passive
Active Voice Form
• When we want to say that the subject of a sentence is
doing the action, we use the verb of that sentence in its
Active form:
• e.g. A man is cutting down a tree.
‘A man’ = subject -- doing the action -- cutting - Active
Done by : Arman
3

Active & Passive
Passive Voice Form
• When we want to say that the subject of a sentence is not
doing anything but is allowing something to be done to it
by somebody else, we use the Passive Voice form:
e.g. A tree is being cut down by a man.
‘A tree’ = subject = not doing anything, but allowing ‘a
man’ to cut it. Passive
2-11-2012
Arman
4

Active-Passive Voice –
example 1
• Goutham is carrying the girl.
Active Voice
goutham= subject
is carrying = verb
the girl = object of the verb
Who is doing the action of carrying? =
‘goutham’ – subject of the sentence
02-11-2012
Arman
5

Active-Passive Voice –
example 2
• The girl is being carried by Goutham. Passive Voice
The girl = subject
is being carried = verb
by = preposition
Goutham= object of the preposition ‘by’
Who is doing the action of carrying?
= Not ‘The girl’, the subject, but ‘Goutham’, the object
02-11-2012
6

Active-Passive Voice –
changes 1
• Clavin reads a book every day.
Active Voice
‘Clavin’ -- the subject of the Active sentence…
A book is read every day by Clavin. Passive Voice
‘by Clavin’ – object of the preposition ‘by’
The subj ect of t he Act ive sent ence becomes t he
obj ect of t he pr eposit ion in t he Passive sent ence!
7

Active-Passive Voice – changes 2
• Clavin reads a book every day. Active Voice
‘reads’ – verb of the Active sentence
A book is read every day by Clavin. Passive voice
The Active form of the verb in Active sentence is changed into
the Passive form in Passive sentence.
‘reads’ becomes “is read”!
8

Active-Passive Voice – not e 1
• He cooks food. Active Voice
‘food’ – object of the verb –
singular
Food is cooked by him. Passive Voice
‘Food’ – subject of the passive
sentence – singular, so ‘is cooked’ -verb singular
When the subject of a sentence is
singular, the verb must also be in
singular
9

Active-Passive Voice – not e 2
• When the subject of a sentence is Plural, the verb of that
sentence must be Plural:
• Joshua carried some books. Active Voice
‘some books’ -- object of the verb in Active – Plural
Some books were carried by Joshua. Passive Voice
‘were carried’ – verb – ‘were’ plural / ‘books’ plural
10

Active-Passive Voice -- not e 3
• Shelvin has signed ten letters.
Active Voice
‘Shelvin’ – subject; ‘has’ – part of the verb – singular
‘ten letters’ – object of the verb in Active -- plural
Ten letters have been signed by Shelvin. Passive Voice
‘Ten letters’ – subject – plural; ‘have been signed’ verb –
‘have’ -- plural
11

Active-Passive Voice – Tense Change 1
• Shelvin bakes cakes. Active
‘bakes’ – verb –
Simple Present Tense
Cakes are baked by Shelvin.
Passive Voice
‘are baked’ – verb –
Simple Present Tense
12

Active-Passive – Tense Change 2
• He is building a sand castle.
‘is building’ – verb –
present continues tense –
ACTIVE VOICE FORM
A sand castle is being built by him.
‘is being built’ – verb –
present continues tense
PASSIVE VOICE FORM
13

Active-Passive -- Tense Change 3
• He has drawn a picture.
‘has drawn’ – verb –
present perfect tense
ACTIVE VOICE
A picture has been drawn by him.
‘has been drawn’ – verb –
present perfect tense
PASSIVE VOICE
14

Active-Passive Voice –
Tense Change 4
• She told me a secret.
Active Voice
‘told’ – verb – simple past tense
A secret was told (to) me by her.
Passive Voice
‘was told’ – verb – simple past tense
15

Active-Passive Voice –
Tense Change 5
• The postman was delivering the post.
‘was delivering’ -- verb -- Past Continuous Tense
ACTIVE VOICE FORM
The post was being delivered by the postman.
‘was being delivered’ -- verb -- Past continuous Tense
PASSIVE VOICE FORM
16

Active-Passive Voice – Tense Change 6
• According to the traditional grammar rules, the past perfect
continuous tense is not used in Passive form; however, in the
contemporary English, there are occasions where the past
perfect tense is used in the Passive Form, too!
• He had been writing letters for half an hour before somebody
called him out.
• Letters had been being written for half an hour (by him) before
somebody called him out.
17

Active-Passive Voice – Tense Change
7
They will give the beggar some money.
‘will give’ -- verb -- simple future tense -- Active
The beggar will be given some money by them.
‘will be given’ -- verb -- simple future tense -- Passive
18

Active-Passive -- Tense Change 8
• According to the traditional grammar rules, the future
continuous tense in the Active is not used in Passive Voice
Form.
• e.g. They will be playing with fireworks by the time their
father reaches home. Active
‘will be playing’ – verb – future continuous
-------- NO PASSIVE -------19

Active-Passive Voice – Tense Change 09
• According to the traditional grammar rules, the future perfect
continuous tense is not used in the Passive Voice Form:
e.g. You will have been working on the course material for 2
hours by 6 in the evening.
‘will have been working’ – verb –
Future Perfect Continuous Tense – Active
---------- NO CHANGE ----------
20

Active-Passive Voice – Tense Change 10
The Modal Auxiliary (helping) Verbs in
Passive Voice Form take ‘be’:
e.g. He will give you a book. Active Voice
You will be given a book by him. Passive
e.g. They can pick a number. Active Voice
A number can be picked by them. Passive
e.g. We must finish this job. Active Voice
This job must be finished by us. Passive
21

Active-Passive Voice – not e 1
•
The Subject of the active voice sentence becomes the object of the
preposition in the Passive Voice sentence. The preposition is usually ‘by’
when the object is a person, and ‘with’ when the object is a thing, such as a
knife, gun, arrow, etc.
•
e.g. The hunter shot the deer with an arrow. Active
The deer was shot with an arrow by the hunter. Passive
‘an arrow’ -- a thing – preposition ‘with’
‘a hunter’ -- a person -- preposition ‘by’
22

Active-Passive Voice – not e
2
• When there are two objects of the verb in the active voice
sentence, we can change that active sentence into passive
in two way: using the first object in one sentence and the
second object in the other.
23

Active-Passive Voice – not e
2 (cont inued)
•
e.g. The teacher teaches you a lesson. Active
‘you’ – object of the verb / ‘a lesson’ – object of the verb
(A) You are taught a lesson by the teacher. Passive
(B) A lesson is taught to you by the teacher. Passive
24

Active-Passive Voice -- not e 3
• In writing the Passive Voice, in most cases, the preposition –
‘by’ or ‘with’ – and its object are not used, because they are
understood:
• e.g. The cook made me an omelette. Active Voice
An omelette was made for me
by the cook.
.
Passive Voice
25

Remember this table:
Tense (or Modal+base)
Active Voice
Passive Voice
Simple present
take
takes
Present continuous
am taking
is taking
are taking
have taken
has taken
took
was taking
were taking
had taken
am taken
is taken
are taken
am being taken
is being taken
are being taken
have been taken
has been taken
was taken
were taken
was being taken
were being taken
had been taken
will take
shall take
can take
must take
will be taken
shall be taken
can be taken
must be taken
Present perfect
Simple past
Past continuous
Past perfect
Simple future
can/may/must,etc.+base

Can you remember the past participles of
these verbs? Fill in the blank.
read
found
find
Check
made
eaten
Check
eat
sung
Check
Check
sing
cut
cut
Check
make
taught
teach
Check
read
seen
Check
see
Check
ОУ “Христо Ботев” с.Садина, общ.Попово

Fill in the blank
is produced
A lot of coffee
in Brazil.
(produce)
Check
are called
A lot of dogs in England
Ben.
(call)
Check

Fill in the blank
are used
A million drawings
Check
in The Lion King.
(use)
Check
by his friend, Joshua.
is found
Simba
(find)

Complete each sentence in the
passive.
 People eat millions of bars of chocolate every day!
Millions of bars of chocolate
every day!
are eaten
Check
 We plant hundreds of trees every year.
Hundreds of trees
every year.
are planted
Check

Complete each sentence in the
passive.
 Nowadays people cut down many trees for no
reason.
Nowadays many trees
for no reason.
are cut down
Check
 A Portuguese person teaches my sister.
My sister
by a Portuguese person.
is taught
Check

Complete each sentence in the
passive.
 People read millions of newspapers every day.
Millions of newspapers
every day.
are read
Check
 Shenin and Joyal publish Arman’s new book.
Arman’s new book
by Shenin and Joyal.
is published
Check

In these examples, spot the use of the active voice and the
passive voice.
The music was played by Sharika.
passive
The sun was hidden by the clouds.
passive
Delighted fans streamed onto the pitch.
active
Marie wrote the letter to the headteacher.
active
Danny was praised by the headteacher.
passive
34

Exercise 1: Choose Active or Passive
Put “A” for Active, “P” for Passive:
1. The boy banged on the table.
2. A girl was bitten by a dog.
3. Mrs Wong washes her car every Sunday.
4. The library was broken into last night.
5. I lost my dictionary.
6. The floor is swept by the maid.
[
[
[
[
[
[
]
]
]
]
]
]

Choose Active or Passive (Answers)
Put “A” for Active, “P” for Passive:
1. The boy banged on the table.
[A]
2. A girl was bitten by a dog.
[ P]
3. The floor is swept by the maid.
[ P]
4. The library was broken into last night.
[P]
5. I lost my dictionary.
[A]
6. Mrs Wong washes her car every Sunday. [A]

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
1. The fire ___________ out by the firemen.
is put
A. puts
B. is put
C. put

made
2. Shelvin ______________ a sandwich.
A. make
B. are made
C. is made
D. made

3. A present ____________ to me by the
was given
English teacher.
A. gave
B. was given
c. given

Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks
There is a dog which 1)_______(call)
is called
Bubbles”. It 2) ___________ (own)
is owned
is kept
by Michael Johnson. It 3)_________
is fed
(keep) in his home. It 4)___________
(feed) every day by Michael Johnson
is dressed
himself. It 5) __________(dress) in
is said
funny clothes. It 6)_________(say)
that “Bubbles” is Johnson’s only
friend.

Exercise 4: Change active to passive
1) The policemen catch the thief.
Ans: The thief is caught by the policemen.
2) The girl puts on a beautiful dress.
Ans: A beautiful dress is put on by the girl.

Exercise 5: Change passive to active
1) The dishes are washed by Amy.
Ans: Amy washes the dishes.
2) The car is repaired by Arman and Clavin.
Ans: Clavin and Arman repair the car.

Exercise 6: Multiple Choice
1. A song ____________ by Goutham.
was sung
A) sang
B) was sung
C) sung

2. These houses _________ by the workmen.
were built
A) built
B) was built
C) were built

3. Mr. Pitbul __________ in 2005 .
died
A) die
B) died
C) was died

Exercise 7: Fill in the blanks
Two men were seen breaking into a
house in my street last night. The police
1) __________ (call) and they arrived
were called
very
was caught
quickly. One man 2) ___________ (catch)
immediately. The other escaped, but he
was found
3) _________ (find) very soon. Both men
were taken
4) __________ (take) to the police station
were questioned
and 5) _____________
(question)separatewere charged
ly by a police officer. The two men 6)
___________ (charge) with burglary.

Exercise 8: Change active to passive
1) I drew a picture yesterday.
Ans: A picture was drawn by me yesterday.
2) Lisa bought some books two days ago.
Ans: Some books were bought by Lisa two
days ago.

Exercise 9: Change passive to active
1) The problems were solved by Jack.
Ans: Jack solved the problems.
2) The house was painted by the painter.
Ans: The painter painted the
house.

Revision Exercise: Multiple Choice
1. His secretary _____________ that report
wrote
last Friday.
A) writes
B) is written
C) wrote
D) was written

2. Joshua’s watch was stolen by a thief
_________
yesterday.
A)
B)
C)
D)
steals
is stolen
stole
was stolen

3. Mary always _________ care of her baby
takes
sister.
A)
B)
C)
D)
takes
is taken
took
was taken

4. The furniture _________ by the maid every
is dusted
day.
A)
B)
C)
D)
dusts
is dusted
dusted
was dusted

Revision Exercise: Fill in the blanks
Fred owns (own) a fast food shop in Central.
are prepared
Food, drinks and snacks ___________________
(prepare) by his workers early every morning.
entered
This morning, when Fred ______(enter) the kitchen
of his fast food shop, he saw that everybody was very
were done
busy. It seemed that two jobs ____________ (do)
at the same time by every worker in the kitchen.
was
were toasted
He _____ (be) very happy. Sandwiches _____________
were made
(toast) while tea _____________ (make). Potato chips
were fried
were baked
________ (fry) while apple pies __________ (bake).
like
Many people _______ (like) to buy fish and
chips at Fred’s fast food shop. Besides, more
were sold
than 300 chicken wings _________ (sell) every day.