Active vs. passive voice || Part 1 ||

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2.  Active voice means that a sentence has a
subject that acts upon its verb. Passive
voice means that a subject is a recipient
of a verb’s action. You may have learned
that the passive voice is weak and
incorrect, but it isn’t that simple. When
used correctly and in moderation, the
passive voice is fine.
 In English grammar, verbs have five
properties: voice, mood, tense, person,
and number; here, we are concerned with
voice. The two grammatical voices
are active and passive.
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3.  When the subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that the sentence is
in the active voice. Sentences in the active voice have a strong, direct, and clear tone.
Here are some short and straightforward examples of active voice.
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4.  Monkeys adore bananas.
 The cashier counted the money.
 The dog chased the squirrel.
 All three sentences have a basic active voice construction: subject, verb, and
object. The subject monkey performs the action described by adore. The
subject the cashier performs the action described by counted. The subject the
dog performs the action described by chased. The subjects are doing, doing,
doing—they take action in their sentences. The active voice reminds us of the
popular Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”
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5.  A sentence is in the passive voice, on the
other hand, when the subject is acted on by
the verb.
 The passive voice is always constructed
with a conjugated form of to be plus the
verb’s past participle.
 Doing this usually generates a preposition
as well. That sounds much more
complicated than it is—passive voice is
actually quite easy to detect. For these
examples of passive voice, we will transform
the three active sentences above to illustrate
the difference.
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6.  Bananas are adored by monkeys.
 The money was counted by the cashier.
 The squirrel was chased by the dog.
 Let’s take a closer look at the first pair of sentences,
“Monkeys adore bananas” and “Bananas are adored
by monkeys.” The active sentence consists
of monkeys (subject) + adore (verb)
+ bananas (object). The passive sentence consists
of bananas (object) + are adored (a form of to
be plus the past participle adored) + by (preposition)
+ monkeys (subject). Making the sentence passive
flipped the structure and necessitated the
preposition by. In fact, all three of the transformed
sentences above required the addition of by.
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7.  Using the active voice conveys a strong, clear tone and the passive voice is subtler and
weaker. Here’s some good advice: don’t use the passive voice just because you think it
sounds a bit fancier than the active voice.
 That said, there are times the passive voice is useful and called for. Take “The squirrel was
chased by the dog,” for example. That sentence construction would be helpful if the squirrel
were the focus of your writing and not the dog.
 A good rule of thumb is to try to put the majority of your sentences in the active voice,
unless you truly can’t write your sentence in any other way.
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8.  The voice of a verb tells whether the subject of
the sentence performs or receives the action.
 i) Birds build nests.
 ii) Nests are built by birds.
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9.  Active Voice: the subject performs the
action expressed by the verb.
 Usage: when more clarity and
straightforward relation is required between
verb and subject.
 Passive Voice: the subject receives the
action expressed by the verb.
 Usage: when the action is the focus, not the
subject or when the doer is unknown.

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10.  1. Identify the subject, the verb and the object:
S+V+O
 2. Change the object into subject
 3. Put the suitable helping verb or auxiliary verb
 4. Change the verb into past participle of the
verb
 5. Add the preposition "by“
 6. Change the subject into object
 Example:
 Active Voice: Sameer wrote a letter. (Subject) +
(verb) + (object).
 Passive Voice: A letter was written by
Sameer. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past
participle) + (by subject).
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12. 
 Here in this table, we are elaborating Rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples for Present Simple.

 Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb – is/am/are)
 Subject + V1+s/es+ object
 Object+ is/am/are+ V3+ by + subject
 Subject + Do/does+ not + V1 + Object
 Object + is/am/are+ not + V3+ by Subject
 Does+ Subject+ V1+Object+?
 Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by subject +?

 Active and Passive Voice Example with Answers of Present Simple Tense

 Active: He reads a novel.
 Passive: A novel is read.

 Active: He does not cook food.
 Passive: Food is not cooked by him.


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13. 
 Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb- is/am/are + being)
 Subject + is/am/are+ v1+ ing + object
 Object+ is/am/are+ being+ V3+ by + subject
 Subject + is/am/are+ not+ v1+ ing+ object
 Object + is/am/are+ not + being+V3+ by Subject
 Is/am/are+ subject+v1+ing + object+?
 Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by subject +?

 Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Present Continuous Tense

 Active: Esha is singing a song.
 Passive: A song is being sung by Esha.

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14.  Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb- has/have +been)
 Subject + has/have+ v3+ object
 Object+ has/have+ been+ V3+ by + subject
 Subject + has/have+ not+ v3+ object
 Object + has/have+ not + been+V3+ by Subject
 Has/have+ subject+ v3 + object+?
 Has/Have + Object+ been+V3+ by subject +?

 Active and Passive Voice Example with Answers
of Present Perfect Tense

 Active: Nitesh has challenged her.
 Passive: She has been challenged by Nitesh.
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15.  Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb- was/were)
 Subject + V2+ object
 Object+ was/were V3+ by + subject
 Subject +did+ not+v1+ object
 Object + was/were+ not +V3+ by Subject
 Did+ subject+V1+ object+?
 Was/were + Object+ V3+ by subject +?
 Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Past Simple Tense
 Active: Reema cleaned the floor.
 Passive: The floor was cleaned by Reema.
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16.  Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb- was/were + being)
 Subject + was/were + v1+ing+ object.
 Object+ was/were +being+V3+ by + subject
 Subject +was/were+ not+v1+ing + object
 Object + was/were+ not +being+V3+ by Subject
 Was/were+ Subject + V1+ing + object+?
 Was/were + Object+ being+v3+ by+ subject+?
 Active and Passive Voice Examples with Answers
of Past Continuous Tense
 Active: Nitika was painting the wall.
 Passive: The wall was being painted by Nitika.
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17.  Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb- had +been)
 Subject + had + v3+ object.
 Object+ had+been +V3+ by + subject
 Subject +had+ not+v3+ object
 Object + had+ not +been+V3+ by Subject
 Had+ Subject + V3+ object+?
 Had + Object+ been+v3+ by+ subject+?

 Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Past Perfect Tense

 Active: Misha had cleaned the floor.
 Passive: The floor had been cleaned by Misha.

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 Active and Passive Voice Rules for Future Simple Tense

 You can check Active Voice and Passive Voice Rules chart for future simple tense.

 Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 (Auxiliary Verb- will+ be)
 Subject + will+ v1+ object.
 Object+ will+ be +V3+ by + subject
 Subject +will + not+ V1+object
 Object + will+ not +be+V3+ by Subject
 Will+ Subject + V1+ object+?
 Will + Object+ be +v3+ by+ subject+?

 We can better understand Rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples for future simple tense.

 Active and Passive Voice Examples with Answers of Future Simple Tense

 Active: Kriya will sew the bag.
 Passive: The bag will be sewed by Kriya.

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 Active and Passive Voice Rules for Future Perfect Tense

 Here, we are sharing the Active Voice and Passive Voice Rules chart for future perfect tense.

 Active Voice
 Passive Voice
 Subject + will+ have +v3+ object.
 Object+ will+ have+ been +V3+ by + subject
 Subject + will+ have +not+v3+ object.
 Object + will+ have +not+been+v3+ subject
 Will+ Subject+have+v3+ object+?
 Will + object+have+been+v3+by +subject+?

 Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Future Perfect Tense

 Active: They will have brought the toy.
 Passive: The toy will have been brought by them.


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 Tips on using Voice:

 Tip #1: Let
 If the given sentence in the active voice is in the imperative form, to get the passive voice
use ‘Let’.
 Formation of Passive Voice = Let + Object + be + Past Participle
 Examples:
 Active: Help me.
 Passive: Let me be helped.
 Active: Open the door.
 Passive: Let the door be opened.

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 Tip #2: Helping verbs like am, is, are, was, were, will, have, should, could, will
 If the question in the Active Voice begins with a Helping verb the Passive voice must also begin with a
suitable helping verb.
 Active: Are you writing a letter?
 Passive: Is a letter being written by you?
 Active: Will you write a letter?
 Passive: Will a letter be written by you?
 What, When, Who, Why, How:
 If the question begins with ‘Wh’ or How’ form (what, when, how, etc.) the Passive Voice must begin with the
same. Only ‘who’ gets replaced by ‘By whom’.
 Active: Why did you break the box?
 Passive: Why was the box broken by you?
 Active: Who broke the window?
 Passive: By whom was the window broken?


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22.  Tip #4: Direct and Indirect Object
 If a sentence contains two objects namely Indirect Object and Direct Object in the
Active Voice, two forms of Passive Voice can be formed.
 Active: She brought me a cup of coffee.
 Passive: (I) I was brought a cup of coffee by her.
 Passive: (II) A cup of coffee was brought to me by her.
 Object Complement: When made passive, these objects complements become
subject complements; they come after the verb.
 Active: They elected him their leader.
 Passive: He was elected their leader.


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23.  Tip #6: Cases where no passive form exists
 Present perfect Continuous: She has been writing a letter.
 Past perfect Continuous: He had been cleaning the house.
 Future Continuous: I will be filing all the documents tomorrow.
 Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been serving tea for customers at this hotel for twenty years by
then.
 Intransitive verb which do not take objects:
 · I eat.
 · I am living here.
 · I have travelled by train.
 · I went there.
 · I waited for a long time.

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24.  Tip #3: Gerund, Infinitive
 When used in passive form, gerund and Infinitive are formed differently.
 Infinitive: passive is formed as ‘to be + past participle’
 Active: I want to shoot the tiger.
 Passive: I want the tiger to be shot.
 Gerund: passive is formed as ‘being + past participle’
 Active: I remember my father taking me to the theatre.
 Passive: I remember being taken to the theatre by my father.

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25.  Tip #5: Cases where ‘by’ is not used
 With: use with in place of ‘by’ to talk about an instrument used by the agent/subject.
 Active: Somebody hit the dog with a stick.
 Passive: (I) The dog was hit by with a stick.
 Passive: (II) The dog was hit by a boy.
 Impersonal Passive: In scientific / technical / business writing, the emphasis is usually
on the action or process. So the ‘by’ phrase is generally omitted.
 Active: One finds mosquitoes everywhere.
 Passive: Mosquitoes are found everywhere.


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