English Active and Passive Voice

English Active and Passive Voice

Voice is the property of verb which shows whether the subject is performing or

experiencing the action.

There are two kinds of voice:

Active voice:     If the subject does the work himself or herself, it is in active voice.

Passive voice:   If something is done for or to the subject, it is in passive voice.

General Rules:

Subject	Verb	Object
Rahim	teaches	Mohsin.	Active
Mohsin	is taught	by Rahim	Passive

            Following are the rules for changing active voice into passive voice:

1.         Subject of the active voice shall become the object of the passive voice.

            I           :           (by) me             We       :           (by) us

            You      :           (by) you                        He        :           (by) him

            She      :           (by) her                        It          :           (by) it

            They     :           (by) them          Who     :           (by) whom

2.         Use the form of verb ‘to be’ (is, are, etc.) between subject and object in the passive voice.

3.         Verb should be changed to past participle (3^rd form)

4.         Use ‘by’ before object.

5.         Object of the active voice shall become subject of passive voice.

            Me       :           I                       us         :           we

            You      :           You                  him      :           he

            Her      :           She                  it          :           it

            Them    :           they                  whom   :           who

Note:   

1.         Passive voice can be made only of transitive verb, i.e. if the verb is followed by an object.

2.         Voice is changed in the same sentence i.e., if the Active voice is in the interrogative sentence. Passive will also be in interrogative sentence.

Structure: Subject + Verb be+ past participle + by + object (noun or pronoun).

Present Indefinite Tense

Active	Passive [Subject + is/am/are+ 3rd form +by + object]
Karim teases him.	He is teased by him
She beats her husband.	Her husband is beaten by her.

Negative Sentence:

Active	Passive [Subject+is/am/are+not+3rdform+by+object]
She does not listen to you.	You are not listened to by her.
You do not favour her.	She is not favoured by you.

Interrogative Sentence:

Active	Passive [Is/Am/Are+subject + 3rd form +by + object]
Do you teach him?	Is he taught by you?
Do you respect me?	Am I respected by you?

If the sentence begins with ‘when/where/why/how/what’ helping verb should be put immediately after them.

Active	Passive
How do you prepare tea?	How is tea prepared by you?
When do you see T.V.?	When is T.V. seen by you?
What do you like?	What is liked by you?

            If the sentence begins with ‘who’ or ‘whom’, change ‘who’ into ‘by whom’ and ‘whom’ into ‘who’ in the passive voice.

Active	Passive
Who beats you?	By whom are you beaten?
Whom do you love?	Who is loved by you?

Present Continuous Tense

Active	Passive [Subject + was/were+ 3rd form +by + object]
I was revising the lesson	Was the lesson being revised by me.
Were you reading the book?	Was the book being read by you?
What was Rehman doing?	What was being done by Rehman?

Past Perfect Tense

Active	Passive [Subject + had + been +3rdform+by+object]
I learn the poem.	The poem was learnt by me.
Had she taken tea?	Had tea been taken by her?
He had not ill-treated him	He had not been ill-treated by him.

Future Indefinite Tense

Active	Passive [Subject+will/shall+be+3rdform+by+object]
This man will do my work.	My work will be done by this man.
Will Mohsin help me?	Shall I be helped by Mohsin?
What will Tariq do?	What will be done by Tariq?
Who will repair the window?	By whom will the window be repaired?

Future Perfect Tense

Active	Passive [Subject+will/shall+have+been+3rdform +by + object]
This man will have done my work.	My work will have been done by this man.
He will not have abused me.	I shall not have been abused by him.
The farmer will have watered the field.	The field will have been watered by the farmer.

Modal Verbs:

Can, may, must, shall, will, should, would, could and might are called modal verbs.

Active	Passive [Subject + modal verb+ be + 3rd form +by + object]
Rizwan can win the prize.	The prize can be won by Rizwan.
Mohsin must reward you.	You must be rewarded by Mohsin.
May I help you?	May you be helped by me?
Who will shut the door?	By whom will the door be shut.

Imperative Sentence

Active	Passive
Shut the door.	Let the door be shut.
Open the box.	Let the box be opened.
Close the door.	Let the door be closed.
Do not starve the ox.	Let the ox not be starved.
Inform the Police.	Let the police be informed.

Change of voice of infinitives, verbs ‘to be’ and ‘to have’

Active	Passive
There is no time to lose.	There is not time to be lost.
He is a man to admire.	He is a man to be admired.
I am to do this work.	This work is to be done by me.
They are to sell the car.	The car is to be sold by them.
Abdul was to do this work.	This work was to be done by Abdul.
I have to buy a book	. A book has to be bought by me.
Abdul had to do this work.	This work had to be done by Abdul.

Verbs with two objects:

Active	Passive
Rida gave me a book	I was given a book by Rida.      Or A book was given to me by Rida.
We refused them admission.	They were refused admission by us.  Or Admission was refused to them by us.

Where ‘by’ is not used.

            With the following verbs, ‘by’ is not used in the passive voice:

i.          alarmed at                                ii.         Annoyed at

iii.        contained in                             iv.        Disgusted with

v.         displeased with                                    vi.        Lined with

vii.       married to                                 viii.      Satisfied with

ix.        surprised at                              x.         pleased with    

Active	Passive
The result surprised me.	I am surprised at the result.
The news pleased him.	He was pleased with the news.
The news alarmed him.	He was alarmed at the news.
The bottle contains ink.	Ink is contained in the bottle.