Active and Passive Voice with Examples in English

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It is essential to know in depth about English grammar for any competitive exams like CLAT, CATGMAT, GRE, IELTS, etc. and other Law entrance examination. Aspirants must have good knowledge of Active and Passive Voice with Examples as questions on this topic may ask directly or in the form of ‘spotting the error’ or in the questions of ‘passage completion’ so one should have clear concept of active and passive voice rules with example .

For solving questions on Active and Passive Voice one should also have clear understanding of types of sentences, forms of verb and forms of tense because the rules of this topic will help with the correct conversion of voice. In this article we will discuss the concept of voice, Types of voice and the important rules of active voice and passive voice.

What is voice in English Grammar?

Voice is a style of making a statement. It’s used to describe whether the verb is active or passive. In sentence the doer done the action actively (acts on) or passively (acted upon) e.g., “The man killed the jaguar.”), the verb is said to be in the active voice. … So, the voice of a verb clarifies whether the subject is acting or being acted upon. Some important examples of voice as mentioned below.

  1. In the sentence Robin killed the tiger; the doer (Robin­) of the action is subject of the sentence. Here the subject or the doer acts on the object (the tiger).

2. In the sentence Rice is eaten by me; the doer (me) of the action is the object of the sentence. Here the object (me) acted upon the subject (Rice).

Types of Voices in English Grammar

 There are two kinds of voices in English grammar. They are-

  1. Active voice
  2. Passive voice.

Let’s discuss these two types of voices with examples:

  1. Active voice:  In Active Voice the subject of the sentence is the doer.

             e.g.:  I did the work.

Here ‘I’ the doer of the action is subject. So, the sentence is in Active Voice. Some other examples of active voices are:

  1. I eat rice.
  2. He goes there every day.
  3. John likes mango.
  4. Passive Voice: It is the second type of Voice construction in English grammar.In Passive Voice the object of the sentence is the doer. Here the object acts upon the subject. In Passive Voice the verb of the sentence and the object is connected by some prepositions such as By, To, With, At etc.

              e.g.: The glass is broken by Raima.

In the above sentence the doer of the action (Raima) is the object of the sentence and she acted upon the subject (The glass).  So, the sentence is in Passive Voice. Some other examples of Passive Voice are:

  1. Tea is made by Piya.
  2. The deer was killed by the Tiger.
  3. The girl is known to me.

Rules of active and passive voice with examples

  1. John likes mango. (AV)

Rules of Active and Passive Voice with Examples

There are some important rules that you should know for changing this sentence into passive voice are illustrated below.

RULE 01:  The object in the Active Voice is converts to the Subject in the Passive Voice.

            Here, the object mango will become the subject in the Passive Voice.

RULE 02:  According to the tense of the original verb and the number and person of new subject, a new be-verb is used. If the verb in Active Voice is in present tense then a suitable be verb having form of present tense is used according to the subject.

Here, since, the original sentence is in present indefinite tense and the new Subject Mango is a singular number so the be-verb will be is.

RULE 03: After using the be-verb, the past participle of the Transitive or main Verb of the Active Voice is used.

            Here, the past participle of like; liked will be used.

RULE 04:  The subject of the Active Voice will be the object of the Passive Voice. Before putting the object a suitable preposition (mostly by) must be put between the past participle form of the verb and the object.

So, after conversion the Active voice into Passive Voice it will be-

 Mango is liked by John. (PV)

RULE 05:  When the subject in active Voice is a PRONOUN, it changes to object in Passive voice followed by some conversion. A list regarding this is given below:

ACTIVE VOICE (sub.)PASSIVE VOICE (obj.)
IME
WEUS
YOUYOU
SHEHER
HEHIM
THEYTHEM
ITIT

RULE 06: As mentioned in rule no. 02, the be-verbs changes from Active to Passive Voice in the following manner according to the tense of Active Voice:

If the Active Voice is in any form of present tense :

Active VoicePassive Voice
Present IndefiniteAm/is/are
Present ContinuousAm being/ is being/ are being
Present PrefectHave been/ has been

Examples of Active and passive voice                    

  1. I eat rice. (AV)
  2. Rice is eaten by me. (PV)
  3. I am eating rice. (AV)
  4. Rice is being eaten by me.(PV)
  5. I have eaten rice. (AV)
  6. Rice has been eaten by me. (PV)
  1. If the Active Voice is in any form of past tense :
ACTIVE VOICEPASSIVE VOICE
Past IndefiniteWas/were
Past continuousWas being/were being
Past perfectHad been

Examples:

  1. I did the work. (AV)
  2. The work was done by me. (PV)
  3. I was doing the work. (AV)
  4. The work was being done by me. (PV)
  5. He had done the work. (AV)
  6. The work had been done by him. (PV)

  1. If the Active Voice is in any form of Future tense :
ACTIVE VOICEPASSIVE VOICE
Future IndefiniteShall be/ will be
Future ContinuousShall be being/ will be being
Future perfectShall have been/ will have been

Examples:

  1. He will do the sum.(AV)
  2.  The sum will be done by him. (PV)
  3. She will be reading the story book then. (AV)
  4. The story book will be being read by her then. (PV)
  5. I shall have completed the lesson by 4 PM. (AV)
  6. The lesson shall have been completed by me by 4 PM. (PV)

RULE 07:  When the verb of the Active Voice indicates any order, request or advice, it usually converted to Passive Voice as follow:

Let + subject (obj. Of the Active Voice) + be+ past participle of the main verb.

Examples

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
Do the work.
Open the window
Write the answer
Let the work be done.
Let the window be opened
Let the answer be written

                                                       

Note: We can also change this type of Active voice in some other ways too like:

  • Follow the rules (AV) = you are advise d to follow the rules (PV).
  • Please open the door (AV) = you are request ed to open the door (PV).
  • Submit the statement (AV) = you are order ed to submit the statement (PV).
Some miscellaneous Examples
ACTIVE VOICEPASSIVE VOICE
1. I am reading a novella.
2.He draws beautiful sceneries.
3. Zeny has bought the umbrella.
4.She wrote a letter to her mother.
5.Wear the safety jacket.
(advised)
6.Bibha can do this.
7.Sia helped Jiya.
8.He will dig the pit.
9.Justin knows the postman.
10.The group of labor will be cleaning the field.
11.His behavior surprised me.
12.My result will please my parents.
13.Garbage filled the field.
14.Raj will have taught English.
15.He will have finished the work.
16.Johnson was doing the sum.
17.Give me a glass of water. (request).
1.A novella is being read by me.
2.Beautiful sceneries are drawn by him.
3.The umbrella has been bought by Zeny.
4.A letter was written by her to her mother.
5.You are advised to wear the safety jacket.
6.This can be done by Bibha.
7.Jiya was helped by Sia.
8.The pit will be dug by him.
9.The postman is known to Justin.
10.The field will be cleaned by the group of labor.
11.I was surprised by his behavior.
12.My parents will be pleased with my result.
13.The field was filled with garbage.
14.English will have been taught by Raj.
15.The work will have been finished by him.
16.The sum was being done by Johnson.
17.You are requested to give me a glass of water.

 Active and Passive voice Practice Questions-Try Yourself
  1. He is writing a book.
  2. Manish started the work yesterday.
  3. Jessica will take the responsibility.
  4. Suzan had finished the cup of tea.
  5. Columbus discovered America.
  6. Police will catch the culprit.
  7. Some unknown person has stolen my notebook.
  8. You can do the sum easily.
  9. The teacher is noticing you for a long time.
  10. His father teaches him English.
  11. His conduct pleased me.

Also read: Question Tag exercise MCQs with answers.

Conclusion

Thus we have discussed about two types of Voices in English grammar– Active and Passive Voice with Examples and some important rules for changing Active Voice to Passive Voice. Active Voice is the most commonly use in English language than Passive Voice. While changing the Active Voice to Passive Voice; first the object of the Passive voice becomes the subject in the Passive Voice and the subject in Active Voice becomes the object in the Passive Voice followed by changing the tense and forms of ‘be verb’ according to the person and number of new subject. Change in voice never change the meaning of the sentence.

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