English Grammar Active and Passive Voice Rules
In English, the verb form which indicates whether the subject (person or object) of a sentence do something or something has been done on the subject called the voice. A sentence that begin with the subject or the object to determine whether the sentence was categorized as active or passive voice sentences.
For example, when a sentence has one auxiliary verb, such as am, are, is, been, being, be, and past participle of verbs like written, driven, drawn, known, learned, broken, discovered; the sentence is a passive voice.
Uses of Passive Voice
- “By” is used in the passive voice when the actor needs to know the job.
Example: “Love addicted” was sung by Vamps. - Passive voice is used if it doesn’t need to know the perpetrator work.
Example: the streets are cleaned everyday - Passive voice is used if we don’t know or forget who the perpetrator work.
Example: The police was murdered. - Passive voice is used if we are more interested in the job than the actors who work.
Example: A new departmental store is being built. - Passive voice is used to avoid an awkward sentence or inappropriate with grammar.
Example: When she arrived home a police arrested her — it’s better: when she arrived home she was arrested (by a police).
The Rules to Change the Sentences from Active to Passive Form
- The sentence must have objects (transitive verb). If there is no object then there must be question word who asks the object.
- Object active sentence became the subject of passive sentences.
- Subject or active sentences into passive sentences that preceded the object word “by”.
- The verb used is verb III (past participle) which preceded by to be.
- The adjusted sentence structure by tenses.
Fundamental Rules
1. The places of subject and object are interchanged i.e. the object shifts to the place of subject and subject shifts to the place of object in passive voice.
Example:
- Active voice: I write a letter.
- Passive voice: I letter is written by me.
Subject (I) of sentence shifted to the place of object (letter) and object (letter) shifted to the place of subject (I) in passive voice.
2. Sometimes subject of sentence is not used in passive voice. Subject of sentence can be omitted in passive voice, if without subject it can give enough meaning in passive voice.
Example:
- Passive voice: cloth is sold in yards
3. 3rd form of verb (past participle) is always used as main verb in sentences of passive voice for all tenses. Base form of verb or present participle will be never used in passive voice.
The word “by” is used before subject in sentences in passive voice.
Example:
- Active voice: He sings a song.
- Passive voice: A song is sung by him.
4. The word “by” is not always used before subject in passive voice. Sometimes words “with, to, etc” may also be used before subject in passive voice.
Examples:
- Active voice: The water fills the tub.
- Passive voice: The tub is filled with water.
- Active voice: He knows me.
- Passive voice: I am known to him.
5. Auxiliary verbs are used passive voice according to the tense of sentence.
Changes of Pronouns
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| I | me |
| we | us |
| you | you |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| it | it |
| they | them |
The Form of Active Voice and Passive Voice in Tenses
Passive voice in Simple Present Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + infinitive + object | Formula: S + to be + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| Simson cares the lion | The lion is cared by Simson |
| Ana does the homework | The homework is done by Ana |
| They sell that house | That house is sell by them |
| Jessica always plays the piano | The piano is always played by Jessica |
| She buys a book | A book is bought by her |
Passive voice in Present Continuous Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + to be (is, am, are) + present participle + object | Formula: S + to be (is, am, are) + being + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| She is doing her homework | The homework is being done by her |
| He is waiting for Dewi | Dewi is being waited by him |
| They are giving the present | The present is being given by them |
| Bobby is drawing a nice scenery | A nice scenery is being drawn by Bobby |
| Ratna is writing the letter | The letter is being written by Ratna |
Passive voice in Simple Past Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + past participle + object | Formula: S + was/were + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| She cleaned the house | The house was cleaned by her |
| Jeffri bought a new car | A new car was bought by Jeffri |
| The teacher called the students | The students were called by the teacher |
| She saved her money | Her money was saved by her |
| Rina paid all her purchase | Her purchase were paid by Rina |
Passive voice in Past Continuous Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: S + was/were + being + past participle + by object | Formula: S + was/were + being + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| I was waiting for Dina | Dina was being waited by me |
| She was reading a novel | A novel was being read by her |
| Andi was learning an English | An English was being learnt by Andi |
| They are building the house | The house being built by them |
| He was playing a kite | A kite was being played by him |
Passive voice in Past Perfect Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + had + past participle + object | Formula: S + had been + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| He had left that place | That place had been left by him |
| I had finished my work | My work had been finished by me |
| She had missed the last bus | The last bus had been missed by her |
| He had posted the letter | The letter had been posted by him |
| Rudi had completed his speech | His speech had been completed by Rudi |
Passive voice in Simple Future Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + will + infinitive + object | Formula: S + will + be + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| I shall read a newspaper | A newspaper will be read by me |
| She will sing a beautiful song | A beautiful song will be sung by her |
| Budi will repair his bicycle | His bicycle will be repaired by Budi |
| They will pay the tax | The tax will be paid by them |
| We shall start this meeting | This meeting will be started by us |
Passive voice in Future Continuous Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + will be + present participle + object | Formula: S + will + be + ing + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| He will be doing a test tomorrow | A test will be being done by him tomorrow |
| They will be watching movie on next Saturday | The movie will be being watched by them on next Saturday |
| Mita will be increasing her value next time | Her value will be being increased by Mita next time |
| She will be applying a job tomorrow | A job will be being applied by her tomorrow |
| Sinta will be learning her lesson next week | Her lesson will be being learnt by Sinta |
Passive voice in Past Future Tense
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Formula: Subject + would + infinitive + object | Formula: S + would + be +past pasrticiple + by object |
Examples:
| I would buy a book tomorrow | A book would be bought by me |
| They would play football next time | Football would be played by them next time |
| Mita would wash her shoes tomorrow | Her shoes would be washed by Nita tomorrow |
| My father would use Blackberry tomorrow | Blackberry would be used by my father tomorrow |
| I would sell my laptop next week | My laptop would be sold next week |
The following tenses cannot be changed into passive voice.
- Present perfect continuous tense
- Past perfect continuous tense
- Future perfect continuous tense
Active and Passive voice using Modals
Active and Passive voice using Can
This modal applies to all subjects. The sentence patterns are:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| S + can + infinitive + object | S + can be + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| She can sell the car every time. | The car can be sold by her every time. |
| Can she play a violin? | Can a violin be played by her? |
To change the above sentence into a negative sentence, then place the word not after can. The sentence patterns are:
| S + can not + infinitive + object | S + can not be + past participle + object |
| Risky can not buy this car every time. | This car can not be bought by Risky every time. |
Active and Passive voice using May
This modal applies to all subjects. The sentence patterns are:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| S + may + infinitive + object | S + may be + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| He may sell the house. | The house may be sold by him. |
| May I buy the computer? | May the computer be bought by me? |
To change the above sentence into a negative sentence, then place the word not after may.
| I may not buy the computer. | The computer may not be bought by me. |
Active and Passive voice using Must
This modal applies to all subjects. The sentence patterns are:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| S + must + infinitive + object | S + must be + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| He must finish his duty in a week. | His duty must be finished by him in a week. |
To change the above sentence into a negative sentence, then place the word not after must.
| Dewi must not open the gate every morning. | The gate must not be opened by Dewi every morning. |
Active and Passive voice using Might
This modal applies to all subjects. The sentence patterns are:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| S + might + infinitive + object | S + might be + past participle + by object |
Examples:
| He might meet Dewi. | Dewi might be met by him. |
To change the above sentence into a negative sentence, then place the word not after might.
| Guests might not play chess. | Chess might not be played guests. |
Passive voice for “May Have, Might Have, Should Have, Must Have, Ought To Have”
| Active voice: MAY HAVE | Active voice: MAY HAVE BEEN |
| You may have availed the opportunity. | The opportunity may have been availed by you. |
| You may not have availed the opportunity. | The opportunity may not have been availed by you. |
| Active voice: MIGHT HAVE | Active voice: MIGHT HAVE BEEN |
| He might have eaten meal. | Meal might have been eaten by him. |
| He might not have eaten meal. | Meal might not have been eaten by him. |
| Active voice: SHOULD HAVE | Active voice: SHOULD HAVE BEEN |
| You should have studied the book. | The book should have been studied by you. |
| You should not have studied the book. | The book should have not been studied by you. |
| Active voice: MUST HAVE | Active voice: MUST HAVE BEEN |
| He must have started job. | Job must have been started by you. |
| He must not have started job. | Job must not have been started by you. |
| Active voice: OUGHT TO HAVE | Active voice: OUGHT TO HAVE BEEN |
| You ought to have helped him. | He ought to have been helped by you |
Verbs Followed by Modals (Can, could, may, might, would, should, ought)
The form of the verb is the same as that of a verb in the Simple Future Tense, i.e., modal auxiliary + be + III form.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| You can do this work. | This work can be done by you. |
| Police could not catch the thief. | The thief could not be caught by police. |
| You may read this book. | This book may be read by you. |
| He might suffer a great loss. | A great loss might be suffered by him. |
| You should respect your parents. | Your parents should be respected by you. |
| She would teach us today. | We would be taught by her today. |
| We must help the poor. | The poor must be helped by us. |
| We ought to respect our elders. | Our elders ought to be respected by us. |
| Passive Voice | Active Voice |
| A scholarship may be won by her. | She may win a scholarship. |
| Could this sum be solved by you? | Could you solve this sum? |
| Should cards be played at by us? | Should we play at cards. |
| By whom could he be helped? | Who could help him? |
Imperative Sentences
A sentence that expresses a command, or a request or an advice, or an entreaty is called an Imperative Sentence or Desire.
Characteristics of Imperative Sentences
- The object you is generally missing in Imperative Sentences. The structure of such sentences in Passive Voice is: Let + object + be/not be + V3
- In sentences which express request, advice and order, such phrases as, You are requested to/advised to /ordered to are used.
- Word kindly/please are dropped.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Do it. | Let it be done. |
| Call in the doctor. | Let the doctor be called in. |
| Never tell a lie. | Let a lie be never told |
| Shut the door. | Let the door be shut. |
| Do not starve the cow. | Let the cow not be starved |
| Stand up. | You are ordered to stand up. |
| Kindly lend me some money. | You are requested to lend me some money. |
| Work hard. | You are advised to work hard |
| Don not do it. | You are forbidden to do it. or Let it be not done |
| Passive Voice | Active Voice |
| You are ordered to open the door. | Open the door. |
| You are requested to come here. | Come here please. |
| Let the light be witched on. | Switch on the light. |
| Let your parents be obeyed. | Obey your parents. |
Change of Voice in the Infinitive Verbs
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| to + V1 | to + be + V3 |
| I have to do this work. | This work has to be done. |
| I want to buy this book. | I want this book to be bought. |
| Women like men to flatter them. | Women like to be flattered by men. |
| There is no shop to let. | There is no shop to be let. infinitive ‘to’ |
Verbs/phrases
| I made him stand up. | He was made to stand up by me. |
| I saw him cross the road. | He was seen to cross the road (by me). |
It is time to
| It is time to do this work. | It is time for this work to be done. |
| It is time to call the roll. | It is time for the roll to be called. |
| Passive Voice | Active Voice |
| I expect her to be brought round. | I expect to bring her round. |
| A pen is to be written with. | A pen is to write with. |
| It is time for the race to be run. | It is time to run the race. |
| They should he invited by us. | We should invite them. |
Sentences which cannot be changed into passive voice
Transitive and intransitive verb
A verb can be either transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb needs an object (in sentence) to give complete meaning while intransitive verb does need an object (in sentence) to give complete meaning.
For example:
Transitive verb: He sent a letter. (Send is a transitive verb and it needs an object i.e. letter to express full meaning.)
Intransitive Verb: He laughs. (Laugh is an intransitive verb and it does not need object for expressing full meaning.)
e.g. Sleep, go, reach, sit, die, are examples of intransitive verbs.
Intransitive verb cannot be changed into passive voice
The sentences having intransitive verbs (belonging to any tense) cannot be changed into passive voice. The reason is that there is not any object in such sentences and without object of sentence passive voice is not possible.
A sentence can be changed into passive voice if it has subject and object. Sometimes subject may not be written in passive voice but it does not mean that it has no subject. Such sentences have subject but the subject is so common or familiar or known that if even it is not written in passive voice, it gives full meaning.
For example: Cloth is sold in yards.
