Voice (Grammar)

 

VOICES (ACTIVE AND PASSIVE)

Voice is that branch of grammar which studies the form that the verb takes in a sentence to determine the status of the subject and the object.

Voice can be studied under the following headings:

(1) Active Voice

A verb is said to be in the Active Voice when its subject acts or when the emphasis is on the doer or the subject. The active voice is so called because the person or thing denoted by the subject acts.

Example :
Mohan sang a song.

Here, the subject Mohan is acting.

 

(2) Passive Voice

A verb is in the Passive Voice when the subject is being acted upon or when the emphasis is on the object or the work done. The passive voice is so called because the person or thing denoted by the subject is not active but passive, and suffers or receives some action.

Example :
A song was sung by Mohan.

Here, the subject is being acted upon.

Note :

(i) Voice changes occur only in transitive verbs.
(ii) The perfect continuous form of all the three tenses and future continuous cannot be changed into passive voice.

Examples :

Present :
He has been doing the work.
(No change of voice)

Past :
He had been doing the work.
(No change of voice)

Future :
He will have been doing the work.
(No change of voice)

Future Continuous :
He will be doing the work.
(No change of voice)

The reason is that if the change of voice is done in these tenses, then the verb is to be used twice which is wrong.

Example :
He has been doing the work. (Active)
The work has been being done by him. (Passive)

This is a wrong sentence as the verb is used twice. Similar is the case with the other sentences.

Let us look at some more examples of active and passive voice.

 

Active / Passive Examples Table

Active
Mohan has burnt the shop.
People speak English all over the world.
They built the bridge last year.
The boy beat the child.

Passive
The shop has been burnt by Mohan.
English is spoken all over the world.
The bridge was built last year.
The child was beaten by the boy.

 

From the above examples, it is clear that we use active voice when we are more interested in the doer or agent.
And we use passive voice when we are more interested in the object of the action.

As you will notice above, most passive voice sentences drop the agent or the doer either because it is not known or because it is understood and hence not needed or also because it is not important.

 

Rules for converting Active Voice into Passive Voice

(1) First of all, the arrangement of the words in a sentence in the active voice is changed.

Active Voice :
Subject + Verb + Object
Mohan read a book.

Passive Voice :
Object + helping verb + main verb + by + subject
A book was read by Mohan.

Thus, the subject of the active voice becomes the object of the passive voice.

 

(2) Change of Pronoun

When he as subject of active voice becomes object of the passive voice, it changes into him. Similarly,

She → her
We → us
They → them
I → me

 

(3) Changes required under each tense

I. Present Tense

(a) Present Indefinite (Simple present tense) : Assertive sentence

Here, we need to change the first form of the verb into the third form and add is/am/are before it, depending on the number and person of the subject in the active voice.

The point becomes more clear from the following structure :

Active – S + V₁ (s, es) + O
Passive – O + is/am/are + V₃ + by + S

Examples:

1.     The boy makes toys. — Active
Toys are made by the boy. — Passive

2.     You vex me. — Active
I am vexed by you. — Passive

3.     She annoys him. — Active
He is annoyed by her. — Passive

Thus, you will notice that apart from following the first two rules, we have changed the verb from the first to the third form. We have also added is/am/are according to the nature of the object in the active voice which has become the subject of the passive voice.

Interrogative sentences (Present Indefinite)

For transforming interrogative sentences under this tense, all you need to do is, put is/am/are before the subject (which was object in the active voice) in the passive voice.

Formula :

Active – Do/Does + S + V₁ + O
Passive – Is/Am/Are + O + V₃ + by + S

Example :
Does she want a book? — Active
Is a book wanted by her? — Passive

Note :
For interrogative sentences of the active voice beginning with who, the passive voice will be formed by changing who into by whom.

Example :
Who teaches you English?
By whom are you taught English?

 

(b) Present Continuous : Assertive sentences

To get the passive voice, the verb is used in its third form and being is inserted between is/am/are and the verb.

Formula :

Active – S + is/am/are + V₁ + ing + O
Passive – O + is/am/are + being + V₃ + by + S

Example :
I am eating an egg. — Active
An egg is being eaten by me. — Passive

Interrogative :

Active – Is/Am/Are + S + V₁ + ing + O
Passive – Is/Am/Are + O + being + V₃ + by + S

Example :
Am I eating an egg? — Active
Is an egg being eaten by me? — Passive

 

(c) Present Perfect

Here, been is put between has/have and verb (third form) in a passive voice sentence.

Formula :

Active – S + has/have + V₃ + O
Passive – O + has/have + been + V₃ + by + S

Example :
Sita has eaten the fruit. — Active
The fruit has been eaten by Sita. — Passive

 

Present Perfect Interrogative

Active – Has/Have + S + V₃ + O?
Passive – Has/Have + O + been + V₃ + by + S?

Examples :
Have you seen the play? — Active
Has the play been seen by you? — Passive

Who has written this letter? — Active
By whom has this letter been written? — Passive

 

II. Past Tense

The rules for transforming the past tense active voice sentences are the same as that for the present tense with necessary modifications.

(a) Past Indefinite

Active – S + V₂ + O
Passive – O + was/were + V₃ + by + S

Interrogative :
Active – Did + S + V₁ + O?
Passive – Was/Were + O + V₃ + by + S?

Examples :
I read the book. — Active
The book was read by me. — Passive

Did you write a letter? — Active
Was a letter written by you? — Passive

 

(b) Past Continuous

Active – S + was/were + V₁ + ing + O
Passive – O + was/were + being + V₃ + by + S

Interrogative :

Active – Was/Were + S + V₁ + ing + O?
Passive – Was/Were + O + being + V₃ + by + S?

Examples :
They were playing football. — Active
Football was being played by them. — Passive

Was he reading the newspaper? — Active
Was the newspaper being read by him? — Passive(c) Past Perfect

Active – S + had + V₃ + O
Passive – O + had + been + V₃ + by + S

Interrogative :

Active – Had + S + V₃ + O?
Passive – Had + O + been + V₃ + by + S?

Examples :
I had read the book. — Active
The book had been read by me. — Passive

Had she bought a new book? — Active
Had a new book been bought by her? — Passive

 

III. Future Tense

(a) Future Indefinite : Assertive sentence

Formula :

Active – S + will/shall + V₁ + O
Passive – O + will/shall + be + V₃ + by + S

Interrogative :

Active – Will/Shall + S + V₁ + O?
Passive – Will/Shall + O + be + V₃ + by + S?

Examples :
I will write a book. — Active
A book will be written by me. — Passive

Will they wash clothes in the evening? — Active
Will clothes be washed by them in the evening? — Passive

 

(b) Future Perfect

Active – S + will/shall + have + V₃ + O
Passive – O + will/shall + have + been + V₃ + by + S

Example :
I will have written a book. — Active
A book will have been written by me. — Passive

 

Other Conditions for transforming Active into Passive

(a) The preposition after a verb in the active voice does not change its place in the passive voice.

Examples :
She laughed at the child. — Active
The child was laughed at by her. — Passive

We have not heard of this play. — Active
This play has not been heard of (us). — Passive

They will object to your seeing this film. — Active
our seeing this film will be objected to (by them). — Passive

They do not approve of this plan. — Active
This plan is not approved of by them. — Passive

 

(b) Modal Auxiliaries

Can, could, should, must, ought to, might, etc. do not change when transformed from active to passive.

Formula :

Active – S + can/could/may/might/would/should + V₁ + O
Passive – O + can/could/may/might/would/should + be + V₃ + by + S

Examples :
They should help the child. — Active
The child should be helped by them. — Passive

The child can throw the book. — Active
The book can be thrown by the child. — Passive

 

(c) Infinitive in Passive construction

Examples :
I want them to help you. — Active
I want you to be helped. — Passive

The child expected his mother to praise him. — Active
The child expected to be praised by his mother. — Passive

 

(d) Participles in Passive construction

Examples :
I saw him turning the key. — Active
I saw the key being turned by him. — Passive

I heard her shouting at the child. — Active
I heard the child being shouted at by her. — Passive

 

 

Imperatives in Passive construction

Examples :

Switch off the fan. — Active
Let the fan be switched off. — Passive

Bring the child. — Active
Let the child be brought. — Passive

Please forgive him. — Active
You are requested to forgive him. — Passive

Open the gate. — Active
Let the gate be opened. — Passive

 

Special Notes

• All imperatives except requests use let in passive constructions.
• Please becomes you are requested to in passive.
• For non-living things, let is used.
• For human beings, should is more appropriate.

Examples :
Help the poor. — Active
The poor should be helped. — Passive

Don’t laugh at the lame. — Active
The lame should not be laughed at. — Passive

Take care of the old man. — Active
The old man should be taken care of. — Passive

 

Some other passive constructions

People say that she is a liar. — Active
It is said that she is a liar. — Passive

Everyone knows that he is a rich man. — Active
He is known to be a rich man. — Passive

 

Verbs denoting a state

This cup contains tea. — Active
Tea is contained in this cup. — Passive

Novels interest me. — Active
I am interested in novels. — Passive

 

‘It is time’ construction

Active – It is/was time + infinitive + O
Passive – It is/was time + for + O + to be + V₃

Examples :
It is time to close the shops. — Active
It is time for shops to be closed. — Passive

It was time to take action. — Active
It was time for action to be taken. — Passive