Voice
In traditional grammar, voice is the quality of a verb that indicates whether
its subject acts (active voice) or is acted upon (passive voice).
**The distinction between active and passive voice applies only to transitive verbs.
Types of voice :
i. Active Voice
ii. Passive Voice
i. Active Voice : When the transitive verb of a sentence indicates that the subject is
doing the action, then that is called active voice.
Example : They are playing a game.
ii. Passive Voice : When the transitive verb of a sentence indicates that the subject is
being affected by the work of object, then that is called passive voice.
Example : A game is being played by them.
Rules of Changing Voice :
General Rule of changing voice from active to passive :
The subject of active voice becomes the object of passive voice
Usually ‘by’ sits before the object of passive voice
The object of active voice becomes the subject of passive voice.
Past participle form of verb is used in passive voice.
In passive voice an auxiliary verb sits before the the main verb
.
Auxiliary verb depends on the subject and the tense of the sentence
i. Present Indefinite : am/is/are
ii. Present Continuous : am being/is being/are being
iii. Present Perfect : has been/ have been
iv. Past Indefinite : was/were
v. Past Continuous : was being/were being
vi. Past Perfect : had been
vii. Future Indefinite : shall be/will be
viii. Future Continuous : shall be being/will be being
ix. Future Perfect : shall have been/will have been
Structure :
Active: Subject + Verb + Object + ………
Passive : Subject form of the object + Auxiliary Verb + Past Participle form of
Verb + ……… + by + Object form of the subject
Example :
Present Indefinite Tense
Active : She likes Coffee
Passive : Coffee is liked by her
Present Continuous Tense :
Active : She is taking Coffee.
Passive : Coffee is being taken by her.
Present Perfect Tense :
Active : He has bought the book.
Passive : The book has been bought by him.
Past Indefinite Tense :
Active : They sold the car.
Passive : The car was sold by them.
Past Continuous Tense :
Active : The man was singing a song
Passive : A song was being sung by the man.
Past Perfect Tense :
Active : I had seen a ghost.
Passive : A ghost had been seen by me.
Future Indefinite Tense :
Active : I shall do the work.
Passive : The work will be done by me.
Future Continuous Tense :
Active : He will be playing football.
Passive : Football will be being played by him.
Future Perfect Tense :
Active : They will have finished the work.
Passive : The work will have been finished by them.
Voice
Other Rules:
1. Changing voice of sentences with may/might/can/could/must/ought to/going
to
Structure : Subject form of the Object + may/might/can/could/must/ought
to/going to + be + Past Participle form of Verb + by + Object form of the Subject
Example :
Active : We ought to leave this place
Passive : This place ought to be left by us.
Active : They may not finish the work.
Passive : The work may not be finished by them.
2. Changing voice of Imperative Sentence
Structure : Let + Subject form of the object + be + Past Participle form of Verb
+ by + Object form of the subject
*There may not be any subject in the active form of imperative sentence. In such
cases there will be no object in the passive form.
Example :
Active : Let him do the work.
Passive : Let the work be done by him.
Active : Shut the door
Passive : Let the door be shut
3. Changing voice of Interrogative Sentence
In case of interrogative sentences voice change takes place in three steps. The
steps are
i. Transform the interrogative sentence to assertive sentence.
ii. Change the voice of the assertive sentence.
iii. Transform the passive assertive sentence into an interrogative sentence.
Example :
Active : Is he singing a song?
Step 1 : He is singing a song.
Step 2 : A song is being sung by him.
Step 3 : Is a song being sung by him?
*In case of WH questions put an imaginary answer for the WH question in
step 1. Then replace the imaginary part with WH question in step 3
Example :
Active : What does he want?
Step 1 : He wants (tea).
Step 2 : (Tea) is wanted by him.
Step 3 : What is wanted by him?
*‘Who’ becomes ‘Whom’ and ‘Whom’ becomes ‘Who’ in passive voice.
Example :
a) Active : Who called me?
Step 1 : (He) called me.
Step 2 : I was called by (him).
Step 3 : By whom was I called.
b) Active : Whom do you want?
Step 1 : You want (him).
Step 2 : (He) is wanted by you.
Step 3 : Who is wanted by you?
3. For sentences with double objects you can change any object of your choice to
subject and follow the normal procedure.
Example :
Active : I gave him a book.
Passive : A book was given to him by me.
Passive : He was given a book by me.
4. For reflexive objects (myself/himself/herself/themselves/ourselves) the subject
and object does not exchange places.
Example :
Active : She is fanning herself
Passive : She is being fanned by herself.
5. For Quasi-Passive( sentences that look like passive but are active) sentences
subject does not change.
Structure : Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Past Participle form of Verb + Adjective
Example :
Active : Honey tastes sweet
Passive : Honey is tasted sweet
* These type of sentences can also be changed into passive by transforming it into
a complex sentence where the subordinate clause is in the passive:
Structure : Subject + Auxiliary Verb (used here as a main verb) +Adjective +
When + Relative Pronoun + Auxiliary Verb + Past Participle form of Verb.
Example :
Active : Honey tastes sweet
Passive : Honey is sweet when it is tasted.
