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THE ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE NOTES

The document provides information about the active and passive voice in English grammar. It discusses: 1) The formation of active and passive sentences in different tenses, including present, past, future, and perfect forms. 2) Examples of when to use the passive voice, such as when the agent is unknown or unimportant. 3) Exercises rewriting sentences from active to passive voice in various tenses like simple present, past, future, and perfect.

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SANDEEP SINGH
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102 views6 pages

THE ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE NOTES

The document provides information about the active and passive voice in English grammar. It discusses: 1) The formation of active and passive sentences in different tenses, including present, past, future, and perfect forms. 2) Examples of when to use the passive voice, such as when the agent is unknown or unimportant. 3) Exercises rewriting sentences from active to passive voice in various tenses like simple present, past, future, and perfect.

Uploaded by

SANDEEP SINGH
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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THE ACTIVE and PASSIVE VOICE NOTES

A) FORMATION
1. Eat
2. Buy
3. Bring
4. Teach
5.

ACTIVE PASSIVE
TENSE

PRESENT SIMPLE He buys ice-cream It is eaten daily by them


PRESENT CONTINUOUS----ing They are eating it It is being eaten daily by them
PRESENT PERFECT---has They have eaten it. It has been eaten
have/had
PRESENT PERFECT They have been eating it NOT POSSIBLE
CONTINUOUS---has have ----ing
PAST SIMPLE They ate it It was eaten daily by them
PAST CONTINUOUS They were eating it It was being eaten daily by them
PAST PERFECT They had eaten it It had been eaten
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS--- They had been eating it NOT POSSIBLE
had----ing
INFINITIVE They had To eat it

FUTURE SIMPLE They will eat it daily It will be eaten daily by them
PRESENT CONTINUOUS----ing They will be eating it NOT POSSIBLE
PRESENT PERFECT---has They will have eaten it. It will have been eaten
have/had
PRESENT PERFECT They will have been eating it NOT POSSIBLE
CONTINUOUS---has have ----ing

B)

C) USES

- If there is an agent (The door was painted by my friend), using the passive puts more emphasis on
the action, rather than the person performing it.

A lion ate him. He was eaten (by a lion).

Who? What happened?

- We often use the passive because we don’t know the agent, it’s not interesting or deliberately
hidden.

Her handbag was stolen. -> Unknown agent.


Her handbag was stolen by a thief. -> Unnecessary detail.

- Decisions made by an authority.

It has been decided to ban smoking in this ship. (impersonal)

Passive Form
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing
the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you
think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also
use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention
who is doing the action. [Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing
action] Examples:

Active / Passive Overview


Active Passive

Simple Present Once a week, Tom cleans the house. Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.

Present Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Continuous

Simple Past Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.

The salesman was helping the


Past The customer was being helped by the salesman
customer when the thief came into
when the thief came into the store.
Continuous the store.

Present Perfect Many tourists have visited that castle. That castle has been visited by many tourists.

Present Perfect Recently, John has been doing the Recently, the work has been being done by
Continuous work. John.
George had repaired many cars
Many cars had been repaired by George before
Past Perfect before he received his mechanic's
he received his mechanic's license.
license.

Past Perfect
Continuous Chef Jones had been preparing the The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been
restaurant's fantastic dinners for two being prepared by Chef Jones for two years
years before he moved to Paris. before he moved to Paris.

Simple Future Someone will finish the work by 5:00


The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
will PM.

Simple Future Sally is going to make a beautiful A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally
be going to dinner tonight. tonight.

Future
Continuous will At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being
washing the dishes. washed by John.

Future At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be
Continuous be washing the dishes. being washed by John.
be going to

Future Perfect They will have completed the project The project will have been completed before
will before the deadline. the deadline.

Future Perfect They are going to have completed The project is going to have been completed
be going to the project before the deadline. before the deadline.

Future Perfect The famous artist will have been The mural will have been being painted by the
Continuous painting the mural for over six famous artist for over six months by the time it is
will months by the time it is finished. finished.

Future Perfect The famous artist is going to have The mural is going to have been being painted
Continuous been painting the mural for over six by the famous artist for over six months by the
be going to months by the time it is finished. time it is finished.

Used to Jerry used to pay the bills. The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
My mother would always make the
Would Always The pies would always be made by my mother.
pies.

Future in the
I knew John would finish the work by
Past I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
5:00 PM.
Would

Future in the
Past I thought Sally was going to make a I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be
Was Going to beautiful dinner tonight. made by Sally tonight.

Write passive sentences in Simple Present.


1. the documents / print → The documents are printed
2. the window / open → The window is opened.
3. the shoes / buy → The shoes are bought
4. the car / wash → the car is washed
5. the litter / throw away → the litter is thrown away
6. the letter / send → the letter is sent
7. the book / read / not → I don't read the book → The book is not read
8. the songs / sing / not → the songs are not (aren't) sung
9. the food / eat / not → the food isn't eaten
10. the shop / close / not → the shop is not closed
Write passive sentences in Simple Past.
1. the test / write → The test was written.
2. the table / set → The table was set.
3. the cat / feed → The cat was fed.
4. the lights / switch on → the lights were switched on.
5. the house / build → The house was built.
6. dinner / serve → Dinner was served.
7. this computer / sell / not → This computer wasn't sold.
8. the car / stop / not → The car wasn't stopped
9. the tables / clean / not → The tables weren't cleaned.
10. the children / pick up / not → The children weren't picked up.

Write passive sentences in Present Perfect.


1. the postcard / send → The postcad has been sent
2. the pencils / count → The pencils have been counted
3. the door / close → The door has been closed
4. the beds / make → The beds have been made
5. the mail / write → The mail has been written
6. the trees / plant → The trees have been planted
7. the money / spend → The money has been spent
8. the room / book / not → The room hasn't been booked
9. the rent / pay / not → The rent hasn't been paid
10. the people / inform / not → The people haven't been informed

Write passive sentences in Future.


1. the exhibition / visit / not→ The exhibition will be visited / won't be
visited 2. the windows / clean → The windows will be cleaned

3. the message / read → The message will be read.


4. the thief / arrest → The thief will be arrested
5. the photo / take → The photo will be taken
6. these songs / sing → These songs will be sung
7. the sign / see / not → The sign won't be seen (see/saw/seen)
8. a dictionary / use / not → A dictionary won't be used
9. credit cards / accept / not → Credit cards won't be accepted
10.the ring / find / not → The ring won't be found

Rewrite the sentences in passive voice. Present simple


1. He opens the door. - The door is opened (by him).
2. We set the table. - The table is set (by us)
3. She pays a lot of money. - A lot of money is paid (by her)
4. I draw a picture. - A picture is drawn
5. They wear blue shoes. - Blue shoes are worn (wear, wore, worn)
6. They don't help you. - You aren't helped
7. He doesn't open the book. - The book isn't opened
8. You do not write the letter. - The letter isn't written
9. Does your mum pick you up? - are you picked up by your mum?
10. Does the police officer catch the thief? - is the thief caught by the police officer?
11. Do you make your bed every day? - Is your bed made every day?
Rewrite the sentences in passive voice. Past simple
1. She sang a song. -A song was sung by her.
2. Somebody hit me. - I was hit by somebody
3. We stopped the bus. - The bus was stopped by us
4. A thief stole my car. - My car was stolen by a thief
5. They didn't let him go. - He wasn't let go
6. She didn't win the prize. - The prize wasn't won by her 7. They didn't make their beds. - Their
beds weren't made 8.
9. Did I did not tell them. - They weren't told you tell them? - Were they told?
10. Did he send the letter? - Was the letter sent?

Rewrite the sentences in passive voice. Present Perfect


1. Kerrie has paid the bill. - The bill has been paid by Kerrie.
2. I have eaten a hamburger. - A hamburger has been eaten
3. We have cycled five miles. - Five miles have been cycled by us
4. I have opened the present. - The present has been opened
5. They have not read the book. - The book hasn't been read
6. You have not sent the parcel. - The parcel hasn't been sent
7. We have not agreed to this issue. - This issue hasn't been agreed by us 8. They have not
caught the thieves. - The thieves haven't been caught
9. Has she phoned him? - Has he been phoned?
10. Have they noticed us? - Have we been noticed?

Rewrite the sentences in passive voice. Future


1. Jane will buy a new computer. -A new computer will be bought by Jane.
2. Her boyfriend will install it. - It will be installed by her boyfriend// will it be …....????
3. Millions of people will visit the museum. - The museum will be visited by millions of people
4. Our boss will sign the contract. - The contract will be signed by our boss
5. You will not do/did/done it. - It won't be done by you
6. They will not show the new film. - The new film won't be shown
7. He won't see Sue. - Sue won't be seen by him
8. They will not ask him. - He won't be asked
9. Will the company employ a new worker? - Will a new worker be employed by the company?
10. Will the plumber repair the shower? - Will the shower be repaired by the plumber?

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