English for

Communication:

Active and
passive
voice
 Verbs and Voice
• Voice is the form a verb takes to
indicate whether the subject of the
verb performs or receives the
action.

• There are two types of voice: active

voice and passive voice.

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 Active Voice
• Active Voice indicates that the
subject of the verb is acting.

• Because the subject does “acts

upon” the verb in such sentences are
said to be in the active voice.

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 Active Voice
• These examples show that the subject is
doing the verb’s action.

 The dog jumped onto the boy.

 The dog (subject) is doing the jumping (verb).

 Kristy will give a book report to the class.

 Kristy (subject) is doing the giving (verb).

 The printer ate my paper.

 The printer (subject) is doing the eating (verb).
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 Passive Voice
• In a passive voice sentence, the subject
and object flip-flop. The subject becomes
the passive recipient of the action.

• Because the subject is being “acted upon”

(or is passive), such sentences are said to
be in the passive voice.

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 Passive Voice
• These examples show that the subject
being acted upon by the verb.

 The boy was jumped on by the dog.

 Boy (subject) was being jumped on (verb).

 A book report will be given by Kristy to the class.

 Report (subject) will be given (verb).

 My paper was eaten by the printer.

 Paper (subject) was being eaten (verb).

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 Reasons to use
the Active Voice
• Most writers prefer to use active voice
because it is more direct.

• Compare:
 Active: The waiter dropped the tray of food.
 Passive: The ray of food was dropped by
the waiter.

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 Reasons to use
the Active Voice
• The active voice is less awkard and clearly states
relationship between subject and action.

• Compare:
 Active: Your request for funding has been denied by the review
committee.
 Passive: The review committee denied your request for funding.

• The active voice sentence pattern propels the reader

forward through your writings thus avoiding weak pose.

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 When to use the
Passive Voice
• In general, the passive voice is less direct, less forceful,
and less concise than the active voice.

• Use the passive voice in the following situations:

• Use passive voice when you do not know or do not

want to reveal the performer of an action.
• Use passive voice when you want to emphasize the
receiver of an action.

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 Examples

• Awkward Passive: My bicycle was

repainted by John.

• Deliberate Passive: My bicycle was

repainted. (The performer is not mentioned
and the emhasis is on the bicycle.)

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 Form of Passive Voice Verbs
• The passive voice requires a “double verb” and will
always consist of a form of the verb “to be” and the
past participle (usually the “en / ed / t” form) of another
verb.

• Example:
• Active: John baked the bread.
• Passive: The bread was baked by John. (Was is a form
of the verb “be”.)

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20 most common irregular verbs
Base Past Base Past
Participle Participle
form simple form simple

Be was/were be Say said said

Eat ate ate Tell told told

See saw saw Run ran run

Hear heard heard Know knew known

Drink drank drank Hold held held

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20 most common irregular verbs
Base Past Base Past
Participle Participle
form simple form simple

Leave left left Build built built

Quit quit quit Buy bought bought

Put put put Catch caught caught

Read read read Hide hid hidden

Make made made Sit sat sat

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Form of Passive Voice Verbs
• Writers should be familiar with the forms of “to
be”, often called linking verbs, so that they can
easily identify the passive voice in their work.

• Review the forms of “to be”:

am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been

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 Form of Passive Voice Verbs
• Often passive voice sentences will contain a
“by” phrase indicting who or what perfomed the
action.

• Passive sentences can be easily transformed

into active sentences when the object of the
preposition “by” is moved to the subject position
in the sentence.
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 Active and passive voice

voice

active passive
What subject does. What subject does.

• Active: Ram calls Ravan.

• Passive: Ravan is called by Ram.

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Form of Passive Voice Verbs
• Examples:

 Passive: The cookies were eaten by the children.

 Active: The children ate the cookies.

 Passive: The tunnels are dug by the gophers.

 Active: The gophers dug the tunnels.

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 Passive = object + be + v3 + by sub
• She helps him.

Active = sub + v + ob
• He is helped by her.

• I am buying a pen.
• A pen is being bought by me.

• He has to teach us.

• We have to be tought by him.

• Someone is following us.

• We are being followed.

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• Very common rule is:
object +
 Bring the object first. “be” verb +
 Choose correct “be” verb. verb 3 +
 Change verb into participle. by +
 Add by + subject. subject

She helps him.

He is helped by her.

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• Look, how subject and object change:

Subject Object
I Me
We Us
You You
They Them
He Him
She Her
Ram Ram
Book Book

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 The Passive Voice
The pronouns also change…

I… … by me.
You… … by you.
She… … by her.
He… … by him.
Passive Agent
It… … by it.
We… … by us.
You… … by you.
They… … by them.

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 Let’s practice
• Directions: Change the sentences below
to the active voice.
1. The statue is being visited by hundred of tourists
every year.
2. My books were stolen by someone yesterday.
3. These book had been left in the classroom by a
careles student.
4. Coffee is raised in many parts of Hawaii by
plantation workers.
5. The house had been broken into by someone
while the owners were on vacation.

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Present Simple Passive

Form and use

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 Form:
The present simple passive has the following
structure:

Subject + Present Simple of BE + Past paticiple

• Positive:
 Example: Spanish is spoken in South America.

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• Negative:
 Spanish isn’t spoken in Germany.

• Questions:
 Is Spanish spoken in South American?

• Short answers:
 Is Spanish spoken in South American?
 Yes, it is. / No, it isn’t.
 Are Spanish and Portuguese spoken in South
American?
 Yes, they are. / No, they aren’t.

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 Examples:
• Active: My mother makes a good cake.
• Passive: A good cake is made by my mother.

• Active: They play rugby in many countries.

• Passive: Rugby is played in many countries
by them.

*Note: You add by + object to specify who the action is

carried out by.

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Example:
Mary designs a beautiful dress.

A beautiful dress is designed by Mary.

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 Practice:
• Make the following active sentences passive:

1. They eat dog in China.

2. Do they speak Speak Serbian in Bosnia?
3. Everybody loves my mother’s food.
4. That writer writes good stories.
5. They produce swatches in Switzerland.

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 Answers:
1. Dogs are eaten in China.
2. Is Serbian spoken in Bosnia?
3. My mother’s food is loved.
4. Good stories are written by that writer.
5. Swatches are produced in Switzerland.

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Passive Voice: Present Continuous

Active Voice Passive Voice

Ravi is drinking a A cup of tea is being
cup of tea. drunk by Ravi.

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 Present Continuous Passive
Let’s look at how the passive works in other tenses.
Here is a sentence in the present continuous:

They are filming the drivers in A4999

Now let’s change it into the passive voice:

The drivers are being filmed in A4999 (by them)

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 Passive Voice:
• To form the present continuous passive voice, we use the
present continuous tense of the verb “to be” with the past
participle form of the main verb. Here are some examples:

 The house is being painted by the workers.

 The cake is being baked by my sister.
 The book is being written by the autor.
 The car is being repaired by the mechanic.
 The movie is being filmed by the crew.
 The cake is being decorated by the baker.
 The house is being cleaned by the maid.
 The computer is being fixed by the technician.
 The garden is being watered by the gardener.
 The dress is being designed by the fashion designer.

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 Negative Sentence – Present Continuous Tense
Active – Sub. + is/am/are + not + Ving + Obj. Sentence – You are not buying fruits.
Passive – Obj. + is/am/are + not + being + V3 + by + Sub.
Ans – Fruits are not being bought by you.

• More examples:

1. I am not writing a letter. Ans: A letter is not being written by me.

2. We are not helping the people. Ans: The people are not being helped by us.
3. You are not watching these movies. Ans: These movies are not being watched by you.
4. They are not buying some wool. Ans: Some wool is not being bought by them.
5. Boy are not bringing a chair. Ans: A chair is not being brought by boys.
6. He is not beginning the work. Ans: The work is not being begun by him.
7. She is not breaking the chair. Ans: The chair is not being broken by her.
8. He is not folding the paper. Ans: The paper is not being folded by him.
9. Sita is not calling me. Ans: I am not being called by Sita.
10. She is not forgetting mistakes. Ans: Mistakes are not being forgotten by her.

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Interrogative Sentence (Begin with helping
verb) – Present Continuous Tense

Active – Is he doing his homework?

Passive – Is his homework being done by him?
Active – Are you drawing this painting?
Passive – Is his painting being draw by you?
Active – Is she calling me?
Passive – Am I being called by her?
Active – Are they playing chess here?
Passive – Is the chess being played here by them?

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 PASSIVE VOICE
PAST CONTINUOUS

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 Object + was/were + being + 3rdVerb

Football was being played

Object + was/were + being + 3rdVerb

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Object + Was/Were + Being + 3rdVerb
• Object:
• Means (This is the subject of passive) Like I, We,
They, or any name “Naveed”.

• Was / Were – (Helping verbs):

• Was = Was is a helping verb – We use was with
singular. Ex: He, She, it or any singular name.
• Were = Were us also a helping verb. We use were
with plural. Ex: We, they or any plural name.

• Verbs:
• “A word which shows an action is called verb” –Ex:
Dance, read, listen, do.
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Normal Past Continuous Examples Past Continuous Passive Voice

1. I was writing a letter. A letter was being written by me.

2. He was cooking food. Food was being cooked by me.

3. They were playing football. Football was being played by

them.

4. She was making cake. Cake was being made by her.

5. He was learning English. English was being learnt by him.

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Negative sentences (Active and passive voice)

Active Subject was / not V1+ing object

voice were

Passive Object was / being V3 (by +

voice were / subject /
not doer)

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 Examples:
Active – Mary was not doing the assignment.
Passive – The assignement was not being done (by
Mary)
Active – They were not helping us.
Passive – We were not being helped (by them).
Active – We were not recording the video.
Passive – The video was not being recorded by us.
Active – She was not buying anything at the store.
Passive – Nothing was being bought at the store (by
her).

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Interrogative sentences (Active and passive
voice)

Active Question was / subject V1+ing object?

voice words (if were
any)

Passive Question was / object being + (by +

voice words were V3 subject)

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 Examples:
Active – Were you calling me last night?
Passive – Was I being called by you last night?
Active – Was he not helping you?
Passive – Were you not being helped by him?
Active – When were you taking the class?
Passive – When was the class being taken by you?
Active – Where were they making videos?
Passive – Where were the videos being made by
them?

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 Past Continuous tense (active to passive voice)
Active voice Passive voice
• Affirmative: • Affirmative:
Subject + was/were + V1+ing + object Object + was/were + being + V3 + (by +
• Jyoti was copying the answers. subject) (optional)
• He was eating dinner at 9 pm. • The answers were being copied (by Jyoti)
• My parents were watching that movie. • Dinner was being eaten at 9 pm (by him)
• Jon was editing my video yesterday. • That movie was being watched by my parents.
• Some boys were harassing your sister. • My video was being edited yesterday (by Jon).
• They were discussing something in the • Your sister was being harassed (by some boys).
class. • Something was being discussed in the class (by
them).
• Negative:
• Negative:
Subject + was/were + not + V1+ing + object
• Monu was not doing the assignment.
Object + was/were + not + being + V3 + (by +
• They were not helping us. subject) (optional)
• The assignment was not being done (by Monu).
• We were not being helped (by them).
• Interrogative:
• Interrogative:
Was/were + subject + V1+ing + object?
Was/were + object + being + V3 + (by + subject)?
WH words + was/were + subject + V1+ing +
WH words + was/were + object + being + V3 + (by
object?
• Monu was not doing the assignment.
+ subject) (optional)
• They were not helping us. object?
• Was she being calledd by you last night?
• When was the class being taken by you?
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PASSIVE VOICE 2
PAST TENSES

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 The Passive Voice
Simple Present & Simple Past

Active Voice Passive Voice

writes / writes
is / are written
(simple present)
wrote
was / were written
(simple past)

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 Now let’s try in the simple past

The boys bought coloured jeans

Simple Past

Coloured jeans
were bought by the boys

VERB TO BE
in the Simple
Past

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Change into the Passive Voice…

1. Peter made a chocolate cake.

2. He took his car out of the garage.

3. They cleaned their rooms.

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 Negative sentences:
• In the Simple Past Negative sentences, we use Did not as a helping
verb with the first form of the verb, but when we convert it to Passive
voice, the helping verb Did not will be replaced with was not or were
not according to the subject of the sentence. For example:

• Active voice: She did not read The Daily Telegraph.

• Passive voice: The Daily Telegraph was not read by her.
• Active voice: He did not sing the New Spanish Song.
• Passive voice: The New Spanish Song was not sung by him.
• Active voice: They did not guide the student about malaria.
• Passive voice: The Students were not guided by them about malaria.
• Active voice: We did not win the local champion trophy this year.
• Passive voice: The local champion trophy was not won by us this
year.
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 Examples
1. She did not repair this pen. 6. I did not count the balls.
a. This pen was not repaired f. The balls were not counted by
by her. me.
2. I did not lead the procession. 7. They did not take the test.
b. The procession was not led g. The test was not taken by
by me. them.
3. She did not weave that chair. 8. I did not plant this tree.
c. That chair was not woven g. This tree was not planted by
by her. me.
4. They did not cross the river. 9. I did not spoil the show.
d. The river was not crossed h. The show was not spoiled by
ny them. me.
5. They did not select eggs. 10. He did not steal my wristwatch.
e. Eggs were not selected by i. My wristwatch was not stolen
them. by him.

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 Interrogative sentences:
• When we convert interrogative sentences of simple past tense to the
passive voice we place was or were as the subject of the sentence
while the present participle will convert to the past participle. For
example:

• Active voice: Did she watch the airplane?

• Passive voice: Was the airplane watched by her?
• Active voice: Did they prepare the dinner?
• Passive voice: Was the dinner prepared by them?
• Active voice: Did she played the music loud?
• Passive voice: Was the music played loud by her?
• Active voice: Did they learn the second person singulars?
• Passive voice: Was the second person singulars learned by them?

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 “Active voice & Passive voice” structure

• Active voice (without not) – Did + Sub + V1 + Object?

1. Did he write a letter?
2. Did she tell her story?
• Active voice (with not) – Did + sub + not + V1 + Object?
1. Did you not open the doors?
2. Did he not take my bags?
• Passive voice (without not) – Was/were + obj + V3 + by + subject?
1. Was a letter written by him?
2. Was her story told by her?
• Passive voice (with not) – Was/were + obj + not + V3 + by + subject?
1. Were the doors not opened by you?

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If there are two objects: Use any one
• She told us a story.
- We were told a story by her.
- A story was told to us by her.

• They appointed him an ambassador.

- He was appointed an ambassador.
- An ambassador was appointed to him.

• The story has taught us a good lesson.

- We have been taught a good lesson by the story.
- A good lesson has been taught to us by the story.

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has / have / had / is / am / are / was / were
+ to + v1
• She has to help us.
• We have to be helped by her.

• We have to learn English.

• English has to be learnt.

• I had to wait the bus.

• The bus had to be waited by me.

has, have, had to + v1 = has, have, had + to be + v3

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 Let’s practice
• Directions: Change the sentences below
to the passive voice.
1. Children cannot open these bottles easily.
2. The government built a road right outside her
front door.
3. Mr. Ross broke the antique vase as he walked
through the store.
4. When she arrived, the changes amazed her.
5. The construction workers are making street
repairs all month long.

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