Active and Passive Voice

As you are already aware, there are many rules that are followed in the English Language, especially grammar. Right from the sentence structure, tenses, voice, usage of prepositions, nouns etc. there are many rules that have to be followed. These rules are quite simple, even though at first they may appear complicated. When you follow these rules properly, you can master the English Grammar tricks with ease. In IBPS exams and many competitive exams, you will come across many questions from English Grammar. Among these, there are questions related to active and passive voice. Let us look at this topic in detail.

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Grammar Rules for Active and Passive Voice

A transitive verb has two forms or two voices. These are the Active and passive.

Active Voice – Here, the subject performs the action. He/she is the doer of the action. It is a pretty straightforward relationship between the subject and the verb. So, we can say that a verb is in the active voice when the subject is the doer of the action that is expressed by the verb.

The sentences in Active Voice are simple and easy to understand.

Look at the following examples:

• I am drinking tea.
• He played cricket.
• They will help you.

See the structure of Active voice and Passive voice in more detail here.

Passive Voice – Here, the subject receives the action that is expressed by the verb. Therefore, we can say that the verb is in passive when the subject of the verb is acted upon.

It is generally used to show the action, which means that the focus is on the action and not the subject who does the action. Sentences in Passive Voice are not simple, as more importance is given to the action rather than the subject.

Take a look at the following examples:

• Tea is being drunk by me.
• Cricket was played by him.
• You will be helped by them.

Changing the voice from Active to Passive

When a verb changes from Active Voice to Passive, the subject and object change places with each other. The past participle form of the verb is used as the main verb in passive voice.

Read the rules for changing from Active voice to Passive voice in more detail here.

Look at the following table:

Tense                                    Active                                               Passive 

Simple present                        keep                                                     is kept

Present continuous                is keeping                                           is being kept

Simple past                              kept                                                     was kept

Past continuous                      was keeping                                       was being kept

Present perfect                       have kept                                            have been kept

Past perfect                             had kept                                              had been kept

Simple Future                         will keep                                              will be kept

Conditional Present               would keep                                         would be kept

Conditional Past                    would have kept                                 would have been kept

Present Infinitive                    to keep                                                 to be kept

Perfect Infinitive                     to have kept                                        to have been kept

Present Participle                   keeping                                                being kept

Perfect Participle                     having kept                                         having been kept

 

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Browse more Topics under English Grammar

• Noun
• Kinds Of Noun
• Pronouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives and Adverbs
• Paragraph Jumbles
• Subjective Verb Agreement
• Conjuctions & Prepositions
• Phrasal Verbs
• Articles
• Tense
• Direct/Indirect Speech
• English Grammar Practice Questions

Solved Questions

Change the sentences from Active Voice to Passive Voice

1. Active Voice – She does not cook food.

Passive Voice – The food is not cooked by her.

2. Active Voice – Peter gave me flowers on my birthday.

Passive Voice – I was given flowers by Peter on my birthday.

3. Active Voice – You are waiting for your friend.

Passive Voice – Your friend is being waited for by you.

4. Active Voice – The children have broken the window pane.

Passive Voice – The window pane has been broken by the children.

5. Active Voice – I shall have my car sold.

Passive Voice – My car will have been sold by me.

More Practice Questions

In the following questions, change the Voice into Passive Voice. Choose the right option.

1. The boy laughed at the beggar.

1. The beggar laughs at the boy.
2. The beggar was being laughed by the boy.
3. The beggar was being laughed at by the boy.
4. The beggar was laughed at by the boy.

Ans. Option C

2. Stella will invite Rita.

1. Rita will be invited by Stella.
2. Rita will have been invited by Stella.
3. Rita will want to be invited by Stella.
4. Rita will be wanting to be invited by Stella.

Ans. Option A