Active and Passive Voice

Voice in grammar is a study of the relationship of the verb with its subject and object. So, we learn, Active and Passive Voice:

When the subject of a sentence performs the action, the sentence has an Active voice.
When the subject of the sentence merely receives the action, the sentence has a Passive voice.

Examples

Peter cut a tree.
The subject in this sentence is Peter who performs the action of cutting a tree. Hence, the sentence is in the active voice.
A tree was cut by Peter.
The subject in this sentence tree does not seem to perform the action. Instead, it seems to have received the action of ‘being cut’. Hence, the sentence is in the passive voice.

Active Voice

The active voice is widely used in English and is preferred over the passive voice. It is direct and concise in nature and it makes the sentences sound assertive. In the active voice, the subject or doer is in focus and not the object.

Examples of Active Voice

The people selected the representative.
Helen sang a song.
Krishna took a bus to the station.

In the above sentences, the words people, Helen and Krishna are in the focus; the words representative, song, and bus are in the background. Hence, the active voice is used.

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Passive Voice

The passive voice has a tendency to render the sentences weak, unlike the active voice. Although it is generally considered undesirable in writing, there are instances where the passive voice is desired.

Examples of Passive Voice

The representative was selected by the people.
A song was sung by Helen.
A bus was taken by Krishna to the station.

In the above cases, the words representative, song, and bus are highlighted and the words people, Helen, and Krishna are not given importance. Hence, the sentences are in the passive voice.

Rules for Changing Active Voice into Passive Voice

The Object of the Active is Changed into the Subject of the Passive.
The Subject of the Active is changed into the Object of the Passive.
According to the Subject made in the Passive, there is a usage of the helping verb. If it is not the helping verb ‘to be’, then according to the helping verb present there, a form of ‘to be’ is taken into usage.
After ‘to be’ there is the usage of Verb³ ( Verb in the Past Participle)
The preposition ‘by’ is used after the Object made in the Passive. This (by + Object) is also known as (by + agent), which is completely optional.

Examples of Active and Passive Voice

Active: Sujata called Soumili.

Passive: Soumili was called by Sujata.

Rules of Passive Voice

Passive Voice Rules for Present Tense

Subject + Verb ‘To be’/’To have’ + Past Participle of the main verb + (by + Object)

Simple Present Tense	Subject + am/is/are + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)
Present Continuous Tense	Subject + am/is/are + being + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)
Present Perfect Tense	Subject + has/have + been + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)

Examples

VOICE	SIMPLE	CONTINUOUS	PERFECT
Active	You do it.	You are doing it.	You have done it.
Passive	It is done by you.	It is being done by you.	It has been done by you.

Passive Voice Rules for Past Tense

Subject + Verb ‘To be’/’To have’ + Past Participle of the main verb + (by + Object)

Simple Past Tense	Subject + was/were + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)
Past Continuous Tense	Subject + was/were + being + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)
Past Perfect Tense	Subject + had + been + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)

Examples

VOICE	SIMPLE	CONTINUOUS	PERFECT
Active	You did it.	you was doing it.	You had done it.
Passive	It was done by you.	you were doing it.	It had been done by you.

Passive Voice Rules for Future Tense

Subject + Verb ‘To be’ + Past Participle of the main verb + (by + Object)

Simple Future Tense	Subject + shall/will + be + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)
Future Continuous Tense	Not in use
Future Perfect Tense	Subject + shall/will +have been + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)

Examples

VOICE	SIMPLE	CONTINUOUS	PERFECT
Active	You shall do it.	You shall be doing it.	You shall have done it.
Passive	It will be done by you.	………..	It would have been done by you.

* Note that can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, used to, need not, dare not, etc are Modal Auxiliary Verbs

Active: Subject + Modal (can/could etc.) + Verb + Object

Passive: Subject + Modal (can/could etc.) +be + Verb in the Past Participle + (by + Object)

CAN

ACTIVE	I can help your father.
PASSIVE	Your father can be helped by me.

MAY

ACTIVE	He may permit you to go home.
PASSIVE	You may be permitted by him to go home.

COULD

ACTIVE	I could do the project.
PASSIVE	The project could be done by me.

SHOULD

ACTIVE	We should obey our parents.
PASSIVE	Our parents should be obeyed by us.

NEED

ACTIVE	You needn’t do the homwork.
PASSIVE	The homework needn’t be done by you.

MUST

ACTIVE	You must maintain a healthy life.
PASSIVE	A healthy life must be maintained by you.

Pronoun Rules

SUBJECT FORM	OBJECT FORM	POSSESSIVE FORM
I	Me	My
We	Us	Our
You	You	Your
He	Him	His
She	Her	Her
They	Them	Their
It	It	Its
One	One	One’s

More Rules and Examples of Active and Passive Voice Coming Soon……………

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Active and Passive Voice

Examples