Active and passive voice
Change sentences between active and passive voice in different tenses.
Every action has a doer and often a receiver. This lesson shows how to shift the focus of a sentence from the doer to the receiver by using the passive voice.
Voice shows whether the subject does the action (active voice) or receives it (passive voice).
Examples
- Active: Sheela cleans the kitchen every day.
- Passive: The kitchen is cleaned by Sheela every day.
- The bridge was built in 1990.
- A new hospital is being constructed near our colony.
- Your parcel has been delivered.
- The winners will be announced tomorrow.
How it works
Three steps to the passive
Make the object of the active verb the new subject. Use the right form of be with the past participle, and put the doer after by if it is needed.
The dog chased the cat. The cat was chased by the dog.
Keep the tense
The form of be carries the tense, and the main verb is always the past participle. A continuous active verb needs being; a perfect one needs been.
They are painting the gate. The gate is being painted.
Leave out an unimportant doer
If the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant, drop the by phrase. Doers like someone, people and they are usually left out.
Someone stole my wallet. My wallet was stolen.
Only verbs with objects
Only transitive verbs can be turned into the passive. A sentence such as The baby slept has no object, so it has no passive form.
The postman delivered the letters. The letters were delivered by the postman.
Quick reference
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | writes a letter | a letter is written |
| Present continuous | is writing a letter | a letter is being written |
| Present perfect | has written a letter | a letter has been written |
| Simple past | wrote a letter | a letter was written |
| Past continuous | was writing a letter | a letter was being written |
| Past perfect | had written a letter | a letter had been written |
| Simple future | will write a letter | a letter will be written |
| With a modal | can write a letter | a letter can be written |
Common mistakes
✕The thief was caught from the police.
✓The thief was caught by the police.
In a passive sentence the doer is introduced with by.
✕The cake has been bake by my sister.
✓The cake has been baked by my sister.
The passive always uses the past participle of the main verb.
✕The new fares are announced last week.
✓The new fares were announced last week.
Last week shows past time, so be must be in the past: were.
Worked example
Exercise 1
Which voice is this sentence in?
"The letter was posted by Leela" is in the ___ voice. (active / passive)
✓"The letter was posted by Leela" is in the passive voice.
The subject the letter receives the action, and the verb is was posted, so it is passive.
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7 exercises in this lesson
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