![Active & Passive Voice Rules & Examples [English Grammar]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHp0uJDAYVIvM7xE1a9HtgNNb3bYqHHimlRbDUNuoTSwklk_Cu0Hp_iGXOHfBxN68FL0AnQIE-pbjMF56NF9pcMDUMtWas0YUUTkNJgdFS2Eip7fU7naPNvv5wZf5b5S-XZTxV_w19t8TilKHIvyXZriZZKtdDxYMvcjjLU-iNypGYuEFy2nwVXP1UdA/s1280/Active%20&%20Passive%20voice%20rules%20and%20examples.png "Active & Passive Voice Rules & Examples [English Grammar]") |
Active & Passive Voice Rules & Examples [English Grammar] |
Active & Passive Voice in Grammar
In grammar, the voice of a verb describes the relationship between the action (or state) that the verb expresses and the participants identified by its arguments (subject, object, etc.). When the subject is the agent or doer of the action, the verb is in the active voice. When the subject is the patient, target or undergoer of the action, the verb is said to be in the passive voice. When the subject both performs and receives the action expressed by the verb, the verb is in the middle voice. Voice is sometimes called diathesis
What are active and passive voices?
In the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action on the action’s target. In the passive voice, the target of the action is the main focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. There are numerous differences between the two grammatical voices, but the most important is that the active voice is clearer and more direct, while the passive voice is subtler and can feel more detached.
When should you use active vs. passive voice?
Use the active voice in any sentence that focuses on the doer of the action. Unless the majority of your writing is scientific or reporting incidents involving unknown perpetrators, most of the sentences you write should be in the active voice. The passive voice is meant for sentences where you need to emphasize the target of an action or the action itself rather than who or what is performing the verb.
Active vs. Passive Voice in Writing
When you are writing, you have to choose between using action or non-action words. This decision will depend on what kind of writing you are doing. When you write in the active voice, it adds impact to your writing and makes it stronger. Your sentences will be more positive and concise. Using action words is part of the process of active writing, where the subject is doing the action. When you use the passive voice, the action is done to the subject. Using non-action words, your sentence is less dynamic. Here are some examples:
Active: The kids ate the cookies.
Passive: The cookies were eaten by the kids.Active: Mary guided the tourists.
Passive: The tourists were guided by Mary.
You can see from these sentences that the active voice is more direct and strong, whereas the passive voice is weak and less concise. The passive voice in writing can also be confusing to the reader because it is not precise and uses more words. Many times the passive voice is awkward because you have to work harder to figure out who did what. It can also be vague and is often used a lot by politicians, businesses, and advertisers to obscure facts and place blame elsewhere. For example:
Mistakes were made. (By whom?)
Your service will be interrupted. (Not, We will interrupt your service.)
If you are writing a mystery story or novel, you may want to be deliberately vague. You may want to place emphasis on “the painting that was taken” rather than on who is responsible, as you won’t reveal that information until later in the book or story. Crime reports often have to be written in the passive voice because all the facts are not available. You would have to say “the store was robbed” if you don’t know who did it yet.
Another place that the passive voice may be used is in reporting on scientific findings. The passive voice will keep the author’s opinions out of the writing, so the sentence may read like this: "Data supports the theory that this disease is caused by bacteria XYZ." That is better than saying: "I think that bacteria XYZ caused the disease."
Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses
Here, we are listing out the Active and Passive Voice Rules for all tenses. You will come to know how an auxiliary verb is used to change a sentence from Active to Passive voice.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Present Simple Tense
Here in this table, we are elaborating the Rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples for Present Simple.
Active and Passive Voice Example with Answers of Present Simple Tense
Active: He reads a novel.
Passive: A novel is read.
Active: He does not cook food.
Passive: Food is not cooked by him.
Active: Does he purchase books?
Passive: Are books purchased by him?
Active: They grow plants.
Passive: Plants are grown by them.
Active: She teaches me.
Passive: I am taught by her.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Present Continuous Tense
Below we will explain the Rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples for Present Continuous tense.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Present Continuous Tense
Active: Esha is singing a song.
Passive: A song is being sung by Esha.
Active: Kritika is not chopping vegetables.
Passive: Vegetables are not being chopped by Kritika.
Active: Is Ritika buying a table?
Passive: Is a table being bought by Ritika?
Active: They are serving poor people.
Passive: Poor people are being served by them.
Active: She is disturbing Dinesh.
Passive: Dinesh is being disturbed by her.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Present Perfect Tense
You can understand passive voice for present perfect tense from the list which is given below.
Active and Passive Voice Example with Answers of Present Perfect Tense
Active: Nitesh has challenged her.
Passive: She has been challenged by Nitesh.
Active: Radhika has not written an article.
Passive: An article has not been written by Radhika.
Active: Have they left the apartment?
Passive: Has apartment been left by them?
Active: She has created this masterpiece.
Passive: This masterpiece has been created by her.
Active: I have read the newspaper.
Passive: The newspaper has been read by me.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Past Simple Tense
Here in the below table, you can check Active and Passive Voice Rules for past simple tense.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Past Simple Tense
Active: Reema cleaned the floor.
Passive: The floor was cleaned by Reema.
Active: Aisha bought a bicycle.
Passive: A bicycle was bought by Aisha.
Active: Naman called my friends.
Passive: My friends were called by Naman.
Active: I saved him.
Passive: He was saved by me.
Active: Miraya paid the bills.
Passive: The bills were paid by Miraya.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Past Continuous Tense
We can easily convert sentences from Active to Passive Voice according to given rules below.
Active and Passive Voice Examples with Answers of Past Continuous Tense
Active: Nitika was painting the wall.
Passive: The wall was being painted by Nitika.
Active: Manish was repairing the car.
Passive: The car was being repaired by Manish.
Active: Were you reciting the poem?
Passive: Was the poem being recited?
Active: She was baking the cake.
Passive: The cake was being baked by her.
Active: She was watching me.
Passive: I was being watched by her.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Past Perfect Tense
There are certain Active and Passive Voice Rules for Past perfect tense, with these only you can convert any sentence in Passive Voice.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Past Perfect Tense
Active: Misha had cleaned the floor.
Passive: The floor had been cleaned by Misha.
Active: Vidhi had not received the parcel.
Passive: The parcel had not been received by Vidhi.
Active: Vishal had solved the doubt.
Passive: The doubt had been solved.
Active: Had they caught the thief?
Passive: Had the thief been caught by them?
Active: I had paid fifty thousand.
Passive: Fifty thousand had been paid by me.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Future Simple Tense
We can better understand the Rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples for future simple tenses.
Active and Passive Voice Examples with Answers of Future Simple Tense
Active: Kriya will sew the bag.
Passive: The bag will be sewed by Kriya.
Active: Disha will not arrange the things.
Passive: The things will not be arranged by Disha.
Active: Will you mop the floor?
Passive: Will the floor be mopped by you?
Active: They will post the letter.
Passive: The letter will be posted.
Active: Reena will save money.
Passive: Money will be saved by Reena.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Future Perfect Tense
Here, we are sharing the Active Voice and Passive Voice Rules chart for future perfect tense.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises of Future Perfect Tense
Active: They will have brought the toy.
Passive: The toy will have been brought by them.
Active: Nimesh will not have changed the table cover.
Passive: The table cover will not have been changed by Nimesh.
Active: Will she have written the notes.
Passive: Will the notes have been written by her?
Active: They will have won the match.
Passive: The match will have been won by them.
Active: Vijay will have washed a shirt.
Passive: A shirt will have been washed by Vijay.
There is no Passive Voice formation for these tenses
1.) Present Perfect Continuous Tense
2.) Past Perfect Continuous Tense
3.) Future Perfect Continuous Tense
4.) Future Continuous Tense