Active Voice and Passive Voice Rules with Examples

Active Voice and Passive Voice

Active voice is what is most commonly used while speaking and writing. In active voice the subject is doing the action and the object is receiving the action, The verb form in active voice depends on the tense the sentence is in.

In passive voice the subject and object switch places, which means that the subject receives the action and the object does the action. The passive voice uses the word by before its object and the past participle form of the verb.

Passive voice is a roundabout way of expressing the same thing as the active voice. We usually use passive voice more in writing than in speaking when our focus is on the action and not on its doer or when we don’t know who the doer of the action is.

Simple Present Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	paints	pictures.
Passive	Pictures	are painted	by Alex.
Present Continuous Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	is painting	pictures.
Passive	Pictures	are being painted	by Alex.
Present Perfect Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	has painted	pictures.
Passive	Pictures	have been painted	by Aiex.

 

Simple Past Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	painted	Pictures.
Passive	Pictures	Were painted	by Alex.

Past Continuous Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Al ex	was painting	Pictures.
Passive	Pictures	were being painted	by Alex,
Past Perfect Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	had painted	Pictures.
Passive	Pictures	had been painted	by Alex.

 

	Simple Future Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	will paint	pictures.
Passive	Pictures	will be painted	by Alex.
Future Perfect Tense
	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	Alex	will have painted	pictures.
Passive	Pictures	will have been painted	by Alex.

It should be noted that the following lenses are not changed passiveness voice:

1. Present perfect continuous tense

2. Past perfect continuous tense

3. Future continuous tense.

4. Future perfect continuous tense

Some more examples

1)    Active :Bob drives a tractor.

        Passive : A tractor is driven by Bob.

2)    Active : Fiona is making clay pots.

        Passive : Clay pots are being made by Fiona.

3)    Active: Mom has cooked dinner.

        Passive: Dinner has been cooked by Mom.

4)    Active : lane washed the dishes.

        Passive : The dishes were washed by lane.

5)    Active :The children were reading books.

        Passive : Books were being read by the children.

6)   Active : Veronica had finished her homework.

       Passive The homework had been finished by Veronica.

7)   Active : Lack will drop Harry at school.

       Passive : Harry will be dropped at school by lack.

8)   Active : Julia will have eaten the chocolates.

       Passive: The chocolates will have been eaten by Julia.

Click for Download PDF File