Active Voice and Passive Voice

Active Voice – The sentence is said to be in active voice if the main focus is on the subject.
Format of a sentence in the active voice – subject + verb + object
Example: She draws an apple. (Subject = She, Verb = draws, Object = an apple)

Passive Voice – The sentence is said to be in passive voice if the main focus is on the action.
Format of a sentence in passive voice – subject (object of the active voice) + verb (+ doer (subject of the active voice))
Example: An apple is drawn by her. (Subject = an apple, Verb = drawn, Object = her)

Tips to remember while writing a sentence in the passive voice:

  • Always use the third form of the verb 
  • Always use “by” before the doer 
  • Use the helping verb before the main verb.
  • If the subject is I, we, he, she, they in the active voice, change it to me, us, him, her, them in the passive voice respectively. 

Diagram Illustration

Rules for changing the voice (active to passive)

Present Indefinite

Active Voice: V1 (s/es)
Passive Voice: is/am/are + V3

Examples

Active

  1. She plays tennis.
  2. You miss your lectures.
  3. We love our parents.

Passive

  1. Tennis is played by her.
  2. Your lectures are missed by you.
  3. Our parents are loved by us.

Present Continuous

Active Voice: is/am/are + V1 +ing
Passive Voice: is/am/are + being + V3

Examples

Active

  1. He is teasing the cat.
  2. Children are enjoying a cartoon film.
  3. You are not playing the guitar.

Passive

  1. The cat is being teased by him.
  2. A cartoon film is being enjoyed by children.
  3. The guitar is not being played by you.

Present Perfect

Active Voice: has/have +V3
Passive Voice: has been/have been + V3

Examples

Active

  1. She has washed the utensils.
  2. Donald has closed the window.
  3. We have not visited the town.

Passive

  1. The utensils have been washed by her.
  2. The window has been closed by Donald.
  3. The town has not been visited by us.

Past Indefinite

Active Voice: V2
Passive Voice: was/were + V3

Examples

Active

  1. Amelia watched the television.
  2. India won the match.
  3. He did not steal the jewellery.

Passive

  1. The television was watched by Amelia.
  2. The match was won by India.
  3. The jewellery was not stolen by him.

Past Continuous

Active Voice: was/were + V1 + ing
Passive Voice: was/were + being + V3

Examples

Active

  1. The President was addressing the nation.
  2. The priest was singing the prayer.
  3. He was not doing his homework.

Passive

  1. The nation was being addressed by the President.
  2. The prayer was being sung by the priest.
  3. His homework was not being done by him.

Past Perfect

Active Voice: had + V3
Passive Voice: had been + V3

Examples

Active

  1. John had not bought the car. 
  2. Harper had made some mistakes while speaking.
  3. I had heard this song before.

Passive

  1. The car had not been bought by John.
  2. Some mistakes had been made by Harper while speaking.
  3. This song had been heard by me before.

Future Indefinite

Active Voice: shall/will + V1
Passive Voice: shall be/will be + V3

Examples

Active

  1. They will play cricket.
  2. The police will protect you.
  3. I shall enjoy the function.

Passive

  1. Cricket will be played by them.
  2. You will be protected by the police.
  3. The function will be enjoyed by me.

Future Perfect

Active Voice: shall have/will have + V3
Passive Voice: shall have been/will have been + V3

Examples

Active

  1. Students will have read this poem.
  2. She will not have missed the lecture.
  3. We shall have visited the park.

Passive

  1. This poem will have been read by students.
  2. The lecture will not have been missed by her.
  3. The park will have been visited by us.

Note: Here, V1, V2, and V3 denote the first, second, and third forms of the verb, respectively.