Understanding active and passive voice is essential for mastering the English language, especially for competitive exams. This article explores the fundamentals of active and passive voice, including their usage, rules, and conversions. Mastery of this topic is crucial for anyone preparing for competitive exams.

Voice of a Verb

The voice of a verb indicates whether the subject of the sentence performs the action or receives the action. Verbs in the English language can be classified into two types: active voice and passive voice.

Active Voice

In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action expressed by the verb.

• Example: “Nisha ate the apple.” Here, “Nisha” is the subject performing the action “ate.”

Passive Voice

In passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action expressed by the verb or is acted upon.

• Example: “The apple was eaten by Nisha.” Here, “The apple” is the subject receiving the action “was eaten.”

Active voice: The subject performs the action. Passive voice: The subject is acted upon.

Active and Passive Voice Rules Chart

Tense	Active Voice	Passive Voice
Present Indefinite	Does/Do	Is/Are/Am
Present Continuous	Is/Am/Are	Is/Am/Are + Being
Present Perfect	Has/Have	Has been/Have been
Present Perfect Continuous	Has/Have been	Has/Have been + Being
Past Indefinite	Did	Was/Were
Past Continuous	Was/Were	Was/Were + Being
Past Perfect	Had	Had been
Past Perfect Continuous	Had been	Had been + Being
Future Indefinite	Will	Will be
Future Continuous	Will be	Will be + Being
Future Perfect	Will have	Will have been
Future Perfect Continuous	Will have been	Will have been + Being

Rules for Converting Active to Passive Voice

1. The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb.
2. The active sentence’s subject becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped).
3. The finite form of the verb is changed to the past participle (V3 form).
4. The preposition “by” is used before the passive object.

Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses

1. Simple Present/Past/Future Tense
   • Active: Subject + V1/V2/will V1/shall V1 + object
   • Passive: Object + Is/are/am/was/were/will be/shall be + verb (III form) + by + subject
2. Present/Past Continuous Tense
   • Active: Subject + Is/are/am/was/were + verb (ing) + object
   • Passive: Object + Is/are/am/was/were + being + verb (III form) + by + subject
3. Present/Past/Future Perfect Tense
   • Active: Subject + has/have/had/shall have/will have + verb (III form) + object
   • Passive: Object + has/have/had/shall have/will have + been + verb (III form) + by + subject

Note: Generally, there is no voice change with Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous, or Future Perfect Continuous.

4. Interrogative Sentences
   • Present and Past Tense:
     • Structure 1:
       • Active: Do/does/did + subject + V1 + object?
       • Passive: Is/are/am/was/were + object + V3 + by + subject?
     • Structure 2:
       • Active: Is/are/am/was/were + subject + verb (ing) + object?
       • Passive: Is/are/am/was/were + object + being + verb (III form) + by + subject?
     • Structure 3:
       • Active: Has/have/had + subject + verb (III form) + object?
       • Passive: Has/have/had + object + been + verb (III form) + by + subject?
     • Structure 4:
       • Active: Who + verb (s or es)/verb (II form) + object?
       • Passive: By whom + is/are/am/was/were + object + verb (III form)?
     • Structure 5:
       • Active: Wh-question word + do/does/did + subject + verb (I form) + object?
       • Passive: Wh-question word + is/are/am/was/were + object + verb (III form) + by + subject?
   • Future Tense:
     • Structure 1:
       • Active: Shall/will + subject + verb (I form) + object?
       • Passive: Shall/will + object + be + verb (III form) + by + subject?
     • Structure 2:
       • Active: Shall/will + subject + have + verb (III form) + object?
       • Passive: Shall/will + object + have + been + verb (III form) + by + subject?
     • Structure 3:
       • Active: Who + shall/will + V1 + object?
       • Passive: By whom + shall/will + object + be + verb (III form)?
     • Structure 4:
       • Active: Wh-question word + shall/will + subject + verb (I form) + object?
       • Passive: Wh-question word + shall/will + object + be + verb (III form) + by + subject?
5. Imperative Sentences
   • Positive:
     • Active: Verb + object
     • Passive: (i) Let + object + be + past participle
     • (ii) You are requested/ordered/suggested + to + verb (I form) + object
   • Negative:
     • Active: Do + not + Verb + object
     • Passive: (i) Let + object + not + be + past participle
     • (ii) You are requested/ordered/suggested + not + to + verb (I form) + object
6. “To be” Sentences
   • Active: Subject + is/are/am/was/were/has/have/had + to + verb (I form) + object
   • Passive: Object + is/are/am/was/were/has/have/had + to + be + verb (III form) + by + subject
7. Verb + Preposition + Object
   • Active: Subject + verb + preposition + object
   • Passive: Object + to be + verb (III form) + preposition + by + subject

Note: While converting such sentences into passive voice, the verb is always followed by the particular preposition.

8. Modal Verbs
   • Active: Subject + modal verb + (V1) + object
   • Passive: Object + modal verb + be + V3 + by + subject
9. Di-Transitive Verbs Some verbs take two objects, for example:
   • Active: Samdish gave the beggar an old t-shirt.
   • Passive: (i) An old t-shirt was given to the beggar by Samdish.
   • (ii) The beggar was given an old t-shirt by Samdish.
10. Sentences with Intransitive Verbs Such sentences are known as mid-voice or quasi-passive voice. They seem active but their meaning is passive, and they have intransitive verbs (without a direct object).
    • Active: Honey tastes sweet.
    • Passive: Honey is sweet when it is tasted.

Example SSC Questions and Answers

Question 1: Convert the following sentence into passive voice:

• Active: “The teacher explains the lesson.”
• Passive: “The lesson is explained by the teacher.”

Question 2: Convert the following sentence into active voice:

• Passive: “The cake was baked by Maria.”
• Active: “Maria baked the cake.”

Question 3: Identify the voice of the verb in the following sentence:

• Sentence: “The book was read by the students.”
• Answer: Passive Voice

Question 4: Change the following sentence to passive voice:

• Active: “They will complete the project by next week.”
• Passive: “The project will be completed by next week by them.”

Question 5: Convert the following sentence into passive voice:

• Active: “John had finished the report before the deadline.”
• Passive: “The report had been finished by John before the deadline.”