Grammar Rules with 6 Tips for

using Active and Passive Voices

Looking for Questions instead of tips? - You can directly jump to English
Grammar Test Questions on Active and Passive Voice
What is Voice?

The voice of a verb tells whether the subject of the sentence performs or receives the action.
i) Birds build nests.
ii) Nests are built by birds.

Types of Voice:

Active Voice: the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.
Usage: when more clarity and straightforward relation is required between verb and subject.
Passive Voice: the subject receives the action expressed by the verb.
Usage: when the action is the focus, not the subject or when the doer is unknown.

Rules of Conversion from Active to Passive Voice:

1. Identify the subject, the verb and the object: S+V+O

2. Change the object into subject
3. Put the suitable helping verb or auxiliary verb
4. Change the verb into past participle of the verb
5. Add the preposition "by“
6. Change the subject into object
Example:
Active Voice: Sameer wrote a letter. (Subject) + (verb) + (object).
Passive Voice: A letter was written by Sameer. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by
subject).

Passive Voice for all tenses:

The rules for using Auxiliary verb for Passive Voice is different for each tense.

1.Simple Present Tense:

Active Voice: She writes a letter.
Passive Voice: A letter is written by her.

2.Present Progressive Tense:

Active Voice: They are eating oranges.
Passive Voice: Oranges are being eaten by them.

3.Present Perfect Tense:

Active Voice: Has she completed the work?
Passive Voice: Has the work been completed by her?

4.Simple Past Tense:

Active Voice: He did not buy a book.
Passive Voice: A book was not bought by him.

5.Past Progressive Tense:

Active Voice: She was washing a shirt.
Passive Voice: A shirt was being washed by her.

6.Past Perfect Tense:

Active Voice: They had won the match.
Passive Voice: The match had been won by them.

7.Simple Future Tense:

Active Voice: She will write a poem.
Passive Voice: A poem will be written by her.

8.Future Perfect Tense:

Active Voice: He will have received the letter.
Passive Voice: The letter will have been received by him.

[Note: Passive voice cannot be formed for active voice sentences in the Present Perfect
Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous or Future Perfect Continuous.]

Are you engaged in a Job Search? - You can get your Resume/ CV reviewed
for free and then apply for jobs/ internships.

Tips on using Voice:

Tip #1: Let

If the given sentence in the active voice is in the imperative form, to get the passive voice use ‘Let’.
Formation of Passive Voice = Let + Object + be + Past Participle
Examples:
Active: Help me.
Passive: Let me be helped.
Active: Open the door.
Passive: Let the door be opened.

Tip #2: Helping verbs like am, is, are, was, were, will,
have, should, could, will
If the question in the Active Voice begins with a Helping verb the Passive voice must also begin with
a suitable helping verb.
Active: Are you writing a letter?
Passive: Is a letter being written by you?
Active: Will you write a letter?
Passive: Will a letter be written by you?
What, When, Who, Why, How:
If the question begins with ‘Wh’ or How’ form (what, when, how, etc.) the Passive Voice must begin
with the same. Only ‘who’ gets replaced by ‘By whom’.
Active: Why did you break the box?
Passive: Why was the box broken by you?
Active: Who broke the window?
Passive: By whom was the window broken?

Tip #3: Gerund, Infinitive

When used in passive form, gerund and Infinitive are formed differently.
Infinitive: passive is formed as ‘to be + past participle’
Active: I want to shoot the tiger.
Passive: I want the tiger to be shot.
Gerund: passive is formed as ‘being + past participle’
Active: I remember my father taking me to the theatre.
Passive: I remember being taken to the theatre by my father.

Tip #4: Direct and Indirect Object

If a sentence contains two objects namely Indirect Object and Direct Object in the Active Voice, two
forms of Passive Voice can be formed.
Active: She brought me a cup of coffee.
Passive: (I) I was brought a cup of coffee by her.
Passive: (II) A cup of coffee was brought to me by her.
Object Complement: When made passive, these objects complements become subject
complements; they come after the verb.
Active: They elected him their leader.
Passive: He was elected their leader.

Tip #5: Cases where ‘by’ is not used

With: use with in place of ‘by’ to talk about an instrument used by the agent/subject.
Active: Somebody hit the dog with a stick.
Passive: (I) The dog was hit by with a stick.
Passive: (II) The dog was hit by a boy.
Impersonal Passive: In scientific / technical / business writing, the emphasis is usually on the action
or process. So the ‘by’ phrase is generally omitted.
Active: One finds mosquitoes everywhere.
Passive: Mosquitoes are found everywhere.

Tip #6: Cases where no passive form exists

Present perfect Continuous: She has been writing a letter.
Past perfect Continuous: He had been cleaning the house.
Future Continuous: I will be filing all the documents tomorrow.
Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been serving tea for customers at this hotel for twenty years
by then.
Intransitive verb which do not take objects:
· I eat.
· I am living here.
· I have travelled by train.
· I went there.
· I waited for a long time.

Spot the Errors:

‘
Each of the following sentences will contain a mistake in the Passive Voice form of the sentence.
See if you can spot that mistake.’

#1:
Active: They sell books.
Passive: Books are being sold by them. (Incorrect)
Passive: Books are sold by them. (Correct)

#2:
Active: You are disturbing me.
Passive: I have been disturbed by you. (Incorrect)
Passive: I am being disturbed by you. (Correct)

#3:
Active: She has written two books.
Passive: Two books are written by her. (Incorrect)
Passive: Two books have been written by her. (Correct)

#4:
Active: Did he buy a car?
Passive: Had a car bought by him? (Incorrect)
Passive: Was a car bought by him? (Correct)

#5:
Active: Boys were singing songs.
Passive: Songs were sung by boys. (Incorrect)
Passive: Songs were being sung by boys. (Correct)

#6:
Active: He had collected stamps.
Passive: Stamps were being collected by him. (Incorrect)
Passive: Stamps had been collected by him. (Correct)

#7:
Active: They will arrange the party.
Passive: The party can be arranged by them. (Incorrect)
Passive: The party will be arranged by them. (Correct)

#8:
Active: She cleaned the table with a feather duster.
Passive: The table was cleaned by a feather duster. (Incorrect)
Passive: The table was cleaned with a feather duster by her. (Correct)

#9:
Active: Sing a song.
Passive: Let a song be sing. (Incorrect)
Passive: Let a song be sung. (Correct)

#10:
Active: Where can you hide this box?
Passive: How can this box be hidden by you? (Incorrect)
Passive: Where can this box be hidden by you? (Correct

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 Rules of Active and Passive Voice with
examples for Present Simple.

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb – is/am/are)
 Subject + V1+s/es+ object Object+ is/am/are+ V3+ by + subject

Subject + Do/does+ not + V1 + Object Object + is/am/are+ not + V3+ by Subject

Does+ Subject+ V1+Object+? Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by subject +?

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.

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- is/am/are + being)

Subject + is/am/are+ v1+ ing + object Object+ is/am/are+ being+ V3+ by + sub

Subject + is/am/are+ not+ v1+ ing+ object Object + is/am/are+ not + being+V3+ by S

Is/am/are+ subject+v1+ing + object+? Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by subject +

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 are given below.

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- has/have +been)

Subject + has/have+ v3+ object Object+ has/have+ been+ V3+ by + sub

Subject + has/have+ not+ v3+ object Object + has/have+ not + been+V3+ by Su

Has/have+ subject+ v3 + object+? Has/Have + Object+ been+V3+ by subjec

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.

Suggested Reads-

Direct and Indirect Speech

One word Substitution

Idioms & Phrases

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.

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- was/were)

Subject + V2+ object Object+ was/were V3+ by + subject

Subject +did+ not+v1+ object Object + was/were+ not +V3+ by Subject

 Did+ subject+V1+ object+? Was/were + Object+ V3+ by subject +?

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.
 Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- was/were + being)

Subject + was/were + v1+ing+ object. Object+ was/were +being+V3+ by + subject

Subject +was/were+ not+v1+ing + object Object + was/were+ not +being+V3+ by Subjec

Was/were+ Subject + V1+ing + object+? Was/were + Object+ being+v3+ by+ subject+?

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.

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- had +been)

Subject + had + v3+ object. Object+ had+been +V3+ by + subject

Subject +had+ not+v3+ object Object + had+ not +been+V3+ by Subject

Had+ Subject + V3+ object+? Had + Object+ been+v3+ by+ subject+?

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

You can check Active Voice and Passive Voice Rules chart for future simple
tense.

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- will+ be)

Subject + will+ v1+ object. Object+ will+ be +V3+ by + subject

Subject +will + not+ V1+object Object + will+ not +be+V3+ by Subject

Will+ Subject + V1+ object+? Will + Object+ be +v3+ by+ subject+?

We can better understand Rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples
for future simple tense.

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 Voice Passive Voice

Subject + will+ have +v3+ object. Object+ will+ have+ been +V3+ by + subject

Subject + will+ have +not+v3+ object. Object + will+ have +not+been+v3+ subject
 Will+ Subject+have+v3+ object+? Will + object+have+been+v3+by +subject+?

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

So, Candidates, now you must have got all the information for making
changes in a sentence with Active and Passive Voice Rules of all tenses.
Practice set and examples of Active and Passive Voice will help you to clear
the fundamentals and score well in competitive exams.

Remember, every topic counts. If you find the information useful and worth
sharing, must share it with your friends.

If you want to ask something about the topic, please comment in the given
section below.