Active & Passive Voice

💬

What is Voice?

In English, voice tells us whether the subject of a sentence does the action or receives the action. There are two voices:

💪

Active Voice

The subject does the action.

The cat caught the mouse.

Subject (cat) ➔ does the action

🎯

Passive Voice

The subject receives the action.

The mouse was caught by the cat.

Subject (mouse) ➔ receives the action

🔄 See How the Sentence Transforms

The cat caught the mouse

⬇️

The mouse was caught by the cat

🔵 Blue = Subject • 🟢 Green = Verb • 🟠 Yellow = Object • 🔳 Pink = Agent

💡 More Examples

Active: Riya writes a letter.

Passive: A letter is written by Riya.

Active: The teacher praised the students.

Passive: The students were praised by the teacher.

Active: They will build a new school.

Passive: A new school will be built by them.

🔧

How to Change Active to Passive

Follow these 3 simple steps to convert any active sentence into passive:

Object ➔ New Subject

Take the object of the active sentence and make it the subject of the passive sentence.

"the mouse" (object) ➔ "The mouse" (new subject)

Verb ➔ be + past participle

Change the verb to the correct form of "be" (matching the tense) + past participle (V3).

"caught" ➔ "was caught"

Subject ➔ "by" + agent (optional)

Put the old subject after "by". You can omit it if the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious.

"The cat" ➔ "by the cat"

🎨 Complete Transformation Diagram

Riya writes a letter

① Object up ② Change verb ③ Add "by"

⬇️

A letter is written by Riya

💡 Remember: Pronoun Changes in Passive Voice

I ➔ by me • We ➔ by us
He ➔ by him • She ➔ by her
They ➔ by them • You ➔ by you
It ➔ by it

📊

Voice Change Rules for Each Tense

The passive voice structure changes with each tense. Study this master table carefully!

Tense	Active Structure	Passive Structure	Active Example	Passive Example
Simple Present	S + V1/V1s + O	S + is/am/are + V3	She writes a poem.	A poem is written by her.
Simple Past	S + V2 + O	S + was/were + V3	He broke the window.	The window was broken by him.
Simple Future	S + will + V1 + O	S + will be + V3	They will paint the wall.	The wall will be painted by them.
Present Continuous	S + is/am/are + V-ing + O	S + is/am/are + being + V3	She is reading a book.	A book is being read by her.
Past Continuous	S + was/were + V-ing + O	S + was/were + being + V3	They were watching TV.	TV was being watched by them.
Present Perfect	S + has/have + V3 + O	S + has/have + been + V3	He has finished the work.	The work has been finished by him.
Past Perfect	S + had + V3 + O	S + had + been + V3	She had written a letter.	A letter had been written by her.

📖 More Examples for Each Tense

Simple Present

Active: The gardener waters the plants every day.

Passive: The plants are watered by the gardener every day.

Active: My mother cooks delicious food.

Passive: Delicious food is cooked by my mother.

Active: The children play cricket in the park.

Passive: Cricket is played by the children in the park.

Simple Past

Active: The police caught the thief.

Passive: The thief was caught by the police.

Active: Columbus discovered America.

Passive: America was discovered by Columbus.

Active: She invited all her friends.

Passive: All her friends were invited by her.

Simple Future

Active: The company will launch a new product.

Passive: A new product will be launched by the company.

Active: She will sing a beautiful song.

Passive: A beautiful song will be sung by her.

Active: They will announce the results tomorrow.

Passive: The results will be announced by them tomorrow.

Present Continuous

Active: The mechanic is repairing the car.

Passive: The car is being repaired by the mechanic.

Active: They are decorating the hall.

Passive: The hall is being decorated by them.

Active: Sita is drawing a picture.

Passive: A picture is being drawn by Sita.

Past Continuous

Active: The workers were building the bridge.

Passive: The bridge was being built by the workers.

Active: She was teaching the students.

Passive: The students were being taught by her.

Active: He was writing an essay.

Passive: An essay was being written by him.

Present Perfect

Active: She has completed the assignment.

Passive: The assignment has been completed by her.

Active: They have planted many trees.

Passive: Many trees have been planted by them.

Active: The teacher has corrected the papers.

Passive: The papers have been corrected by the teacher.

Past Perfect

Active: The chef had prepared the meal.

Passive: The meal had been prepared by the chef.

Active: They had already sold all the tickets.

Passive: All the tickets had already been sold by them.

Active: She had written three books before retiring.

Passive: Three books had been written by her before retiring.

⭐

Special Cases

Some sentence types need special attention when converting to passive voice.

⚙️ Passive with Modals

Structure: S + modal + be + V3

can: She can solve it. ➔ It can be solved by her.
must: You must finish the work. ➔ The work must be finished by you.
should: He should complete the task. ➔ The task should be completed by him.
may: They may cancel the trip. ➔ The trip may be cancelled by them.
could: We could hear the noise. ➔ The noise could be heard by us.

👤 When to Include/Omit "by"

Drop the agent when the doer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

Keep: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci. (important info)
Omit: The window was broken. (doer unknown)
Omit: English is spoken all over the world. (doer obvious)
Omit: The road is being repaired. (doer unimportant)

❓ Questions in Passive Voice

Move the helping verb before the subject.

Did she write this poem? ➔ Was this poem written by her?
Who wrote this story? ➔ By whom was this story written?
Is he teaching the class? ➔ Is the class being taught by him?
Will they send the letter? ➔ Will the letter be sent by them?

❌ Negative Sentences

Keep "not" after the first helping verb.

She does not write poems. ➔ Poems are not written by her.
He did not break the glass. ➔ The glass was not broken by him.
They will not invite her. ➔ She will not be invited by them.
I cannot solve this. ➔ This cannot be solved by me.

🤔

When to Use Passive Voice

Passive voice is not always wrong! There are good reasons to use it:

🕵️

Doer is Unknown

My bicycle was stolen last night. (We don't know who stole it.)

📚

Formal / Scientific Writing

The experiment was conducted in a laboratory. (Focus on experiment, not who did it.)

💡

Emphasis on Action / Receiver

The Taj Mahal was built in 1648. (Focus on Taj Mahal, not the builders.)

📌 More situations where passive is preferred

Doer is obvious: Hindi is spoken in India. (everyone knows who speaks it)

Doer is unimportant: The mail has been delivered. (doesn't matter who delivered it)

Headlines & notices: Two people were injured in the accident.

Rules & instructions: Mobile phones are not allowed in the exam hall.

📚

Quick Tips & Common Mistakes

👍 Quick Tips

Only transitive verbs (verbs that take an object) can be changed to passive voice. Intransitive verbs like "sleep," "laugh," "go" cannot be made passive.
Identify the tense first before changing voice. The tense of the passive sentence must match the active sentence.
Learn your V3 forms well! The past participle (V3) is the heart of every passive sentence: written, broken, eaten, sold, taught, etc.
"By" is not always needed. Drop it when the doer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.
Change pronouns! I → me, he → him, she → her, we → us, they → them.
Keep the tense the same. Simple present stays simple present; past perfect stays past perfect.

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Wrong: The letter was wrote by him.

✅ Right: The letter was written by him.

Use V3 (past participle), not V2 (past tense).

❌ Wrong: A song is being singing by her.

✅ Right: A song is being sung by her.

After "being," use V3, not V-ing.

❌ Wrong: The homework has been completing.

✅ Right: The homework has been completed.

After "has/have been," use V3.

❌ Wrong: He was laughed. (intransitive verb)

✅ Note: "Laugh" is intransitive — it cannot be made passive.

Only transitive verbs (that take an object) can be changed to passive.

❌ Wrong: The cake was eaten by she.

✅ Right: The cake was eaten by her.

Use object form of pronoun after "by."

❌ Wrong: The wall will painted by them.

✅ Right: The wall will be painted by them.

Don't forget "be" after "will" in future passive.

✍️

Exercises

🎨 Exercise A: Identify Active or Passive

Write "Active" or "Passive" for each sentence.

The dog chased the cat across the garden.
The cake was baked by my grandmother.
We are planting trees in the park.
A beautiful painting was displayed in the museum.
The teacher has corrected all the answer sheets.
The windows were being cleaned by the workers.
She will invite everyone to the party.
The thief was caught by the police.
My brother is writing a story.
The match had been won by our team.

Active — Subject "dog" does the action "chased."
Passive — "was baked" (be + V3) and "by my grandmother" indicate passive.
Active — Subject "We" does the action "are planting."
Passive — "was displayed" (was + V3) is passive form.
Active — Subject "teacher" does the action "has corrected."
Passive — "were being cleaned" (were being + V3) is passive continuous.
Active — Subject "She" will do the action "invite."
Passive — "was caught" (was + V3) with "by the police."
Active — Subject "brother" is doing the action "is writing."
Passive — "had been won" (had been + V3) is past perfect passive.

🔄 Exercise B: Change Active to Passive

Rewrite the following sentences in passive voice.

She sings a beautiful song. (Simple Present)
The carpenter made a table. (Simple Past)
They will complete the project tomorrow. (Simple Future)
He is reading a newspaper. (Present Continuous)
The children were eating mangoes. (Past Continuous)
She has written a poem. (Present Perfect)
They had already finished the game. (Past Perfect)
The doctor examined the patient carefully.
Somebody stole my wallet.
The gardener is watering the flowers.
We will celebrate Diwali next month.
She has cooked a special meal for us.

A beautiful song is sung by her. — Simple Present: is/am/are + V3.
A table was made by the carpenter. — Simple Past: was/were + V3.
The project will be completed by them tomorrow. — Simple Future: will be + V3.
A newspaper is being read by him. — Present Continuous: is/am/are + being + V3.
Mangoes were being eaten by the children. — Past Continuous: was/were + being + V3.
A poem has been written by her. — Present Perfect: has/have + been + V3.
The game had already been finished by them. — Past Perfect: had + been + V3.
The patient was examined carefully by the doctor. — Simple Past passive.
My wallet was stolen. — "Somebody" is unknown, so "by somebody" is omitted.
The flowers are being watered by the gardener. — Present Continuous passive.
Diwali will be celebrated by us next month. — Simple Future passive.
A special meal has been cooked for us by her. — Present Perfect passive.

🔀 Exercise C: Change Passive to Active

Rewrite the following sentences in active voice.

The letter was posted by Ravi.
A new bridge is being built by the workers.
The homework has been completed by the students.
The window was broken by the ball.
The cake will be baked by my sister.
The story was being told by the teacher.
All the trees had been cut down by the villagers.
The road is repaired every year.
The prizes were distributed by the chief guest.
A new law will be passed by the government.

Ravi posted the letter. — "by Ravi" becomes the subject; "was posted" → "posted" (Simple Past).
The workers are building a new bridge. — Present Continuous: "is being built" → "are building."
The students have completed the homework. — Present Perfect: "has been completed" → "have completed."
The ball broke the window. — Simple Past: "was broken" → "broke."
My sister will bake the cake. — Simple Future: "will be baked" → "will bake."
The teacher was telling the story. — Past Continuous: "was being told" → "was telling."
The villagers had cut down all the trees. — Past Perfect: "had been cut" → "had cut."
They repair the road every year. — No agent given, so "they" is used as a general subject.
The chief guest distributed the prizes. — Simple Past active.
The government will pass a new law. — Simple Future active.

📝 Exercise D: Fill in the Correct Passive Form

Complete each sentence with the correct passive form of the verb in brackets.

The book _______ (write) by J.K. Rowling.
The homework _______ (submit) yesterday.
A new hospital _______ (build) in our town right now.
The letter _______ (already / deliver) by the postman.
The songs _______ (sing) by the choir at every event.
The project _______ (complete) by next Friday.
The car _______ (repair) when I arrived.
The exam results _______ (announce) tomorrow.
The food _______ (cook) by the time the guests arrived.
English _______ (speak) in many countries around the world.

The book was written by J.K. Rowling. — Simple Past passive (she wrote it in the past).
The homework was submitted yesterday. — Simple Past passive (signal word: "yesterday").
A new hospital is being built in our town right now. — Present Continuous passive (signal: "right now").
The letter has already been delivered by the postman. — Present Perfect passive (signal: "already").
The songs are sung by the choir at every event. — Simple Present passive (habitual action).
The project will be completed by next Friday. — Simple Future passive (signal: "by next Friday").
The car was being repaired when I arrived. — Past Continuous passive (ongoing action in the past).
The exam results will be announced tomorrow. — Simple Future passive (signal: "tomorrow").
The food had been cooked by the time the guests arrived. — Past Perfect passive (completed before another past action).
English is spoken in many countries around the world. — Simple Present passive (general fact).

🔴 Exercise E: Correct the Errors

Each sentence has one error in the passive voice. Find and correct it.

The homework was did by the students.
A song is being sang by the choir.
The letter has been wrote by him.
The cake was eat by the children.
The ball was threw by the bowler.
The windows is cleaned every week.
The story was being tell by the grandmother.
The car will repaired by the mechanic.

The homework was done by the students. — V3 of "do" is "done," not "did" (V2).
A song is being sung by the choir. — V3 of "sing" is "sung," not "sang" (V2).
The letter has been written by him. — V3 of "write" is "written," not "wrote" (V2).
The cake was eaten by the children. — V3 of "eat" is "eaten," not "eat" (V1).
The ball was thrown by the bowler. — V3 of "throw" is "thrown," not "threw" (V2).
The windows are cleaned every week. — "Windows" is plural, so use "are," not "is."
The story was being told by the grandmother. — V3 of "tell" is "told," not "tell" (V1).
The car will be repaired by the mechanic. — "be" is missing between "will" and "repaired."