Active and PassiveVoice:Tense-wiseRules
SimplePresent tense
An Activesentencein thesimple present tense has the followingstructure:
Subject + firstformof theverb+ object
A passivesentencein thesimple present tense hasthe following structure:
Object oftheactivesentence+ is/am/are+ pastparticiple formoftheverb+ by + subject of the activesentence
Changing anassertivesentenceinto thepassive
Active:Iwritealetter.
Passive: A letteris writtenbyme. Active:Ihelpyou.
Passive: You arehelpedbyme. Active:Ilove myparents.
Passive: Myparentsarelovedbyme. Active: We love our country.
Passive: Our countryis lovedbyus.
Changing a negativesentenceinto thepassive
Active:Ido notwrite aletter.
Passive: A letteris notwrittenbyme. Active:Ido notabuse myservants.
Passive: Myservantsare notabusedbyme. Active:Ido notwrite novels.
Passive: Novelsarenotwrittenbyme. Active: Hedoes nottease her.
Passive: She is not teasedbyhim.
Changing aninterrogative sentenceinto thepassive
Structure:Is/are/am + object of theactiveverb+past participle form of theverb +by+subject ofthe passiveverb
Active: Doyou writealetter? Passive:Is aletterwrittenby you? Active: Doyou writestories? Passive: Arestories writtenby you? Active: Does she makecandles? Passive:Arecandlesmade byher? Active: Who does not obey you?
Passive:By whomareyou not obeyed? Active: Which newspaper doyouread? Passive: Which newspaper is readby you? Active: Does she do herduty?
Passive:Is her dutydonebyher?
Notes:
Theobject of theactiveverb becomes the subjectofthe passiveverb. Therefore, sentences which do not have an object cannot be changed into the passive. The followingsentences, for instance, cannot be changed into the passivebecause theydo not haveobjects.
Theold man sat in a corner. The child sleeps.
Thewind blows. Thedog barks. The fireburns.
Helaughedaloud
Answer: Improve
To changeasentencefrom activeto passive voice, do the following:
1. Movethe activesentence's direct object into thesentence's subject slot
2. Placethe activesentence's subject intoaphrasebeginningwith theprepositionby
3. Add a form of theauxiliaryverbbeto themain verb and changethe main verb's form
Because passivevoicesentences necessarilyaddwords and changethe normaldoer-action- receiver of actiondirection, theymaymakethe reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.
Read more:
Change PassiveVoicetoActiveVoice
When asentenceis written, it can either bewritten in activevoiceor passivevoice.In most cases, writingsentences in passivevoice is discouraged because it can obscurethe subject of the sentence,and confusethereader.It also usuallycreates awordyandawkward sentence construction.
DefiningPassiveVoice
Everysentence contains, at minimum, asubject and an action. Thesubjectis theperson orthing the sentenceisabout, and the action is what thesubject is doing. When asentenceis in active voice, the subject doingthe action comes beforethe action. For example:
I swim. I isthe subject.Swimis theaction. Thesubjectdoingtheactioncomesbeforethe action, soitisimmediatelyclear tothereaderwhoisdoingwhat.
When asentenceis in passivevoice, the subject comes after theaction. For example:
SwimmingissomethingI do. Here, theactionisswimming. Thesubject is I. The sentenceisin passive voice,sincethepersondoingthe action(I) isnotmentioned untilaftertheaction
Some sentences also contain objects-the thingbeingacted upon. This canmakeitmoredifficult to determinewhether thesentenceis in passivevoice. For example, hereis a sentencein active voice:
Anna hitsthe ball. Anna is thesubject. Hitsisthe action. Theball istheobject.
That same sentencein passivevoice reads:
Theball ishitbyAnna.
Theball istheobject- notthesubjectofthesentence.Theball isnotdoingan action. Therefore, it shouldbeafterthesubject(Anna)
TipstoRecognizethePassiveVoice
Sometimes a sentenceinpassivevoicedoes not necessarilysound"wrong" orwordy. However, itis still best to writein activevoicewhen possible.
In order to recognizethatasentenceis in passivevoice, watch out for thesekeywords:
Be
Is
Are
A
Was
Were
Has been
Havebeen
Will be
Being
PracticeChangingPassivetoActiveVoice
Correct the followingfivesentences to practice changingpassiveto activevoice. The answers arebelow:
1. Hungerwaswhat Bill felt.
2. Readingisenjoyed byMary
3. Thetownwasdestroyed byfire
4. Funnyiswhatclowns are
5. CheesewaslikedbySara
Answersto Practice Sentences
1. Bill felthungry(Billisthe subject,feltisthe action)
2. Maryenjoys reading(Maryis thesubject,enjoysistheaction)
3. Firedestroyed the town (Fireisthe subject,destroyedis theaction)
4. Clownsare funny(Clownsis thesubject,funny istheaction)
5. Sara likescheese(Sarais thesubject,likesisthe action)
6. TherewillbetwoPassiveVoice sentencesforthesentences with two nouns.
There are few verbs which taketwoobjects, a Direct object and anIndirect object.
Forsuchsentences, therewillbetwo forms in PassiveVoicesentences.
1. Verbs with two objects: Examples:
•Igavehimfive rupees.(Activevoice)
• Five rupees were givento him byme. (PassiveVoice)
• Hewasgivenfive rupees byme.(PassiveVoice)
• Shehas told me thetruth. (Activevoice)
•Iwas told the truth byher. (PassiveVoice)
• Thetruth was told to mebyher. (PassiveVoice)
• Theylent me theircar.(Activevoice)
•Iwas lent acar bythem. (PassiveVoice)
• A carwas lent to me bythem. (PassiveVoice)
• TheGovernment has sent him a message. (Activevoice)
• Hewas sentamessagebythegovernment. (Passive Voice)
• A messagewas sentto him bythegovernment. (PassiveVoice)
2. Imperative sentences(Commands andrequests)
Thereis special formulafor changingthe imperativesentenceinto passivevoice.
• Pleaseopen the door.(Activevoice)
•Let thedoor beopened by you. (PassiveVoice)
Herethe sentencein active-voicehas beenchanged into asentencein passive-voice. Pleaseunderstand theformulawhich has beenfollowed to changethe active-voiceto
passive-voice.
―Let‖ is used to convert the activevoicesentenceinto a passive voicesentence.
Examples:
• Do not mistakeme. (Activevoice)
•Let menot bemistaken. (PassiveVoice)
• Cutyour nails. (Activevoice)
•Letyour nails be cut. (PassiveVoice)
• Do not ignoremysuggestions. (Activevoice)
•Let notmysuggestionsbeignored. (PassiveVoice).
Thesesentences havebeen changed into passivevoicesentences byadding "let".
3. With Modal verbs:
Theverbs can, could, may,might, and must areknown modal verbs. As perthe following methods thesesentenceswith theseverbs arechanged into passivevoice.
Examples:
• You can takethe book.(Activevoice)
• Thebook can betaken by you. (PassiveVoice).
• Everybodymustobeythe rules. (Activevoice)
• The rules mustbeobeyed byeverybody. (PassiveVoice).
• Theymight havestudied theirlessons. (Activevoice)
• Their lessons might havebeen studied bythem. (PassiveVoice).
• Hemaynot accept this plan. (Activevoice)
• This lesson maynot beaccepted byhim. (PassiveVoice).
4. Phrasal verbs:
Fewverbs,with certainmeanings arealways usedwithprepositions.
Insuchsituations the prepositions should not beomittedinthesentences. Examples:
•Wearelooking at thegame. (Activevoice)
•Thegameis being lookedat by us. (PassiveVoice).
•Thefire-brigadeput out thefire. (Activevoice)
•Thefirewas put out by thefire-brigade. (Passive Voice).
•TheGovernment willset upa factory. (Activevoice)
•A factory will beset up by thegovernment. (PassiveVoice).
5. WithIT:
In fewsentences, insteadofawordora phrase, a clausemay bethe object ofa verb. Insuchcases therearetwo ways ofchanging thesentences into thepassivevoice.
A. By making the clauseitselfas the subjectinthepassivevoice.
Examples:
•I hope thathewill realizehis mistake. (Activevoice)
•Thathis mistakewill be realizedis hoped byus. (PassiveVoice).
•I expectedthattheywouldtakeupthematter. (Activevoice)
•That thematterwould be taken upby themwas expected by me. (PassiveVoice). B. By substituting the clausewithpronounit.
Examples:
•TheRomans expectedthat they wouldconquerCarthage.(Activevoice)
•It was expected by theRomans that Carthagewould be conquered bythem. (Passive
Voice).
•Wehavelearnedthatyou havesecuredthefirst rank. (Activevoice)
•It has beenlearned byus that thefirst rankhas beensecured by you. (PassiveVoice).
Exercises:
•The grandmotherwastelling hergrandchildrenaninteresting story.(Activevoice)
•An interesting story was being told by thegrandmotherto hergrandchildren. (Passive
Voice).
•Hergrandchildrenwerebeing told aninteresting story by their grandmother.(Passive
Voice).
•Thepostman broughtyoua parcel. (Activevoice)
•A parcel was brought to you by a postman. (PassiveVoice).
•You werebrought a parcel by thepostman. (PassiveVoice).
•I have taught theclassthefirst lesson. (Activevoice)
•Thefirstlessonwas taught by me to theclass.(PassiveVoice).
•The classwas taught thefirstlesson by me. (PassiveVoice).
•Theofficehas sent hera message. (Activevoice)
•Amessage has beensent to herby theoffice. (PassiveVoice).
•Shehas beensent amessage by heroffice. (PassiveVoice).
•Thewaiterbrought us the menucard. (Activevoice)
•Themenucardwas brought to us by thewaiter. (PassiveVoice).
•Wewerebrought themenucard by thewaiter. (PassiveVoice).
•They are offeringyouanother chance. (Activevoice)
•You arebeing offeredanother chanceby them.(PassiveVoice).
•Another chanceis being offeredto you by them.(PassiveVoice).
•He hadtoldmea lie. (Activevoice)
•I had beentolda lie by him. (PassiveVoice).
•A lie had beentoldto meby him. (PassiveVoice).
•Shewas givenyourmessage byme. (PassiveVoice).
•Yourmessage was givento herbyme. (PassiveVoice).
•Who taught you Sanskrit? (Activevoice)
•Sanskrit was taught to you bywhom? (PassiveVoice).
•You weretaught Sanskrit by whom? (PassiveVoice).
•Signthesedocuments.(Activevoice)
•Letthesedocuments besigned. (PassiveVoice).
Active and PassiveVoice
March17,2005
Manju submitted a request forinformation on ―how to writepassivesentences & cosutive[sic] sentences.‖I‘ll focus hereon passive (voice) sentences, andhow to distinguish them from sentences usingactivevoice.
Active Voice
A sentenceis written in the activevoiceif thesubject—the main person, place, thing, or idea—
performs the action.
Examples:
1. Jonathanthrewthe ballacrossthe street. (Thesubject, “Jonathan,”performed theaction, “threw.”)
2. Because ithadn’tbeen seen for decades,theobelisksurprisedthe audiencewhenthelecturer
presented it. (Thesubject,“obelisk,”performedtheaction,“surprised.”Notethatwe’re
focusingonthesubjectof theindependent,ormain, clause.)
Passive Voice
A sentenceis written in the passive voice if thesubject—the main person,place, thing, or idea—
receives the action.
Examples:
1. Theorchestraisconductedby Ms.Phelps.(Thesubject, “orchestra,”isreceivingtheaction here. “Ms.Phelps”is conductingthe orchestra, sosheisthesentence’s“agent,”butnotits subject.)
2. Thedoorwasshuttight.(Thesubject,“door,”received theaction,“was shut.”Wedon’tknow,
fromthis sentenceatleast,whoperformed theaction.)
HowtoIdentify Activeand Passive Voice
To find outif asentenceis written in the activeorpassivevoice, askyourself thesetwo questions:
1. What isthe subject?
2. Is thesubjectdoingsomething?
Ifthe answer to question2 is ―Yes,‖ thesentenceisactive; if the answer is―No,‖the sentenceis
passive.
Thanks forthe question, Manju!
EnglishActiveandPassiveVoice
EnglishActive and Passive Voice
Voiceis thepropertyofverbwhichshowswhetherthesubject isperforming or
experiencing the action.
There aretwokindsof voice:
Active voice: If thesubject doestheworkhimself orherself, itis in activevoice.
Passive voice: If something is doneforortothesubject,it is inpassivevoice.
GeneralRules:
Subject Verb Object
Rahim teaches Mohsin. Active
Mohsin istaught byRahim Passive
Following aretherules forchanging activevoiceintopassivevoice:
1. Subjectof the activevoiceshall becometheobject ofthepassivevoice.
I : (by) me We : (by) us
You : (by) you He : (by) him She : (by)her It : (by) it They : (by) them Who : (by)whom
2. Usetheform ofverb‘tobe’ (is,are, etc.)betweensubjectandobjectinthepassivevoice.
4. Use‘by’beforeobject.
5. Objectof the activevoiceshall becomesubjectofpassivevoice.
Me : I us : we You : You him : he Her : She it : it
Them : they whom : who
Note:
1. Passivevoicecanbemadeonlyof transitiveverb, i.e. if theverbis followedby anobject.
2. Voiceischangedinthesamesentencei.e.,iftheActivevoiceisintheinterrogative sentence. Passivewill alsobeininterrogativesentence.
Structure:Subject+ Verbbe+pastparticiple+by+object (noun orpronoun).
Present Indefinite Tense
Active Passive
[Subject + is/am/are+3rdform
+by+ object]
Karim teaseshim. Heis teased byhim
Shebeats herhusband. Herhusband is beatenbyher.
Negative Sentence:
Active Passive
[Subject+is/am/are+not+3rd
form+by+object]
Shedoes not listentoyou. You are not listened tobyher. Youdonot favourher. Sheis not favoured byyou. Interrogative Sentence:
Active Passive
[Is/Am/Are+subject + 3rdform
+by+ object]
Doyou teachhim? Ishetaught byyou?
Doyou respectme? Am I respectedbyyou?
Ifthe sentencebeginswith‘when/where/why/how/what’ helpingverbshould be
putimmediately afterthem.
Active Passive
Howdoyou preparetea? How is teapreparedbyyou? Whendoyou seeT.V.? Whenis T.V. seenbyyou? Whatdoyou like? What is liked byyou?
Ifthe sentencebegins with ‘who’ or ‘whom’, change ‘who’into‘by whom’ and
‘whom’ into‘who’ inthepassive voice.
Active Passive
Whobeats you? Bywhom are youbeaten? Whom doyou love? Whois lovedbyyou?
Present ContinuousTense
Active Passive
[Subject + was/were+3rdform +by
+object]
I was revising the lesson Was the lessonbeingrevised by me.
Were you readingthebook? Was thebook beingreadbyyou? Whatwas Rehmandoing? Whatwas beingdonebyRehman?
Past PerfectTense
Active Passive
[Subject + had +been +3rd
form+by+object]
I learnthepoem. Thepoem was learnt byme. Had shetakentea? Had teabeentakenby her?
Hehad not ill-treatedhim Hehad notbeenill-treated by him.
Future Indefinite Tense
[Subject+will/shall+be+3rd
form+by+object]
Thismanwilldomywork. Mywork willbedonebythis man.
Will Mohsinhelpme? Shall I behelped byMohsin? WhatwillTariqdo? WhatwillbedonebyTariq? Whowillrepairthewindow? Bywhom will thewindow be
repaired?
Future Perfect Tense
Active Passive
[Subject+will/shall+have+been+3rd
form +by+ object]
Thismanwillhavedonemy work.
Mywork willhavebeendoneby this man.
Hewill not have abusedme. I shall nothavebeen abused by him.
Thefarmerwillhavewatered the field.
Thefield willhavebeenwatered by thefarmer.
ModalVerbs:
Can, may, must, shall, will, should, would, could andmight arecalled modal verbs.
Active Passive
[Subject + modalverb+be+3rd
form +by+ object]
Rizwancanwin theprize. TheprizecanbewonbyRizwan. Mohsinmust reward you. Youmust berewarded by
Mohsin.
MayI helpyou? Mayyou behelpedbyme?
Whowillshutthedoor? Bywhom will thedoorbeshut.
Imperative Sentence
Shut thedoor. Let thedoorbeshut. Openthebox. Let theboxbeopened. Closethedoor. Let thedoorbeclosed.
Donot starvetheox. Let theox notbe starved. Inform thePolice. Let thepolicebeinformed. Change ofvoiceofinfinitives,verbs‘tobe’and ‘tohave’
Active Passive
Thereis notimetolose. Thereis not timetobe lost. Heis amantoadmire. Heis amantobe admired.
I am todothiswork. Thiswork is tobedonebyme. They aretosell thecar. Thecaris tobesold bythem.
Abdulwas todothiswork. Thiswork was tobedoneby
Abdul.
I havetobuyabook . A bookhas tobeboughtbyme. Abdulhad todothiswork. Thiswork hadtobedoneby
Abdul.
Verbs withtwoobjects:
Active Passive
Rida gavemeabook I was givenabook by Rida. Or
A book was giventomebyRida.
Werefused them admission. Theywererefused admissionby us. Or
Admissionwas refused tothem byus.
Where ‘by’ is not used.
Withthe followingverbs,‘by’ is not used in thepassive voice:
i. alarmed at ii. Annoyed at
iii. contained in iv. Disgustedwith
v. displeased with vi. Lined with vii. marriedto viii. Satisfied with
ix. surprised at x. pleasedwith
Active Passive
Theresultsurprised me. I am surprised at theresult. The newspleasedhim. Hewas pleased withthenews. The newsalarmed him. Hewas alarmed at the news. Thebottlecontains ink. Inkis contained in thebottle. PassiveVoice:When toUseIt andWhen toAvoidIt
WrittenbyTimCorsonandRebecca Smollett,UniversityCollegeWritingCentre
Printable PDFVersion
Fair-UsePolicy
Whatispassivevoice?
In English, all sentencesarein either "active"or"passive"voice:
active: Werner Heisenbergformulated theuncertaintyprinciplein 1927.
passive: Theuncertaintyprinciple was formulated byWerner Heisenbergin 1927.
Inan activesentence, theperson orthingresponsible forthe action in thesentencecomes first.In apassivesentence, the person orthingacted oncomes first, and the actor is added at the end, introduced with thepreposition "by."Thepassiveform of the verb is signaled bya form of"to be": in the sentenceabove, "was formulated"is inpassivevoicewhile"formulated"is in active.
Inapassivesentence,weoften omitthe actor completely: Theuncertaintyprinciplewas formulated in 1927.
WhendoIuse passivevoice?
In somesentences, passivevoicecan beperfectlyacceptable. You might useitin the following cases:
1. The actor is unknown:
The cavepaintings ofLascauxweremadein theUpper Old Stone Age. [Wedon't know
who madethem.]
2. The actor is irrelevant:
An experimental solar power plant will be builtin theAustralian desert. [We arenot interested in who is buildingit.]
3. You want to bevague about whois responsible:
Mistakes weremade. [Common in bureaucraticwriting!]
4. You aretalkingaboutageneral truth:
Rules aremadeto bebroken. [Bywhomever, whenever.]
5. You want to emphasizethe person orthingactedon. For example, itmaybeyour main topic:
Insulinwasfirst discovered in 1921 byresearchersat theUniversityof Toronto.It is still the onlytreatment available fordiabetes.
6. You are writingin a scientificgenrethat traditionallyrelies on passivevoice. Passive voiceis often preferred in lab reports and scientific research papers, most notablyin the Materials and Methods section:
Thesodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloricacid.
In thesesentencesyou can count onyour reader toknow thatyouarethe onewho did the dissolvingand the titrating. Thepassivevoiceplaces the emphasis onyourexperiment ratherthan onyou.
Note: Over thepast severalyears, therehas beenamovement within manyscience disciplines awayfrom passivevoice. Scientistsoften now preferactivevoicein most parts oftheirpublishedreports, even occasionallyusingthe subject"we"inthe Materials and Methods section. Check withyour instructororTA whetheryou can usethe first person "I" or"we"inyour lab reports to helpavoid thepassive.
To learn moreabout theuse of passivevoicein thesciences, visitour handout on writingin thesciences.
Whenshould I avoid passive voice?
Passivesentencescangetyou into trouble in academicwritingbecause theycan bevague about who is responsible forthe action:
Both Othello andIago desireDesdemona. Sheis courted. [Who courts Desdemona?Othello? Iago?Both of them?]
Academicwritingoften focuses on differences between the ideas of different researchers, or betweenyourown ideasand thoseof theresearchersyou arediscussing. Too manypassive sentencescan create confusion:
Research has been doneto discreditthis theory. [Who did the research?You?Yourprofessor? Another author?]
Some students usepassivesentences to hide holesin their research:
Thetelephonewas inventedin thenineteenth century. [Icouldn't find outwho invented the telephone!]
Finally, passive sentences often sound wordyandindirect. Theycan makethe reader work unnecessarilyhard. Andsincetheyareusuallylonger than activesentences,passivesentences takeup precious room in yourpaper:
Sincethe carwas beingdriven byMichaelat thetimeof the accident, the damages should be paid forbyhim.
Weeding outpassivesentences
Ifyou now usealotof passivesentences,you maynot beable to catch allof theproblematic cases inyour first draft.Butyou can still go backthroughyouressayhuntingspecificallyfor passivesentences. At first,you maywant to ask for help from awritinginstructor. Thegrammar checker inyour word processor can help spot passive sentences, thoughgrammar checkers should always beusedwith extreme caution sincetheycan easilymisleadyou. To spot passive sentences, look for aform of the verb to beinyoursentence, with the actor either missingor introduced after theverbusingthe word"by":
Poland was invaded in 1939, thus initiatingthe Second World War.
Geneticinformationisencoded byDNA.
Thepossibilityof cold fusionhas beenexamined formany years.
Tryturning each passivesentenceyoufind into an activeone. Startyour new sentencewith the actor. Sometimesyou mayfind that need to do some extraresearch or thinkingto figureout who the actor should be!Youwilllikelyfind thatyournew sentenceis stronger,shorter, and more precise:
Germanyinvaded Poland in 1939, thus initiating theSecond World War.
DNA encodesgeneticinformation.
Physicists have examined the possibilityofcold fusion formany years.
Why Usethe Passive?
1. When the agent of theaction is unknown:
Mywalletwas stolen last night. (wedon‘t knowwho stolethe wallet)
2. When the agent is unimportant:
Thenew students‘centrewas completedlast week. (thepeople who built the centre are unnecessaryinformationforthe meaningof thesentence)
3. When the agent of theaction is obvious from the context:
Iwas bornin March of'55. (Everyoneknows that it was mymother boreme then)
4. To emphasize (put importanceon) the recipient (receiver) of theaction:
a. OnlyJane was injuredin the accident; the remainderof thepassengerswereunhurt.(wewant
Janeto be thesubject of thesentence and at thebeginningto emphasizeherimportance)
b. Erina was chosenas best student, and of coursethis madeher happy. (theteacher who chose
Erina is not what wewant to emphasize)
5. To connect ideas in differentclauses more clearly:
a. Pharmacologists would like to studythenatural ‗pharmacy‘knownas the rainforest, if this
can bedone before clear-cuttingdestroys it. (in this sentence, keepingTHIS near the first clause
makes the sentence‘s meaning clearer)
b. Themusicwas beingplayed too loud bythe students, whowerefinallyaskedto turn itdown.