Active and Passive Voice Rules of English Grammar For All Tenses

Active and Passive Voice Rules of English Grammar

Understanding Active and Passive Voice rules are imperative for candidates preparing for various Government exams as well as other competitive exams.

In this article, we shall discuss in detail the Active and Passive Voice rules followed by examples, along with the sample questions asked in the examinations, based on the same. Candidates will be explained the concept and active-passive rules in English grammar both in the text and video format.

Active & Passive Voice

Let us first understand the meaning of voice, and what is active voice and passive voice.

What is Voice of a verb?

The voice of a verb expresses whether the subject in the sentence has performed or received the action.

Example:

The watchman opens the door.
The door is opened by the watchman.

Types of Voices of Verb

Verbs have two voices (i) Active Voice (ii) Passive Voice

Active Voice – When an action performed by the subject is expressed by the verb, it is an active voice. Active voice is used when more straightforward relation and clarity is required between the subject and the verb.

Active Voice example:

Hens lay eggs.
Birds build nests.

Passive Voice – When the action expressed by the verb is received by the subject, it is passive voice. Passive voice is used when the doer of the action is not known and the focus of the sentence is on the action and not the subject.

Passive Voice Examples:

Eggs are laid by hens.
Nests are built by birds.

Candidates preparing for any Government exam can check other important topics for the English language section.

List of Synonyms And Rules for Active – Passive Voice Conversions

Rule 1. Identify the (S+V+O) Subject, Verb and object in the active sentence to convert to passive voice

Example:

He drives car. (Subject – He, verb – Drives, object – Car)

Rule 2. Interchange the object and subject with each other, i.e. object of the active sentence become the subject of the passive sentence.

Example :

Active voice : She knits sweater. (Subject – She, Verb – Knits, Object – Sweater)

Passive Voice : The sweater is knitted by her. (Object sweater is interchanged with the subject She).

Rule 3. In passive voice sometimes the subject is not used, i.e. the subject in passive voice can be omitted if the sentence without it gives enough meaning.

Example :

Milk is sold in liters

Rule 4. Change the base verb in the active sentence into the past participle ie. third form verb in a passive sentence i.e. preceded by (By, With, to, etc). Base verbs are never used in passive voice sentences.

Example:

Active voice: She prepares dinner.
Passive voice: The dinner is prepared by her.
Active voice: She knows him.
Passive voice: He is known to her.
Active voice: Juice fills the jar.
Passive voice: The jar is filled with juice.

Rule 5. While conversion of Active voice sentence to Passive voice sentence, the pronoun used in the sentence also changes in the following manner.

Active Voice Pronoun	Passive Voice Pronoun
I	Me
We	Us
He	Him
She	Her
They	Them
You	You
It	It

Rule 6. Use the suitable helping or auxiliary verb (is/am/are/was, etc.). The rules for using auxiliary verbs in passive voice sentences are different for each tense.

Example:

The letter is written by her
A book was not bought by her
Chocolates are being eaten by them.

Forms of Active And Passive Voice For All Tenses

Simple Present Tense

Active Sentences	Passive Sentences
He writes an essay	An essay is written by him
Sheena does the housework	The housework is done by Sheena
She cares for the rabbit	The rabbit is being cared for by her
Jacob always plays the guitar	The guitar is always played by Jacob

Present Continuous Tense

Active Sentences	Passive Sentences
They are eating bananas	The bananas are being eaten by them
Bob is drawing a diagram	A diagram is being drawn by Bob
Samta is playing the piano	A piano is being played by Samta
She is waiting for Reema	Reema is being waited for by her

Present Perfect Tense

Active Sentences	Passive Sentences
Has he done the work?	Has the work been done by him?
Have they left the apartment?	Has the apartment been left by them?
He created this masterpiece	This masterpiece is created by him
He read the newspaper	The newspaper is being read by him

Note- [except certain exemptions, no passive Voice formation for the following tenses can be formed, Present Perfect Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Perfect Continuous Tense and Future Continuous Tense]

Simple Past Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
Ria paid the bills	The bills were paid by Ria
The teacher called the student	The student was called by the teacher
She did not buy the fruits	The fruits were not bought by her

Past Progressive/Continuous Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
They were waiting for him	He was being waited for by them
Astha was learning French	French was being learnt by Astha
She was playing kabaddi	Kabaddi was being played by her

Past Perfect Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
She won the match	The match had been won by her
I had finished her work	Her work had been finished by me
He had missed the last metro	The last metro had been missed by him

Simple Future Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
He will write a letter	A letter will be written by him
He will repair her cycle	Her cycle will be repaired by him
He shall start the meeting	The meeting will be started by him

Future Perfect Tense

Active Voice	Passive Voice
Meena will not have changed the bedsheet	The bed sheet will not have been changed by Meena
They will have won the match	The match will have been won by them
Reena will have washed the skirt	The skirt will have been washed by Reena

Active And Passive Voice Rules For Conversion of Sentence

Below are the active-passive voice rules to follow for changing an active sentence into a passive voice. Before heading to the rules of active-passive voice, let’s check the examples of active and passive voice sentences.

Conversion of Active and Passive voice examples

Rita wrote a letter. (Subject + Verb + Object)
A letter was written by Rita. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject).
She cooks food. (Subject + Verb + Object)
The food is cooked by her. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject)

Active And Passive Voice – Sample Questions

The significance of knowing the rules of active and passive voice for the English language section of various competitive exams can only be understood by knowing the type of questions asked in the examination, based on the same.

Hence, given below are sample questions on active and passive voice asked in the English language section of various government examinations:

[Directions] In the following questions, a sentence has been given in either Active or Passive Voice. From the four options select the one which best expresses the same sentence in the opposite voice than mentioned in the question.

Q.1. Never disobey your elders

1. You are asked not to disobey your elders.

2. You are ordered not to disobey your elders.

3. Do not disobey your elders.

4. You are not to disobey your elders.

Answer (1) You are asked not to disobey your elders

Q.2. The students were listening to the teacher.

1. The teacher is listened to by the students.

2. The teacher listened to students.

3. The teacher was listening to by the students

4. The teacher was listened to by the students.

Answer (4) The teacher was listened to by the students.

Q.3. I have to do it.

1. It is be done by me.

2. It should to be done by me.

3. It has to be done by me.

4. It would to be done by me.

Answer (3) It has to be done by me.

Q.4. Tell the maid to prepare tea.

1. You are ordered to tell the maid to prepare tea.

2. You are said to tell the maid to prepare tea.

3. You are advised to tell the maid to prepare tea.

4. You are asked to tell the maid to prepare tea.

Answer (4) You are asked to tell the maid to prepare tea.

Q.5. Who stole your bike?

1. Your bike was stolen by him?

2. By whom was your bike stolen?

3. Your bike was stolen by whom?

4. By whom your bike stolen?

Answer (2) By whom was your bike stolen?

Apart from the MCQ type questions given above, active-passive voice questions appear in reading comprehension and error spotting as well. Candidates to practice well for the exam can check out a few important Sentence correction questions asked in various competitive exams in the link provided.

Also, check Previous Year Question Papers PDF with Solutions to understand the scope and difficulty level of question in the exams.

Candidates must be well aware of the rules of Active and Passive Voices in English, so as to use them correctly without making any errors in the exam. Knowledge of active and passive voice will help score good marks in the exam as well as improve their understanding of English.

Being well acquainted with the rules of the active and passive voice will not only enhance the vocabulary skills for descriptive sections in the examination, but it will also improve candidates usage of English in day to day communication as well.

Almost all the exams, such as SSC exam, Bank exam, RRB exam, Insurance exam or any other Government exams have a separate section for the English Language in both objective and descriptive paper. Candidates can go through the English Question and Answers on important topics given below-

Direct & Indirect Speech Questions & Answers
Prepositions Questions And Answers
One Word Substitution Questions & Answers
Tenses Questions And Answers

For more practice exercise and question and answers on different English topics, candidates can check the Verbal Ability page linked here.

For a better understanding of the formation of words in English and to know the English words that are asked in most of the competitive exams, visit the links provided below

1. English Root Words

2. Most asked English Vocabulary Words

Aspirants preparing for the upcoming government exams must carefully go through the concept and rules of active and passive voice in English grammar, as they tend to score the least in the English Language section.

To ace this section, it is important that candidates have a clear concept of mistaken words or the confusing words in the English language. Given below are a few such words that they can check for reference-

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Difference between Yolk and Yoke	Difference Between Fair and Fare
Difference Between Award and Reward	Difference between Affect and Effect