Grammar Basics: Active and Passive Voice

In grammar, the relationship between the action/state of the verb and the subject is expressed in two forms of voice: Active voice and Passive voice.

Suggested Action
FREE Live Master Classes by our Star Faculty with 20+ years of experience.
Register Now

Active form: In active sentences the subject is doing the action, and the object is receiving it.

{Thing doing it i.e. subject} + {verb} + {thing on which it is done i.e. object.}

E.g. The professor teaches the students.

Passive form: In the passive form, the action is done by the object.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]

E.g. The students are taught by the professor.

Types of Active & Passive Voice
  1. Simple Present: 'clean/is cleaned'
    Active voice: Once a week, Rina cleans the house.
    Passive voice: Once a week, the house is cleaned by Rina.
  2. Present Continuous: 'is reading/is being read'
    Active voice: Right now, Ram is reading the letter.
    Passive voice: Right now, the letter is being read by ram..
  3. Simple Past : 'broke/was broken'
    Active voice: Sam broke the vase
    Passive voice: The vase was broken by Sam.
  4. Past Continuous: 'was helping/being helped'
    Active voice: The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.
    Passive voice: The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
  5. Present Perfect: 'have visited'
    Active voice:Many tourists have visited that castle.
    Passive voice:That castle has been visited by many tourists.
  6. Present Perfect Continuous: 'has been doing'
    Active voice: Recently, John has been doing the work.
    Passive voice: Recently, the work has been being done by John.
  7. Past Perfect: 'had repaired'
    Active voice: George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.
    Passive voice: Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
  8. Past Perfect Continuous: 'had been preparing'
    Active voice: Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to London.
    Passive voice: The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to London.
  9. Simple Future: 'will'
    Active voice: Someone will finish the work by 8:00 PM.
    Passive voice: The work will be finished by 8:00 PM.
  10. Simple Future: 'is going to'
    Active voice: Rally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.
    Passive voice: A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Rally tonight.
  1. Future Continuous: 'will be'
    Active voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.
    Passive voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
  2. Future Continuous: 'going to be'
    Active voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, Tina is going to be washing the dishes.
    Passive voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by Tina .
  3. Future Perfect: 'will have'
    Active voice: They will have completed the project before the deadline.
    Passive voice: The project will have been completed before the deadline.
  4. Future Perfect: 'going to have completed/been completed'
    Active voice: They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.
    Passive voice: The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
  5. Future Perfect Continuous: 'will have been'
    Active voice: The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.
    Passive voice: The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
  6. Future Perfect Continuous: 'going to have been'
    Active voice: The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.
    Passive voice: The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
  7. FREE e-books
    Get access to carefully curated e-books by Academic Experts to crack competitive exams.
    Download Now
  8. Future in the Past: 'would'
    Active voice: I knew John would not finish the work by 5:00 PM.
    Passive voice: I knew the work would not be finished by 5:00 PM.
  9. Future in the Past: 'was going to'
    Active voice: I thought Rally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.
    Passive voice: I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Rally tonight.
Rate Us
Views:104890