Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses

Active Voice Passive Voice

I Me
We Us
You You
He Him
She Her
They Them

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

VOICE

Voice is a form of a verb that is used to show whether the subject is

given more emphasis or the action done by the subject is given more
emphasis. The subject of the voice of a sentence is a person, a thing,
an action or a place whom the sentence is about.

What is Active Voice in English Grammar?

When the sentence or the verb is in the Active Voice, the doer or the
actor of the subject is given more emphasis. It means the subject is
active while his action is passive. Generally, when the sentence is in
the active voice, it starts with the subject.s

Examples of Active Voice:

• The lion roared. (Here the lion is the main highlight of the
sentence.)
 • The cook prepared the meal (The cook is given emphasis.)
• Greenhouse gases cause Global Warming. (Here Greenhouse is
the subject and is given emphasis.)

What is Passive Voice?

When the sentence is in the passive voice, the object of the verb or the
action of the subject or recipient of the action is given the main
emphasis. It means that the doer of the action is passive and the object
of the verb or the action of the subject or recipient of the action is
active. Generally, when the sentence is in passive voice it starts with
the object, action or receiver.

Examples of Passive Voice:

• A roar was emitted by the lion. (Here the roar of the lion is the
main topic of the sentence.)
• The meal was prepared by the cook. (The meal is active while
the cook is passive)
• Global Warming is caused by Greenhouse Gases. (Here more
emphasis lies on Global Warming)

Points to Remember during the Conversion of Voices

• Do not change the meaning of the sentence.

• Do not change the form of the sentence (Imperative/
Interrogative)
• Do not change the tense of the subject.
• We do not have any passive voice for future continuous and all
perfect continuous tenses.
• We always use third form of the verb in passive voice.

How to change the Voice from Active to Passive?

• The sentence must have objects (transitive verb). If there is no

object then there must be a question word who asks the object.
• Object active sentences became the subject of passive sentences.
 • Subject or active sentences into passive sentences that preceded
the object word ‘by’.
Tense Active Voice Passive Voice Examples
Active: I eat mangoes
Subject + Verb + Object + is/am/are + V3
Simple Present
Object + by Subject Passive: Mangoes are
eaten by me.
Active: Ramesh is calling
Present Object + is/am/are + Neena.
Subject + is/am/are +
Continuous being + V3 + by
verb + ing + Object
Tense Subject Passive: Neena is being
called by Ramesh
Active: I have made some
cakes.
Present Perfect Subject + have/has + Object + has/have +
Tense V3 + Object been + V3 + by Subject
Passive: Some cakes have
been made by me.
Active: Preeti stole my
clothes.
Simple Past Subject + Verb(past Object + was/were + V3
tense tense) + Object + by Subject
Passive: My clothes were
stolen by Preeti
Active: The postman was
delivering the letters.
Object + was/were +
Past Continuous Subject + was/were
being + V3 + by
Tense + Verb + ing+ Object Passive: The letters were
Subject
being delivered by the
postman.
Active: The girls had eaten
all the muffins.
Past Perfect Subject + had + V3 + Object + had been + V3
Tense Object + by subject
Passive: All the muffins
had been eaten by girls.
Active: We shall finish the
whole work by 6 pm.
Simple Future Subject + shall /will Object + shall/will + be
Tense +V1 + Object +V3 + by subject Passive: The whole work
will be finished by us by 6
pm
Active: They will have
won the football match.
Object + shall/will +
Future Perfect Subject + shall/will +
have been + V3 + by
Tense have + V3 + Object Passive: The football
subject
match will have been won
by them.
Active and Passive Voice Rules for Present Simple Tense

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb – is/am/are)
Object+ is/am/are+ V3+ by +
Subject + V1+s/es+ object
subject
Subject + Do/does+ not + V1 + Object + is/am/are+ not + V3+ by
Object Subject
Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by
Does+ Subject+ V1+Object+?
subject +?

Active: He reads a novel.

Passive: A novel is read by him.

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

Passive Voice
Active Voice (Auxiliary Verb- is/am/are +
being)
Subject + is/am/are+ v1+ ing + Object+ is/am/are+ being+ V3+
object by + subject
Subject + is/am/are+ not+ v1+ Object + is/am/are+ not +
ing+ object being+V3+ by Subject
Is/am/are+ subject+v1+ing + Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by
object+? subject +?

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

Passive Voice
Active Voice (Auxiliary Verb- has/have
+been)
Object+ has/have+ been+ V3+ by
Subject + has/have+ v3+ object
+ subject
Subject + has/have+ not+ v3+ Object + has/have+ not +
object been+V3+ by Subject
Has/Have + Object+ been+V3+ by
Has/have+ subject+ v3 + object+?
subject +?

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.

Active and Passive Voice Rules for Past Simple Tense

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- was/were)
Object+ was/were V3+ by +
Subject + V2+ object
subject
Object + was/were+ not +V3+ by
Subject +did+ not+v1+ object
Subject
Was/were + Object+ V3+ by
Did+ subject+V1+ object+?
subject +?
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

Active Voice Passive Voice

 (Auxiliary Verb- was/were +
being)
Subject + was/were + v1+ing+ Object+ was/were +being+V3+ by
object. + subject
Subject +was/were+ not+v1+ing + Object + was/were+ not
object +being+V3+ by Subject
Was/were+ Subject + V1+ing + Was/were + Object+ being+v3+
object+? by+ subject+?

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

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- had +been)
Object+ had+been +V3+ by +
Subject + had + v3+ object.
subject
Object + had+ not +been+V3+ by
Subject +had+ not+v3+ object
Subject
Had + Object+ been+v3+ by+
Had+ Subject + V3+ object+?
subject+?

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

Passive Voice
Active Voice
(Auxiliary Verb- will+ be)
Object+ will+ be +V3+ by +
Subject + will+ v1+ object.
subject
Object + will+ not +be+V3+ by
Subject +will + not+ V1+object
Subject
Will + Object+ be +v3+ by+
Will+ Subject + V1+ object+?
subject+?

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

Active Voice Passive Voice

Object+ will+ have+ been +V3+
Subject + will+ have +v3+ object.
by + subject
Subject + will+ have +not+v3+ Object + will+ have
object. +not+been+v3+ subject
Will + object+have+been+v3+by
Will+ Subject+have+v3+ object+?
+subject+?

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.

Active and Passive voice using Modals

Active Voice Passive Voice

S + Modal + V + O O + Modal + be + V3 + S

S + Modal + not + V + O O + Modal + not be + V3 + S

Modals are: can /could /shall /should /may /might /will/ would, etc.

Example:

She can sell the car every

The car can be sold by her every time.
time.

Can she play a violin? Can a violin be played by her?

You may read this book. This book may be read by you.

She would teach us today. We would be taught by her today.

We must help the poor. The poor must be helped by us.

We ought to respect our Our elders ought to be respected by

elders. us.

Common Mistakes while Converting the Voice of a Sentence

Never change can into could, shall into should, may into might, as we
are making active to passive voice not direct to indirect.

Modal Usage with Present Perfect Tense

Active Voice Passive Voice

S + Modal + have + V + O O + Modal + + have been + V3 + S
S + Modal + not have + V + O O + Modal + not have been + V3 + S
Modals are: should /may /might /ought to
Example:
You may have availed the The opportunity may have been
opportunity. availed by you.
The meal might have been eaten by
He might have eaten the meal.
him.
He might not have eaten the The meal might not have been eaten
meal. by him.
You should have studied the The book should have been studied
book. by you.
You should not have read the The book should not have been read
book. by you.
You ought to have helped him. He ought to have been helped by you.

Here’s all you need to know about Gerund, Infinitive and Participle

Characteristics of Voices of Imperative Sentences

Rule 1:

The object is generally missing in Imperative Sentences. The structure

of such sentences in Passive Voice is: Let + object + be/not be + V3

Active Voice Passive Voice

Do it. Let it be done.
Call in the doctor. Let the doctor be called in.

Rule 2:

In sentences that express request, advice, and/or order, such phrases

as you are requested to /advised to /ordered to are used. Word kindly
/please are dropped.

Active Voice Passive Voice

Kindly lend me some You are requested to lend me some
money. money.

Passive Voice in Infinitive Verbs

Active Voice Passive Voice

to + V1 to + be + V3
Example:
I have to do this work. This work has to be done.
Women like men to flatter
Women like to be flattered by men.
them.
He was seen to cross the road (by
I saw him cross the road.
me).
It is time to do this work. It is time for this work to be done.

Points to Remember while converting the Voice of a sentence

If an indefinite pronoun(someone /somebody/nobody/anybody) is

given in active voice as a subject then in passive voice indefinite
pronoun will never be used as an object.
Active Voice Passive Voice
Someone has My wallet has been stolen.—CORRECT My
stolen my wallet. wallet has been stolen by somebody.—WRONG

Read the following sentences and change them as directed.

1. Do you like Naina? (Passive Voice)

2. Asha Bhosle sings beautiful songs. (Passive Voice)
3. Tina is known to me. (Active Voice)
4. The film has been signed by Shah Rukh Khan. (Active Voice)
5. Cricket is played by Sourav Ganguly. (Active Voice)
6. Meera worshipped Lord Krishna. (Passive Voice)
7. Mark Antony delivered a speech to the Roman people. (Passive
Voice)
8. Ved Vyasa wrote Mahabharata. (Passive Voice)
9. Mr Singha has been robbed by the burglar. (Active Voice)
10. The cat drank the milk. (Passive Voice)
11. The piano was being played by Rima. (Active Voice)
12. The guards will have locked the gates by 2 P.M. (Passive
Voice)
13. Who cooked the pasta? (Passive Voice)
14. Where was my book found by you? (Active Voice)
15. The children are playing holi. (Passive Voice)