Table of Content
- Introduction
- Helping verbs
- Pronouns
- Four Basic rules to change active voice into passive voice
- Present Simple tense
- Present Continuous tense
- Present perfect tense
- Past Simple tense
- Past Continuous tense
active and passive voice rules chart
in this article i will discuss in detail the rules of active voice and passive with the help of charts
Active voice: In active voice, all the action is done by the subject pr subject is the doer of the action.
For example, Ali writes a letter.
Passive voice: in passive voice subject is the receiver of the action, or all action is performed on the subject
For example, a letter is written by Ali
active and passive voice rules chart shows how the helping verbs changes in the passive voice
Active voice | Passive voice |
Is ,am ,are | Is being ,am being ,are being |
Has, have | Has been ,have been |
Was ,were | Was being ,were being |
had | Had been |
Will ,shall | Will be ,shall be |
Will have | will have been |
Shall have | Shall have been |
can | Can be |
May | May be |
might | Might be |
should | should |
how pronouns are changed to make passive voice
Active voice | Passive voice |
I | Me |
we | Us |
he | Him |
she | Her |
they | The, |
you | you |
Four basic rules to change active voice to passive voice
1 subject will take place of object and object becomes subject
2 while making passive voice form active voice 3rdform of verb should be used
3 helping verb is also changed while making passive voice from active voice just like show in above chart
4 pronouns are also changed while making passive voice from active voice
Present Simple tense
to make passive voice of this tense following formulas should be used
object +is/am/are+3rd form verb+ by + subject
ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE |
I eat an apple | An apple is eaten by me |
His mother beats him | He is beaten by his mother |
She does not tell a lie | A lie is not told by her |
Ali does not do it | It is not done by Ali |
Do you sell mangoes | Are mangoes sold by you |
Does he sing a song | Is a song sung by him |
Who boils eggs? | By whom are eggs are boiled |
What do you do ? | What is done by you |
Does he help me | Am I helped by him? |
Why does he eat rice ? | Why is rice eaten by him |
Present continuous tense
to form passive voice of this tense below formulas is used
object + is/am/are+being+3rd form of verb + by + agent
ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE |
They are playing cricket | Cricket is being played by them |
She is singing songs | Songs are being sung by her |
Ali is not abusing me | I am not being abused by ALI |
he is not reading a book | A book is not being read by him |
Are you teaching him? | Is he being taught by you? |
Who is making a noise | By whom is a noise being made? |
What are you writing? | What is being written by you? |
Am I speaking the truth? | Is the truth being spoken by me? |
Present perfect tense
to form passive voice of present prefect tense following formulas is used
object + has/have+been+3rd form of verb + by + subject
ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE |
I have eaten sweets | Sweets have been eaten by me |
She has caught a bird | A bird has been caught by her |
We have not won the match | The match has not been won by us |
Th man has not done his duty | His duty has not been done by the man |
Has she milked the cow? | Has the cow been milked by her? |
Who has eaten an egg? | By whom has an egg been eaten? |
Why have you told a lie? | Why has a lie been told by you? |
Past simple tense
to change active voice to passive voice of this tense following formulas is used
object + was/were+ 3rd form of verb +by + agent
ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE |
He bought two cups | Two cups were bought by him |
I met him yesterday | He was met by yesterday |
Ali did not take tea | Tea was not taken by ALI |
They did not eat meat | Meat was not eaten by them |
Who broke this pen? | By whom was this pen broken |
Why did you beat him? | Why was he beaten by you? |
Past continuous tense
to change the sentence of past continuous tense to passive voice following pattern or formulas is used
object + was/were+being+3rd form of verb +by + subject
ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE |
He was doing sums | Sums were being done by him |
I was taking exercise | Exercise was being taken by me |
She was not speaking the truth | The truth was not being spoken by her |
They were not drinking milk | Milk was not being drunk by them |
Were you singing a song? | Was a song being sung by you? |
Who was abusing you? | By whom were you being abused? |