Passive Voice

In English Grammar, voice is used to express thoughts. Voice is divided into two main categories, Active Voice and Passive Voice, based on the emphasis on the object or subject. Passive voice is an indirect form, and Active voice is a direct form.

The passive voice is used to express interest in the person or item affected by the activity rather than the person or object conducting it. Put another way, the essential item or person becomes the sentence’s topic.

What is Passive Voice?

• Passive voice is used when the subject is acted upon.
• Passive voice is used when the activity practitioner is unknown, and the sentence’s focus point is on the activity rather than the subject.
• The structure of active voice is mostly: Object of the active voice + Helping verb+ Subject of the active voice.
• The doer is passive, and the Object performs the action expressed by the Verb.
• Some passive voice examples are: 

An instrument is being played by Neeta.

This villa was built by my father. 

Rules for Changing Passive Voice:

To switch from passive to active voice in a sentence, follow these steps:

• Rule number 1- The ‘X’ Rule X means interchanging, i.e., the subject becomes the object, and the object                    becomes the subject.

Example :

Active Voice: Ram holds the book.

Passive Voice: The book is held by Ram.

• Rule number 2: Helping Verbs

Now, whenever we use passive voice, it contains a few extra verbs like helping verbs

(is, was, were, are also called Auxiliary Verbs because they don’t stand up on their own)

Example :

Active voice: The stars lit up the sky.

Passive Voice: The sky was lit by the stars.

• Rule number 3: The BY-stander

So far, we have understood that this neutral person speaks the passive voice, a bystander standing on the side watching the action reporting it to a newspaper, and the word bystander has the word by in it.

99% of the sentences in passive voice contain the word by in it.

Example :

Active voice -The teacher teaches the class.

Passive voice – The class is taught by the teacher.

Various tenses and Passive voice:

Present tense:

• Present indefinite: The structure of passive voice in case of present indefinite tense is: Subject + is/am/are +Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example: The milk is drunk by me. 

• Present Continuous: The structure of passive voice in the present continuous tense is: Subject + is/am/are + being + Verb (3rd form) + by + object. Example:

Some trees are being planted by the workers. 

• Present Perfect: The structure of passive voice in the case of the present perfect tense is: Subject + has/have + been + Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example: 

My muffin has been eaten by Rafiq. 

Past tense:

• Past indefinite: The structure of passive voice in case of the past tense is: Subject + was/were + Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example: 

The road was closed for a day.

• Past Continuous: The structure of passive voice in case of past continuous is: Subject + was/were + Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example: 

His dogs were not being fed.

• Past Perfect: The structure of passive voice in the case of Past Perfect is: Subject + had + been + Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example:

The fire had been put out before the fire brigade arrived.

Future tense:

• Future indefinite: The structure of passive voice in case of future indefinite is: Subject + shall/will + be + Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example:

You will be fined for littering.

• Future Perfect: The structure of passive voice in case of future perfect is: Subject + shall/will + have been + Verb (3rd form) + by + Object. Example:

Dinner will have been served.

Passive Voice Exercises:

Following are a few exercises in the active and passive voice which will further make it easy to use or transform them:

Sara plays cricket. – Active

Cricket is played by Sara. – Passive.

I have made some Tea. – Active

Some tea has been made by me. – Passive. 

She was writing a story. – Active

A story was being written by her. – Passive.

Will the postman deliver the letters?- Active

Will the the letters be delivered by the postman? – Passive.

Someone has stolen my pen.- Active.

My pen has been stolen. – Passive.

Children like chocolates. – Active

Chocolates are liked by children. – Passive.

Conclusion:

Active and passive voices are essential to the English language. ACtive voice indicates the direct action of a subject whereas the passive voice indicates when the subject is acted upon.In order to make communication more interactive, we all should know how to transform from one voice to the other. Keeping in mind the rules is a must so that we don’t make blunders while speaking or writing. To avoid repetition and improve the clarity of a sentence, one must practice these exercises frequently.