Change of Voice

Change of Voice

The change of voice is a crucial topic of English grammar. There are two types of voices, active and passive voices. The voice of a verb can be changed from active to passive or from passive to active. The verbs in the sentences get changed as the subject changes after their conversion from active to passive voice or vice-versa. The action and the position of the subject also get changed. 

Active Voice 

In grammar, any particular sentence having the verb in an active voice shows the subject acting upon the verb present in the sentence. The object in these sentences is direct. It is the most suitable way to write down a sentence. In an active voice, the subject in the sentence does the action. The tone of these sentences is perfect and precise. The change of voice will then take place from active to passive. These are direct sentences.

Let us consider an example – The police chased the robbers. 

In this sentence, police are the subject, chased is the verb, and robbers are the predicate. The subject (police) is acting upon the verb. The main focus is on the subject, that is, the police. 

Passive Voice 

In the passive voice, the sentence’s verb acts upon the subject of the sentence. Unless used correctly, this form of voice seems weak. The change of voice then takes place from passive to active, and it is mostly accompanied by ‘by’. Here, the conjugated form of the verb ‘to be’ is used. Sometimes, it gets complicated to convert these sentences because it also requires the addition of a preposition. 

Let us consider the example given below – The robbers were chased by the police. 

In this sentence, the places of the object and subject have been replaced. The main focus of the sentence has shifted from the police to the robbers in a passive voice. There is an addition of the preposition ‘by’. Hence, the verb in the sentence acts upon the subject. 

When the doer of the action or the subject is not present in a situation, then a grammatical subject can be included like ‘someone, somebody, him, her’. 

Example – Somebody cleaned the floor. 

Active, Passive Voice rules

To change the voice of the sentence, certain rules need to be followed and kept in mind. The rules for the active, passive voices are given below – 

Present Simple Tense

In active voice – subject+verb+object, subject.

In passive voice – object+(is/am/are)+verb+preposition+subject.

Present Continuous Tense

In active voice – subject+(is/am/are)+ing for of the verb+object

In passive voice – object+(is/am/are)+being+verb+preposition+subject

Present Perfect Tense

In active voice – subject+(has/have)+verb+object

In passive voice – object+(has/have)+been+verb+preposition+subject

Past Simple Tense

In active voice – subject+verb+object

In passive voice – object+(was/were)+verb+preposition+subject

Past Continuous Tense

In active voice – subject+(was/were)+ing form of the verb+object

In passive voice – object+(was/were)+being+preposition+subject

Past Perfect Tense

In active voice – subject+(had)+verb+object

In passive voice – object+(had)+been+verb+preposition+subject

Future Simple Tense

In active voice – subject+(will)+verb+object

In passive voice – object+(will)+be+verb+preposition+subject

Future Perfect Tense

In active voice – subject+(will)+(have)+verb+object

In passive voice – object+(will)+(have)+been+verb+preposition+subject

Conclusion 

The change of voices includes two types of voices- Active and Passive voices. In an active voice, the subject present in the sentence acts upon the verb. In a passive voice, the subject goes through the action of the verb. The position of the subject gets changed in the two forms. When the doer of the action or the subject is not present in a situation, then a grammatical subject can be included like ‘someone, somebody, him, her’. The subject comes first in active sentences, followed by the object. In passive sentences, the object of the active sentences becomes the subject.