Unit 5: Active Passive Voice - Subjective Questions

Active voice is a sentence structure in which the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.

• Structure: Subject + Verb + Object
• Example 1: The teacher explains the lesson.
• Example 2: Riya wrote a letter.

Passive voice is a sentence structure in which the subject receives the action. The performer may be introduced using by.

• Structure: Object + appropriate form of be + past participle + by + subject
• Example 1: The lesson is explained by the teacher.
• Example 2: A letter was written by Riya.

Thus, active voice emphasizes the doer, whereas passive voice emphasizes the receiver or result of the action.

The following rules are used to change active voice into passive voice:

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. The main verb is changed into its past participle form.
3. A suitable form of the auxiliary verb be is added according to the tense.
4. The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent in the passive sentence and is usually introduced by by.
5. Subject and object pronouns are changed appropriately, such as he → him, they → them, and I → me.
6. The tense and meaning of the original sentence must remain unchanged.
7. The agent may be omitted if it is unknown, obvious, or unimportant.

Example:

• Active: The mechanic repaired the car.
• Passive: The car was repaired by the mechanic.

Active and passive voice differ in the following ways:

• Structure: Active voice generally follows Subject + Verb + Object, while passive voice follows Object + form of be + past participle + optional agent.
• Emphasis: Active voice emphasizes the person or thing performing the action. Passive voice emphasizes the receiver, process, or result.
• Clarity: Active voice is usually clearer, shorter, and more direct. Passive voice can sound less direct or more formal.
• Agent: The doer is essential in active voice but may be omitted in passive voice.
• Usage: Active voice is common in everyday and persuasive communication. Passive voice is common in scientific, official, academic, and process-oriented writing.

Example:

• Active: The committee approved the proposal.
• Passive: The proposal was approved by the committee.

1. Simple present tense

• Passive form: am/is/are + past participle
• Active: The clerk checks the documents.
• Passive: The documents are checked by the clerk.

2. Simple past tense

• Passive form: was/were + past participle
• Active: The police arrested the suspect.
• Passive: The suspect was arrested by the police.

3. Simple future tense

• Passive form: will be + past participle
• Active: The company will announce the results.
• Passive: The results will be announced by the company.

In every case, the original object becomes the passive subject, and the tense is preserved through the appropriate form of be.

Continuous tenses use being before the past participle in passive voice.

Present continuous:

• Active structure: Subject + am/is/are + verb-ing + object
• Passive structure: Object + am/is/are + being + past participle + by + subject
• Active: The workers are repairing the road.
• Passive: The road is being repaired by the workers.

Past continuous:

• Active structure: Subject + was/were + verb-ing + object
• Passive structure: Object + was/were + being + past participle + by + subject
• Active: The chef was preparing the meal.
• Passive: The meal was being prepared by the chef.

The auxiliary verb agrees with the new passive subject, while being + past participle indicates an action in progress.

Perfect tenses use been + past participle in passive voice.

Present perfect:

• Passive form: has/have been + past participle
• Active: They have completed the project.
• Passive: The project has been completed by them.

Past perfect:

• Passive form: had been + past participle
• Active: The team had submitted the report.
• Passive: The report had been submitted by the team.

Future perfect:

• Passive form: will have been + past participle
• Active: The engineers will have finished the bridge by June.
• Passive: The bridge will have been finished by the engineers by June.

The perfect aspect remains unchanged through has/have/had/will have, and been is added before the past participle.

When active voice is converted into passive voice, pronouns may change between their subject and object forms.

• I ↔ me
• we ↔ us
• he ↔ him
• she ↔ her
• they ↔ them
• you ↔ you
• it ↔ it
• who ↔ whom

Examples:

• Active: She helped me.

• Passive: I was helped by her.

• Active: They invited us.

• Passive: We were invited by them.

• Active: He praised her.

• Passive: She was praised by him.

The pronoun that becomes the passive subject must take the subject form, while the pronoun placed after by must take the object form.

A transitive verb takes an object. Since the object of an active sentence becomes the subject of a passive sentence, an object is normally necessary for passive construction.

Transitive example:

• Active: The child broke the window.
• Passive: The window was broken by the child.

Here, the window is the object and can become the passive subject.

An intransitive verb does not take an object. Therefore, there is no object that can become the passive subject.

Intransitive examples:

• The baby slept.
• The guests arrived.
• He laughed.

These sentences cannot normally be changed into passive voice. Thus, verbs such as write, build, praise, complete, and repair can form passives when used transitively, whereas verbs such as sleep, arrive, die, and occur generally cannot.

In a passive sentence, the performer of the action is called the agent and may be introduced using by.

The agent should be included when:

• Its identity provides important information.
• The performer is unexpected or noteworthy.
• The sentence would otherwise be incomplete or misleading.

Example: Hamlet was written by William Shakespeare.

The agent may be omitted when:

• It is unknown: My bicycle was stolen.
• It is obvious: The thief was arrested.
• It is unimportant: The streets are cleaned every morning.
• The writer wants to emphasize the action or result: The experiment was completed successfully.
• The writer wants to avoid directly assigning blame: Several mistakes were made.

Therefore, by + agent is optional in many passive constructions and should be used only when the doer is relevant.

Imperative sentences express commands, requests, or instructions. Their passive form commonly uses let + object + be + past participle.

Positive command:

• Active: Open the door.
• Passive: Let the door be opened.

Negative command:

• Active: Do not touch the switch.
• Passive: Let the switch not be touched.

Polite request:

• Active: Please complete the form.
• Passive: You are requested to complete the form.

Instructional passive:

• Active: Keep the room clean.
• Passive: The room should be kept clean.

Although forms beginning with let are grammatically possible, expressions such as should be or you are requested to often sound more natural in formal communication.

To convert an interrogative sentence into passive voice, the passive auxiliary is placed before the new subject, while the tense and question form are preserved.

Yes/no question:

• Active: Did the manager approve the request?
• Passive: Was the request approved by the manager?

Question with a modal:

• Active: Can the team solve the problem?
• Passive: Can the problem be solved by the team?

Wh-question about the object:

• Active: Why did they cancel the meeting?
• Passive: Why was the meeting cancelled by them?

Question beginning with who:

• Active: Who wrote this report?
• Passive: By whom was this report written?

The passive question must retain the original meaning and appropriate interrogative word order.

With most modal auxiliaries, passive voice follows this pattern:

modal + be + past participle

Examples:

• Active: They can solve the issue.

• Passive: The issue can be solved by them.

• Active: You must follow the instructions.

• Passive: The instructions must be followed.

• Active: We should protect the environment.

• Passive: The environment should be protected.

• Active: The committee may postpone the event.

• Passive: The event may be postponed by the committee.

With ought to, the form is ought to be + past participle:

• Active: People ought to respect the law.
• Passive: The law ought to be respected.

The modal remains unchanged, and be + past participle creates the passive form.

Some verbs, such as give, send, offer, teach, tell, and show, may take an indirect object and a direct object. Either object may become the subject of a passive sentence.

Active sentence: The teacher taught the students grammar.

Passive with the indirect object as subject:

• The students were taught grammar by the teacher.

Passive with the direct object as subject:

• Grammar was taught to the students by the teacher.

Another example:

• Active: She gave me a gift.
• Passive 1: I was given a gift by her.
• Passive 2: A gift was given to me by her.

When the direct object becomes the passive subject, a suitable preposition such as to or for may be needed before the indirect object.

In sentences containing phrasal or prepositional verbs, the particle or preposition must remain with the verb because it forms part of the verb's meaning.

Examples:

• Active: The nurse looked after the patient.

• Passive: The patient was looked after by the nurse.

• Active: Everyone laughed at the speaker.

• Passive: The speaker was laughed at by everyone.

• Active: They called off the match.

• Passive: The match was called off.

• Active: The committee dealt with the complaint.

• Passive: The complaint was dealt with by the committee.

Removing the particle or preposition would either change the meaning or make the sentence ungrammatical. For example, look after means take care of, while look alone has a different meaning.

Passive voice is frequently used in scientific, technical, and academic writing because it emphasizes the procedure, evidence, object, or result rather than the researcher.

Example: The solution was heated to 80°C.

Advantages:

• It focuses attention on the experiment or process.
• It creates an impersonal and formal tone.
• It is useful when the performer is obvious or unimportant.
• It supports objective descriptions of methods and results.
• It allows information to be organized around the topic under discussion.

Limitations:

• Excessive passive voice can make writing wordy or difficult to follow.
• It may hide responsibility for an action.
• It can weaken direct statements.
• It may produce vague sentences if the agent is important but omitted.

Therefore, passive voice should be used selectively, while active voice should be preferred when clarity and responsibility are important.

Formal communication: Passive voice is often used to create an impersonal or official tone, as in: The application has been approved.

News reports: Both voices are used. Active voice identifies responsibility, while passive voice emphasizes an event or is used when the agent is unknown.

• Active: The police arrested three suspects.
• Passive: Three suspects were arrested.

Notices and instructions: Passive forms are common because the required action is more important than the performer.

• Mobile phones must be switched off.

Everyday conversation: Active voice is generally more natural, direct, and concise.

• I sent the email.

In summary, active voice suits clear and direct communication, while passive voice suits formal, impersonal, result-focused, or agentless communication.

Reporting verbs can form passive sentences in two common ways.

1. Introductory passive with a that-clause:

• Active: People believe that the building is unsafe.
• Passive: It is believed that the building is unsafe.

2. Personal passive with an infinitive:

• Passive: The building is believed to be unsafe.

Further examples:

• Active: People say that she is an excellent doctor.

• Passive: It is said that she is an excellent doctor.

• Passive: She is said to be an excellent doctor.

• Active: Experts expect that prices will rise.

• Passive: It is expected that prices will rise.

• Passive: Prices are expected to rise.

These constructions are common in news reports and formal writing because they present information without naming a specific source.

Passive voice is less effective in the following situations:

• When responsibility must be clear: Instead of The wrong data were entered, write The operator entered the wrong data.
• When instructions should be direct: Submit the form today is stronger than The form should be submitted today.
• When the passive makes a sentence unnecessarily long: The team completed the task is shorter than The task was completed by the team.
• When persuasive force is needed: Active voice sounds more confident and energetic.
• When repeated passive structures make writing dull: Excessive use can reduce readability.
• When the agent is the most important information: The sentence should normally begin with that agent.

Passive voice is not incorrect in these cases, but active voice often improves clarity, concision, accountability, and impact.

(a) Simple present

• Passive: Electric vehicles are manufactured by the company.
• Rule: Use am/is/are + past participle.

(b) Present continuous

• Passive: New machines are being installed by the workers.
• Rule: Use am/is/are + being + past participle.

(c) Present perfect

• Passive: The policy has been approved by the board.
• Rule: Use has/have been + past participle.

(d) Simple future

• Passive: The decision will be announced by the manager.
• Rule: Use will be + past participle.

(e) Modal auxiliary

• Passive: The rules must be obeyed.
• Rule: Use modal + be + past participle.

In each sentence, the active object becomes the passive subject, and the original tense or modality is preserved.

(a) Anita prepared the report.

• Emphasis shifts from the report to Anita, the performer.

(b) The municipal workers are repairing the road.

• The active form directly identifies who is carrying out the ongoing action.

(c) The secretary has sent the invitations.

• The active form makes responsibility clearer and more concise.

(d) The university will declare the results.

• The active form emphasizes the institution responsible for the future action.

(e) All employees must follow the safety rules.

• The active form gives a more direct instruction and clearly assigns responsibility.

To form the active voice, the passive agent becomes the subject, the passive subject becomes the object, and the verb is changed from be + past participle to the appropriate active tense.