Active Voice - Passive Voice

What is Voice in Grammar?

Voice is the form of a verb that shows whether the SUBJECT of the sentence is DOING the action or RECEIVING the action.
There are two types of Voice:

1. Active Voice 
2. Passive Voice

What is Active Voice?

A sentence is in Active Voice when the subject does the action.
Structure:
Subject + Verb + Object
Virat + plays + cricket.

The subject (Virat) is doing the action.
The focus is on the subject (Virat)

What is Passive Voice?

A sentence is in Passive Voice when the subject receives the action.
Structure:
Object + Be-form (Helping verb) + Past Participle (V3) + by + Subject
Cricket is played by Virat.
The subject (Cricket) is receiving the action.
Focus is on the action (cricket)

Where Do We Use Active and Passive Voice?

• In daily communication
• To make sentences direct and clear
• In informal writing
• In storytelling or action-based writing
•  When the doer is unknown/unimportant
• To emphasize the action or receiver
• In scientific, formal or official writing
• In newspapers, reports, notices

Example:
The letter was posted yesterday. (Who posted it isn’t important)

What is the Rule for Changing Active Voice to Passive Voice?

To change a sentence from Active Voice to Passive Voice, follow these 3 golden rules:

Rule 1: The Object of the Active becomes the Subject of the Passive.

Active: She visits this site daily.
Passive: This site is visited by her daily..

Rule 2: Use the Correct Form of “Be” According to the Tense

Study the following forms:

Tense	Passive Voice Helping Verb (to be)
Simple Present	am / is / are + V3
Simple Past	was / were + V3
Simple Future	Will be + V3

Tense	Passive Voice Helping Verb (to be)
Present Continuous	am / is / are + being + V3
Past Continuous	was / were + being + V3
Future Continuous	(No Passive)

Tense	Passive Voice Helping Verb (to have)
Present Perfect	have / has + been + V3
Past Perfect	had + been + V3
Future Perfect	will have + been + V3

Tense	Passive Voice H. Verb (No Passive)
Present Perfect Continuous	(No Passive)
Past Perfect continuous	(No Passive)
Future Perfect continuous	(No Passive)

Passive voice is not used for;

1) Future Continuous

2) Present Perfect Continuous tense

3) Past Perfect Continuous tense and

4) Future Perfect Continuous tense.

It means there are 8 Passive Voice.

Rule 3: Always Use the 3rd Form (Past Participle) of the Main Verb (V3).

Examples:

Verb (V1)	Past Tense (V2)	Past Participle (V3)	Present Participle (V4)
ask	asked	asked	asking
write	write	written	writing
read	read	read	reading
cut	cut	cut	cutting
win	won	won	winning

How to Change a Sentence from Active to Passive Voice?

Step-by-Step Method:

Step 1: Identify Subject, Verb, and Object in the sentence.

Example 

Active: The chef cooks food.

Subject = The chef, Verb = cooks, Object = food

Step 2: Bring the Object to the Beginning

Passive: Food…..

Step 3: Change the Verb. There must be a Helping Verb after the subject as per its tense.

Use be-form according to the tense + V3 of the main verb

Tense: Simple Present

Verb: cook →Food is cooked…..

Step 4: Add "by". It is called agent 

Food is cooked by…..

Step 5: Subject becomes object after agent by

Passive: Food is cooked by the chef.

Food is cooked by the chef.

Structure with examples:

1) Simple Present
Active	S + V1 (s/es) + O  Virat plays cricket.
Passive	S + am/is/are + V3 + by + O Cricket is played by Virat.

2) Simple Past
Active	S + V2 + O Virat played cricket.
Passive	S + was/were + V3 + by + O Cricket was played by Virat.

 

3) Simple Future
Active	S + will + O Virat will play cricket.
Passive	S + will + be + V3+ by + O Cricket will be played by Virat.

 

4) Present Continuous
Active	S + am/is/are + V4 + O Virat is playing cricket.
Passive	S + am/is/are being + V3 + by+ O Cricket is being played by Virat.

 

5) Past Continuous
Active	S + was/were + v4 + O Virat was playing cricket.
Passive	S + was/were being + v3 + by+ O Cricket was being played by Virat.

 

6) Future Continuous
Active	S + will + be + v + O Virat will be playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form).

 

7) Present Perfect
Active	S + have/has + v3 + O Virat has played cricket.
Passive	S + have/has been + v3 + by + O Cricket has been played by Virat.

 

8) Past Perfect
Active	S + had + V3 + O Virat had played cricket.
Passive	s + had been + v3 + by + o Cricket had been played by Virat.

 

9) Future Perfect
Active	S + will have + v3 +o Virat will have played cricket.
Passive	S + will have been + v3 +by + o Cricket will have been played by Virat.

 

10) Present Perfect Continuous
Active	S + have/has been + v4 + o Virat has been playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form)

11) Past Perfect Continuous
Active	S + had been + v4 + o Virat had been playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form)

 

12) Future  Perfect Continuous
Active	S + will have been + v4 + o Virat will have been playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form)

Friends, now let's learn with detailed explanations for each sentence type, covering all 12 tenses, negatives, interrogatives, modals, and imperatives.

1) Assertive (Affirmative)

Structure: S + V + O

2) Negative Sentences:

Structure: S + H V + not + V + O

3) Interrogative Sentences:

Structure: (Verbal Question) H V + S + V + O?

(Wh..... Question) Wh... + H V + S + V + O?

Let's see all 3 types of the sentences in one table:

1) Simple Present
Active	Virat plays cricket. Virat does not play cricket. Does Virat play cricket? What does Virat play
Passive	Virat plays cricket. Virat does not play cricket. Does Virat play cricket? What does Virat play?

 

2) Simple Past
Active	Virat played cricket. Virat did not play cricket. Did Virat play cricket? What did Virat play?
Passive	Cricket was played by Virat. Cricket was not played by Virat. Was cricket played by Virat? What was played by Virat?

 

3) Simple Future
Active	Virat will play cricket. Virat will not play cricket. Will Virat play cricket? What will Virat play?
Passive	Cricket will be played by Virat. Cricket will be played by Virat. Will cricket be played by Virat? What will be played by Virat?

 

4) Present Continuous
Active	Virat is playing cricket. Virat is not playing cricket. Is Virat playing cricket? What is Virat playing?
Passive	Cricket is being played by Virat. Cricket is being played by Virat. Is cricket being played by Virat? What is being played by Virat?

 

5) Past Continuous
Active	Virat is playing cricket. Virat is not playing cricket. Is Virat playing cricket? What is Virat playing?Virat was playing cricket.
Passive	Cricket was being played by Virat. Cricket wasn’t being played by Virat. Was cricket being played by Virat? What was being played by Virat?

6) Future Continuous
Active	Virat will be playing cricket. Virat will not be playing cricket. Will Virat be playing cricket? What will Virat be playing?
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form).

 

7) Present Perfect
Active	Virat has played cricket. Virat has not played cricket. Has Virat played cricket? What has Virat played?
Passive	Cricket has been played by Virat. Cricket has not been played by Virat. Has cricket been played by Virat? What has been played by Virat?

 

8) Past Continuous
Active	Virat had played cricket. Virat had not played cricket. Had Virat played cricket? What had Virat played cricket?
Passive	Cricket had been played by Virat.  Cricket hadn’t been played by Virat.  Had cricket been played by Virat? What had been played by Virat.?

 

9) Future Continuous
Active	Virat will have played cricket. Virat will not have played cricket. Will Virat have played cricket? What will Virat have played?
Passive	Cricket will have been played by Virat. Cricket will not have been played by Virat. Will cricket have been played by Virat? What will have been played by Virat?

 

10) Present Perfect Continuous
Active	Virat will have been playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form)

 

11) Past Perfect Continuous
Active	Virat had been playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form)

 

12) Future  Perfect Continuous
Active	Virat will have been playing cricket.
Passive	Passive: ✖ (No passive form)

Note: What, When, Why, How etc. remain same.

Active: What did he say?
Passive: What was said by him?
Active: Who wrote this book?
Passive: By whom was this book written?
“Who” becomes “By whom” in passive

4. Imperative Sentences (Command, Request, Suggestion)

Rule for Passive:

Let + object + be + V3

Open the door.
Let the door be opened.

Complete your work.

Let the work be completed.

Follow the instructions.

Let the instructions be followed.

 5. Modals (Can, Should, Must, May, etc.)

Structure:

Modal + be + V3

She can drive a car

A car can be driven by her.

You must finish this work.

This work must be finished by you.

We should follow the rules. Rules should be followed by us.

CONCLUSION:

Sentence Type Rule to Remember:
Tense Use correct "be" verb + V3
Interrogative Change structure + help verb comes first
Negative: Add "not" after the helping verb
Imperative Use Let + object + be + V3
Modal Use modal + be + V3

Friends, if you have doubts, please contact us.