Samacheer Kalvi 9th English Grammar Active Voice, Passive Voice
Samacheer Kalvi 9th English Grammar Active Voice, Passive Voice
Tamilnadu Samacheer Kalvi 9th English Grammar Active Voice, Passive Voice
Read the following sentences and analyze the difference.
The team leader presented the report.
The report was presented by the team leader.
- In the first sentence, the verb shows that the subject is the doer of the action. Therefore, the sentence is in active voice.
- In the second sentence, the verb shows that the subject is not the doer of the action. Therefore, the sentence is in passive voice.
We use the Passive voice when –
- the focus is on the action rather than the doer of the action.
(e.g.), About 50 percent of the graduates are employed in IT-related sectors. - we do not know who the doer is.
(e.g.) My bike was stolen yesterday. - we talk of a system or a process.
(e.g.) The vegetables are washed well. Then, they are cut into cubes. - we write newspaper headlines and notices at public places, (‘be’ verb is omitted as the language has to be concise)
(e.g.) 20 sportsmen felicitated by PM. - we describe changes that have taken place.
(e.g.) Our school looks completely different. The whole place has been painted.
Look at the table below. It shows the changes in tense while changing sentences from active voice in to passive voice.
| Tense | Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Simple Present | He makes coffee. | Coffee is made by him. |
| Present Continuous | He is making coffee. | Coffee is being made by him. |
| Present Perfect | He has made coffee. | Coffee has been made by him. |
| Simple Past | He made coffee. | Coffee was made by him. |
| Past Continuous | He was making coffee. | Coffee was being made by him. |
| Past Perfect | He had made coffee. | Coffee had been made by him. |
| Simple Future | He will make coffee. | Coffee will be made by him. |
| Future Perfect | He will have made coffee. | Coffee will have been made by him. |
When using the active voice, the subjects are the ones performing the action.
God loves all men.
Birds build nests.
Dogs eats bones.
In these three sentences the subject does the action. Hence they are in the active voice. In the active voice, the verb takes an object.
All men are loved by God.
Nests are built by birds.
Bones are eaten by dogs.
Rules for changing Active Voice into Passive Voice:
- Identify the subject, the verb and the object: SVO.
- Change the object into subject.
- Put the suitable helping verb or auxiliary verb according to the tense given.
- Change the verb into past participle of the verb.
- Add the preposition “by”
- Change the subject into object.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Columbus discovered America. | America was discovered by Columbus. |
| Who did this work? | By whom was this work done? |
| Open the window. | Let the window be opened. |
| He is writing a letter. | A letter is being written by him. |
| I will finish the work. | The work will be finished by me. |
| Somebody cleaned the room yesterday. | The room was cleaned yesterday. |
How to form passive forms of verbs?
| Tense | Active | Passive |
| Present Tense | do, does | is done (Singular) are done (Plural) |
| Past Tense | did | was done (Singular) were done (Plural) |
| Future Tense | will / can / may / must → do | will / can etc. → be done |
| Present Continuous Tense | am doing is doing | is being done (Singular) are being done (Plural) |
| Past Continuous Tense | are doing was doing | was being done (Singular) were being done (Plural) |
| Future Continuous Tense | will be doing shall be doing | No Passive Voice |
| Present Perfect Tense | have done has done | have been done (Plural) has been done (Singular) |
| Past Perfect Tense | had done | had been done |
| Future Perfect Tense | shall have done will have done | will have been done |
| Present Perfect Continuous Tense | has been doing have been doing | No Passive Voice |
| Past Perfect Continuous Tense | had been doing | No Passive Voice |
| Future Perfect Continuous Tense | shall have been doing will have been doing | No Passive Voice |
Changes of Pronouns:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| I | me |
| we | us |
| you | you |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| it | it |
| they | them |
Type 1: Statements:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| I write a letter | A letter is written by me |
| We must keep the rule | The rule must be kept by us |
| You bought a book | A book was bought by you |
| He closed the window | The window was closed by him |
| She was writing letters | Letters were being written by her |
| I had posted a letter | A letter had been posted by me |
| I do not drink tea | Tea is not drunk by me |
| She does not eat a mango | A mango is not eaten by her |
| 1 Ie will have finished his work | The work will have been finished by him |
| They are digging a well | A well is being dug by them |
Type 2: Imperative Sentence :
If the given sentence in the active voice is in the imperative, to get the passive voice use ‘Let’.
Passive Voice = Let + Object + be + Past Participle
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Help me | You are requested to help me. |
| Sing a song | Let a song be sung |
| Open the door | Let the door be opened |
| Don’t eat this fruit | You are warned not to eat this fruit. |
- We can begin the passive sentence with ‘you’ if we want to put emphasis on the person addressed to.
Type 3 : Interrogative Questions in the Passive :
If the question in the Active Voice begins with a Helping verb, the Passive voice must also begin with a suitable helping verb. Supposing the question begins with ‘Wh or How’ form (what, when, how …) the Passive Voice must begin with the same.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Are you writing a letter? | Is a letter being written by you? |
| Is she beating the child? | Is the child being beaten by her? |
| Will you accept the position? | Will the position be accepted by you? |
| Who broke the window? | By whom was the window broken? |
| Why did you write such a letter? | Why was such a letter written by you? |
| Where can you hide this box? | Where can this box be hidden by you? |
If a sentence contains two objects namely Indirect Object and Direct Object in the Active Voice, two forms of Passive Voice can be formed.
- She brought me a cup of coffee. (AV)
I was brought a cup of coffee by her. (PV) (or)
A cup of coffee was brought to me by her. (PV) - The teacher teaches us grammar. (AV)
We are taught grammar by the teacher. (PV) (or)
Grammar is taught [to] us by the teacher. (PV)
Infinitive and Gerund :
- I want to shoot the tiger. (AV)
I want the tiger to be shot. (PV) - I remember my father taking me to the theatre. (AV)
I remember being taken to the theatre by my father. (PV)
Passive to Active form:
While changing Passive Voice into Active Voice, we must keep in mind all the rules of the Active Voice in the reverse order. We come across sentences in the Passive Voice without subject or agent. In this case, supply the appropriate subject.
Changing Passive Voice to Active Voice.
| Passive Voice | Active Voice |
| The thief was finally arrested. | The police finally arrested the thief. |
| We were taught grammar. | The teacher taught us grammar. |
| My purse has been stolen. | Somebody has stolen my purse. |
| The patients have looked after. | The doctor looked after the patients. |
- Last year, the Swach Bharat scheme was announced by the Government.
- Rare plants are found in Silent Valley.
In the first sentence, the doer/agent is explicitly mentioned because the doer is important in that sentence. But in the second sentence, it is not so, because either the agent or doer of the action is too obvious or unknown.
The passive construction is quite common in scientific/technical/ business writing. In these types of objective writing, the emphasis is usually on the action or process or thing that is described. So the ‘by’ phrase is generally omitted in these writings. It is called Impersonal Passive.
- They say that might is right.
It is said that might is right. - One finds mosquitoes everywhere.
Mosquitoes are found everywhere. - He gave us a cheque.
A cheque was given to us.
Exercises
(i) Choose the correct passive form for the following sentences in active voice.
1. I did not beat her.
(a) She is not beaten by me.
(b) She has not beaten by me.
(c) She was not beaten by me.
Answer:
(c) She was not beaten by me.
2. I will never forget this experience.
(a) This experience is not forgotten by me.
(b) This experience would never be forgotten by me.
(c) This experience will never be forgotten by me.
Answer:
(c) This experience will never be forgotten by me.
3. Mother made a cake yesterday.
(a) A cake made by mother yesterday.
(b) A cake is made by mother yesterday,
(c) A cake was made by mother yesterday.
Answer:
(c) A cake was made by mother yesterday.
4. The boy congratulated the girl.
(a) The girl was congratulated by the boy.
(b) The girl had congratulated by the boy.
(c) The girl congratulated the boy.
Answer:
(a) The girl was congratulated by the boy.
5. Did she do her duty?
(a) Was she done her duty?
(b) Was her duty done by her?
(c) Had her duty done by her?
Answer:
(b) Was her duty done by her?
6. The tiger was chasing the deer.
(a) The deer was chased by the tiger.
(b) The deer was being chased by the tiger,
(c) The deer had chased by the tiger.
Answer:
(b) The deer was being closed by the tiger
7. She has written a novel.
(a) A novel has written by her.
(b) A novel has been written by her.
(c) A novel had written by her.
Answer:
(b) A novel has been written by her.
8. She has learned her lessons.
(a) Her lessons has learned by her.
(b) Her lessons have been learned by her.
(c) Her lessons had been learned by her.
Answer:
(b) Her lessons have been learned by her.
9. Have you finished the report?
(a) Has the report finished by you?
(b) Has the report been finished by you?
(c) Had the report been finished by you?
Answer:
(b) Has the report been finished by you?
10. The police have caught the thief.
(a) The thief has been caught by the police.
(b) The thief was caught by the police.
(c) The thief had been caught by the police.
Answer:
(a) The thief has been caught b– police,
(ii) Rewrite the following sentences into active voice.
1. We are taught grammar by Mr. Harsha.
Answer:
Mr. Harsha teaches us grammar.
2. He was praised by the teacher.
Answer:
The teacher praised him.
3. The injured were taken to the hospital by the firemen.
Answer:
The firemen took the injured to the hospital.
4. The town was destroyed by an earthquake.
Answer:
An earthquake destroyed the town.
5. The teacher was pleased with the boy’s work.
Answer:
The boy’s work pleased the teacher.
6. The building was damaged by the fire.
Answer:
The fire damaged die building.
7. By whom were you taught Hindi?
Answer:
Who taught you Hindi? ,
8. You will be given a ticket by the manager.
Answer:
The manager will give you a ticket.
9. The streets were thronged with spectators.
Answer:
Spectators thronged the streets.
10. We will be blamed by everyone.
Answer:
Everyone will blame us.
11. The trees were blown down by the wind.
Answer:
The wind blew down the trees.
12. The thieves were caught by the police.
Answer:
The police caught the thieves.
13. The letter was posted by Alice.
Answer:
Alice posted the letter.
14. We were received by the hostess.
Answer:
The hostess received us.
15. The snake was killed with a stick.
Answer:
They / somebody killed the snake with a stick.
16. The minister was welcomed by the people.
Answer:
The people welcomed the minister.
17. He was found guilty of murder.
Answer:
They found him guilty of murder.
18. This house was built by Afsar.
Answer:
After wilting this house.
(iii) Rewrite the following sentences in the passive voice.
1. She is writing a poem.
Answer:
A poem is being written by her.
2. The team has won the series.
Answer:
The series has been won by the team.
3. Can you break the door?
Answer:
Can the door be broken by you?
4. Will she sing a song?
Answer:
Will a song be sung by her?
5. Is he speaking English?
Answer:
Is English being spoken by him?
6. Are you eating a banana?
Answer:
Is a banana being eaten by you?
7. Why are you washing the car?
Answer:
Why is the car being washed by you ?
8. When will he give the money?
Answer:
When will the money be given by him?
9. Where will he meet you?
Answer:
Where will you be met by him?
10. How do you make a cake?
Answer:
How is a cake made by you?
11. Who did you tell the story?
Answer:
To whom was the story told by you?
12. Lighting struck him.
Answer:
He was struck by lighting.
13. The language that he used quite shocked me.
Answer:
I was quite shocked by the language that he used.
14. We were both filled with horror by the sight of that event.
Answer:
The sight of the event filled both of us with horror.
15. I was much hurt by his voice and manner.
Answer:
His voice and manner hurt me much.
16. They were welcomed back by the city on their return.
Answer:
The city welcomed back them on their return.
17. He was punished by the master for speaking in the class. ‘
Answer:
The master punished him for speaking in class.
18. Many objections were raised by us to the plan that was proposed by him.
Answer:
He proposed many plans that we raised many objections.
19. Will he not be persuaded to work harder by a sense of duty?
Answer:
Will a sense of duty not persuade him to work?
20. I was called upon by the meeting to give my reasons.
Answer:
The meeting called upon me to give my reasons.
21. He was known by me by his voice when I was spoken to by him in the dark.
Answer:
I knew him by his voice when he spoke to me in the dark.
22. His return was not expected by us.
Answer:
He did not expect his return.
(iv) Complete these sentences with the verbs in brackets. Use the present simple passive.
I. E-mails _________ and received by most internet users. (send)
Answer:
are sent
2. Information about goods and services _________ (find)
Answer:
is found
3. Go&ls and services _________ in e-shops. (buy)
Answer:
are bought
4. Online newspapers and magazines _________ mostly by adult users. (read)
Answer:
are read
5. The internet _________ for social networking, especially by young people. (use)
Answer:
is used
6. relephone and video calls _________ (make)
Answer:
are made
7. Videos and films _________ (watch)
Answer:
are watched
8. Listening and music streaming activities _________ (cany out)
Answer:
are carried out
9. Hotel accommodation _________ by travellers. (search for)
Answer:
is searched for
10. Financial transactions through internet banking _________ (do)
Answer:
are done
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