Active and Passive Voice | What’s are the Rules, Examples and Uses

Active and passive voice

Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straight forward: the subject is a be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is acted upon by some other agent or by something unnamed (The new policy was approved).

A transitive verb has two voices_ 

1. The Active

2. The Passive

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

*A verb is said to be in the active voice when the person or thing denoted by the subject acts or is active.

Ex_

The king killed the lion

*A verb is said to be in the passive voice when the person or thing denoted by the subject doesn’t act, but suffers the action done by something or by someone.

Ex_

The lion was killed by the king.

* The passive voice is generally used when 1. We don’t know the doer of an action, or when 2. We are not interested in the doer or agent. It is used when the stress is laid upon the thing done rather than upon the doer of it.

Construction of passive voice:

Passive voice (Simple present and simple past)

* In the simple present tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

is/are+ the past participle

Ex_ 

The sky is covered with clouds.

The paper is torn.

Rice is grown in India.

All the streets are swept daily.

* In the simple past tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

Was/were+ the past participle

Ex_

Our school was built in 1947.

His pocket was picked.

His purse was stolen.

Passive voice (present continuous and past continuous)

* In the present continuous tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is :

am being/is being/are being+ past participle

Ex_

My house was being whitewashed these days.

Food is being cooked.

* In the past continuous tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

Was being/were being + the past participle

Ex_ 

He was being pushed along in a cart when I saw him.

Songs were being sung by the girls when I went into the hall.

Passive voice (present perfect)

*In the present perfect tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

has been/have been + the past participle

Ex_

My book has been stolen.

My house has been painted.

Nobody has been seen in the library this week.

Passive voice (past perfect)

*In the past perfect tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

had been + past participle

Ex_

He had already been taken to hospital before the police came.

All the food had been eaten before I reached there.

Passive voice (past future)

In the past future tense the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

would be/should be + the past participle

Ex_

He told me that the prize distribution would be held on Sunday.

They told me that I should not be needed any longer.

Passive voice (perfect conditional)

*In perfect conditional the construction of the sentence in the passive voice is:

would have been + the past participle

Ex_

The thief would have been caught if the police had been quicker.

Raju wouldn’t have been killed if he had not tried to cross the road.

Passive infinitive:

In the passive infinitive the construction is:

to be + the past participle

Ex_

She wants to be taken home.

He wished to be rewarded.

They didn’t like to be praised.