Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Passive: Is football played by the children? (NOT Do football played by the children?)
Active: Did Alice invite you?
Passive: Were you invited by Alice? (NOT Did you invited by Alice?)
Note:
As you may have noticed, the auxiliaries do, does and did are not used in the passive.
Notes: The auxiliaries has, have and had are used in the passive, but they change their form
according to the number and person of the passive subject.
Note:
The auxiliaries can, may, will and shall do not change their beginning position when active
voice is changed into the passive voice.
Note:
Who changes to by whom in the passive; (by) whom changes to who in the passive.
Notes:
The question words when, where, why, how and what do not change their beginning position
when the sentence is changed from the active to the passive.
For example,
For changing these sentences in to passive voice, auxiliary verb be is used. The word Let is
added before sentence in passive voice. Auxiliary verb be is added after object in sentence in
passive voice. Main verb (base form) of imperative sentence is changed to 3rd form of verb (past
participle) in passive voice. For best understand read the following examples.
Examples
The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
Auxiliary verbs for each tense are given below in the table.
The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
To change sentences having present/future modal into passive voice, auxiliary verb be
is added after modal in sentence.
The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
To change sentences having past modal into passive voice, auxiliary verb been is added
after modal in sentence.
Notes
The verbs do, does or did does not appear in the passive form.
The verbs has, have, had, will, shall, can, may etc., do not change their beginning position
when the active voice is changed to the passive voice.
The question words when, where, why, how or what does not change their beginning position
when active voice is changed to the passive voice. Note that who is changed into by whom and
whom into who.
What did he say? (Active Voice)
What was said by him? (Passive Voice)
Whom did you invite? (Active Voice)
Who was invited by you? (Passive Voice)
When the active voice is in the negative, the passive voice takes the following form:
Sometimes we want to begin the sentence with you so that the emphasis is on the person
addressed. In such cases, the passive voice takes the following form:
The passive form has to begin with you, when the object of the verb in the active voice is not
given.