ACTIVE or PASSIVE

VOICE

Modified and adapted by Ma.

Carolina Abella

ACTIVE VOICE
'Voice' refers to the relationship between the subject and the verb
in a sentence. A sentence is said to be in the active voice if the
subject performs the action of the verb.

PASSIVE VOICE
A sentence is said to be in the passive voice if the subject receives the action of
the verb.

PASSIVE VOICE

Active

Passive

Time
Reference

They make Fords in

Cologne.

Fords are made in Cologne.

Simple Present

Susan is cooking dinner.

Dinner is being cooked by Susan

Present
continuous

James Joyce wrote the

book "Dubliners".

The book "Dubliners" was

written by James Joyce.

Simple Past

They were painting the

house when I arrived.

The house was being painted

when I arrived.

Past
continuous

They have produced 20

models in the past two
years.

20 models have been produced

in the past two years.

Present perfect

They are going to build A new factory is going to be built Future with
a new factory in Portland. in Portland.
going to
The company had
designed the cars.

The cars had been designed.

Past perfect

They will have finished

the project by 2 p.m.
tomorrow.

The project will have been

finished by 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Future perfect

Use passive instead of active:

If the agent is unknown.
Denises computer was stolen from her office.

If the agent is not the focus.

The new library was finished about a year ago.

If the agent is obvious from context.

I had an accident yesterday. This other car went through a
red light and hit me. My car was completely destroyed.

To focus on receiver.
Did you hear the news? Matt was injured slightly in the
earthquake, but Jeff was O.K.

Include the agent if:

The information about the agent is too

important to omit.
Radioactivity was discovered by Marie Curie in 1903.

The agent is surprising or unexpected.

That picture was painted by a monkey.

PASSIVE VOICE EXAMPLES

PRESENT: IS, ARE

PAST: WAS, WERE

If you want to change an active voice into a passive-voice sentence :

1- Find the object.
2- Make that object the subject of the sentence.
3. Make the subject the agent if it is necessary.
3- Change the verb accordingly.

If you want to change a passive-voice sentence into active voice:

1- Find the agent in a "by..." phrase, or consider carefully who or what is
performing the action expressed in the verb.
2- Make that agent the subject of the sentence.
3- Change the verb accordingly.

Special cases: Verbs with no passive forms and

other verbs with no active forms
Some verbs dont have passive form because they do not take direct
objects. This category includes verbs such as:
Occur
Seem
Disappear

happen
look
appear

take place
emerge
resemble

appear
vanish
consist of

Few changes have occurred at Stonehenge over the years.

The discovery of Nazca Lines happened in the 1930s.

BUT

Jeff was born in Kansas.

LETS PRACTICE
Turn the following sentences into passive.
1. Somebody will wake you at seven o'clock.
2. Stella has made a moving speech.
3. Sometimes, one wears a top hat at a wedding.
4. They are considering the perfect plan.
5. They all expected the Prime Minister at three o'clock.
6. Nobody reads my poems nowadays. (negative verb)
7. Some people believed Shakespeare didnt exist.
8. The doctor asked Mary many questions.
9. The Minister granted me an interview.
10. Jane won the poetry competition.

Answers
1. You

will be woken at seven o'clock.

2. A moving speech has been made by Stella .

3. Sometimes, a top hat is worn at a wedding .
4. The perfect plan is being considered.
5. The Prime Minister was expected at three o'clock.
6. My poems are not read nowadays. (negative verb)
7. Shakespeare didnt exist was believed by some people.
8. Mary was asked many questions by the doctor.
9. I was granted an interview by the Minister .
10. The poetry competition was won by Jane.