Active Passive Voice

Active / Passive Verb Forms

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

Active Form

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]

Examples :

Active voice

In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.

    These examples show that the subject is  doing the verb's action.

            

Because the subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.

Passive Form

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]

Examples:

Passive voice

One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - orpassive.

    Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.

            

Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice.

To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:

    1.  Move  the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject  slot

             

    2. Place the active sentence's subject into a  phrase beginning with the preposition by

              

    3.  Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the  main verb's form

              

Because passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver of action direction, they may make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.

As the examples below illustrate, a sentence in  active voice  flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in  passive voice.

             

            

It is generally preferable to use the ACTIVE voice.

To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above.

    1.  Move  the passive sentence's subject into the active  sentence's  direct object slot

             

    2.  Remove  the auxiliary verb be from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed

            

    3. Place the passive sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.

           

Because it is more direct, most writers prefer to use the active voice whenever possible.

The passive voice may be a better choice, however, when

the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or unneeded in the sentence

             Examples

             

the writer wishes to emphasize the action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action

            Examples

               

the writer wishes to use passive voice for sentence variety.

Active / Passive Overview

Tense	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being preparedby Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future will	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Simple Future be going to	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous will	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Continuous be going to	At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washedby John.
Future Perfect will	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect be going to	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous will	The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Future Perfect Continuous be going to	The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would Always	My mother would always make the pies.	The pies would always be made by my mother.
Future in the Past Would	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past Was Going to	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

Sentences in Active and Passive Voice

Here are examples of sentences written in both the active voice and the passive voice, with the active voice sentence appearing first:

Harry ate six shrimp at dinner. (active)
At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry. (passive)

Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah. (active)
The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes. (passive)

Sue changed the flat tire. (active)
The flat tire was changed by Sue. (passive)

We are going to watch a movie tonight. (active)
A movie is going to be watched by us tonight. (passive)

I ran the obstacle course in record time. (active)
The obstacle course was run by me in record time. (passive)

The crew paved the entire stretch of highway. (active)
The entire stretch of highway was paved by the crew. (passive)

Mom read the novel in one day. (active)
The novel was read by Mom in one day. (passive)

The critic wrote a scathing review. (active)
A scathing review was written by the critic. (passive)

I will clean the house every Saturday. (active)
The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday. (passive)

The staff is required to watch a safety video every year. (active)
A safety video will be watched by the staff every year. (passive)

She faxed her application for a new job. (active)
The application for a new job was faxed by her. (passive)

Tom painted the entire house. (active)
The entire house was painted by Tom. (passive)

The teacher always answers the students’ questions. (active)
The students’ questions are always answered by the teacher. (passive)

The choir really enjoys that piece. (active)
That piece is really enjoyed by the choir. (passive)

Who taught you to ski? (active)
By whom were you taught to ski? (passive)

The forest fire destroyed the whole suburb. (active)
The whole suburb was destroyed by the forest fire. (passive)

The two kings are signing the treaty. (active)
The treaty is being signed by the two kings. (passive)

The cleaning crew vacuums and dusts the office every night. (active)
Every night the office is vacuumed and dusted by the cleaning crew. (passive)

Larry generously donated money to the homeless shelter. (active)
Money was generously donated to the homeless shelter by Larry. (passive)

No one responded to my sales ad. (active)
My sales ad was not responded to by anyone. (passive)

The wedding planner is making all the reservations. (active)
All the reservations will be made by the wedding planner. (passive)

Susan will bake two dozen cupcakes for the bake sale. (active)
For the bake sale, two dozen cookies will be baked by Susan. (passive)

The science class viewed the comet. (active)
The comet was viewed by the science class. (passive)

Who ate the last cookie? (active)
The last cookie was eaten by whom? (passive)

Alex posted the video on Facebook. (active)
The video was posted on Facebook by Alex. (passive)

The director will give you instructions. (active)
Instructions will be given to you by the director. (passive)

Thousands of tourists view the Grand Canyon every year. (active)
The Grand Canyon is viewed by thousands of tourists every year. (passive)

The homeowners remodeled the house to help it sell. (active)
The house was remodeled by the homeowners to help it sell. (passive)

The team will celebrate their victory tomorrow. (active)
The victory will be celebrated by the team tomorrow. (passive)

The saltwater eventually corroded the metal beams. (active)
The metal beams were eventually corroded by the saltwater. (passive)

The kangaroo carried her baby in her pouch. (active)
The baby was carried by the kangaroo in her pouch. (passive)

Some people raise sugar cane in Hawaii. (active)
Sugar cane is raised by some people in Hawaii. (passive)