Active and Passive Voice: Rules, Examples & Exercise

Speaking good English is essential to your education and career, so now the question is How to learn spoken English? It is pretty simple, you need to focus on your basics like tenses, subject-verb agreement, active and passive voice and a few grammar rules. This blog covers the basics of active and passive voice which is an integral part of English grammar along with examples. There are active and passive voice exercises to brush up on your skills!

Active voice puts the doer of the action first, making sentences direct and punchy. It’s like a spotlight on the performer: “Sarah painted the masterpiece.” Passive voice flips the spotlight, hiding the doer and emphasizing the action or the receiver: “The masterpiece was painted by Sarah.” While passive voice can sound formal or cloak responsibility, it often makes sentences long and indirect. Generally, active voice is clearer and more engaging, though both voices have their place in storytelling and crafting nuanced meaning. Remember, choose the voice that best serves your purpose!

What is a ‘Voice’?

The term ‘voice’ is used to denote the form of the verb which shows the subject in a given sentence is either the doer or receiver of the action. It also describes the relationship between the action as well as the participants (which could be the subject or the object) in a sentence.

Two Types of Voices

There are two types of voices in the English language which are as follows:

• Active Voice

• Passive Voice

Let us have a look into the two types of voices which have been mentioned above in detail.

What is Active and Passive Voice?

When we talk about English grammar, verbs have five different properties – mood, tense, person and voice, and here, we will be covering the voice. The two grammatical voices are – active and passive voices. We generally prefer using an active voice in sentences.

Active Voice with Example

When we are using active voice in a sentence, there is a subject that is acting upon the verb. In simpler terms, the subject is acting as an active voice. This is the definition of active voice. Sentences which are in the active voice are direct and very clear.

Let us take some examples to understand it better –

1. The dog chased the cat.
2. The employee stocked the items.
3. Dogs adore babies.

All three sentences have a very basic voice structure – subject, verb and object.

If we look at the first one, then the subject dog is performing the action described by the verb chased on the object cat. Similarly, in the second and third sentences, the subjects – employees and dogs are performing the actions as described by the verbs – stocked and adored on the objects – items and babies respectively.

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Passive Voice with Example

On the other hand, when the verb acts on the subject, a sentence is in the passive voice. The passive voice is often built with a combined form of ‘to be’ plus the past participle of the verb. Doing this often typically introduces a preposition. That sounds much more complex than it is it is very easy to detect a passive voice. Passive voice is subtler and weaker as compared to active voice. You should use passive voice when you wish to highlight the object.

Let us take a look at a few examples –

The cat was chased by the dog.
The items were stocked by the employee.
Babies are adored by dogs.

If we look closely, the sentence structure has been reversed, in the active voice, the structure was – subject+verb+object, however, in the case of the passive voice it is – object+verb+subject.

Another thing to notice is the change in the verb, in the passive voice, it is in the form – a form of ‘to be + past participle of the verb. Lastly, there is the addition of a preposition, in the above three cases – ‘by’.

What are the Rules for Changing Active Voice to Passive Voice?

It is very easy to change an active voice to a passive voice, you just need to follow the following rules :

• Firstly, you have to change the structure, so the object in the active voice becomes the subject in the passive voice.
• Secondly, you have to use the verb ‘to be in the same tense as the main verb in the active voice.
• Lastly, you have to use the past participle of the main verb.

Active to Passive Voice Examples

To get a better understanding of the above information, here are a few active and passive voice examples-

Active: People drink champagne on New Year’s Eve.
Passive: Champagne is drunk on New Year’s Eve.

Active: They renovated the restaurant in 2010.
Passive: The restaurant was renovated in 2010.

Active: Surya painted the wall yesterday.
Passive: The wall was painted yesterday.

Also Read: Tenses Rules: Charts, Examples, Types [PDF Available]

What are the Rules for Changing Passive Voice to Active Voice?

Understanding the rules for converting between active and passive voice is essential for mastering sentence construction. Active voice emphasizes the subject as the doer of the action, while passive voice shifts the focus to the action or the receiver of the action. The structure of a sentence changes significantly when switching between these two voices. Here’s a table summarizing the Conversion Rules for Active Voice and Passive Voice:

Tense	Active Voice Example	Passive Voice Example	Conversion Rule
Present Simple	She writes a letter.	A letter is written by her.	Use am/is/are + past participle.
Present Continuous	She is writing a letter.	A letter is being written by her.	Use am/is/are + being + past participle.
Present Perfect	She has written a letter.	A letter has been written by her.	Use has/have + been + past participle.
Past Simple	She wrote a letter.	A letter was written by her.	Use was/were + past participle.
Past Continuous	She was writing a letter.	A letter was being written by her.	Use was/were + being + past participle.
Past Perfect	She had written a letter.	A letter had been written by her.	Use had + been + past participle.
Future Simple	She will write a letter.	A letter will be written by her.	Use will + be + past participle.
Future Perfect	She will have written a letter.	A letter will have been written.	Use will + have + been + past participle.
Modals (can, should)	She can write a letter.	A letter can be written by her.	Use modal verb + be + past participle.
Imperatives	Write the letter.	Let the letter be written.	Use Let + object + be + past participle for commands.

This table simplifies the key rules for converting active to passive voice across various tenses and sentence forms.

Follow the following points to change the passive voice in a sentence to the active voice:

1. First of all, you will have to find the agent in ‘by the’ or who or what is acting.
2. Once you have identified who is acting, make that agent the subject of the sentence.
3. You will then have to change the verb accordingly.

Passive to Active Voice Examples

For the practical usage of the above information, here are a few active and passive voice examples-

Passive: The book is being read by the class.
Active: The class is reading the book.

Passive: Results will be published in the next issue of the magazine.
Active: The editors will publish the results in the next magazine issue.

Passive: Mistakes were made.
Active: We made mistakes.

Note: In some cases, the agent won’t be mentioned, so you will have to confer it from context.

Also Read: Reported Speech Rules With Exercises

Rules for Present Passive Voice

When the sentence is in the present tense, the passive voice uses ‘is’ or ‘are’ with the past participle of the main verb. Passive voice presence is used for –

• Describing processes
• General thoughts, beliefs or opinions.

Rules for Past Passive Voice

In the case of the past, the passive voice uses ‘was’ or ‘were’ with the past participle of the main verb. It is used when:

• We are talking about events in history or,
• Crimes and accidents that took place.

Also Read: Subject-Verb Agreement: Definition, 12 Rules & Examples

Active and Passive Voice Exercises

To test yourself, try the following active and passive voice exercises. Change the tense of the following sentences:

1. I will never forget this experience.
2. Mother made a cake yesterday.
3. The girl was teased by the boy.
4. The deer was being chased by the tiger.
5. The police have caught the thief.
6. Was her duty done by her?
7. She has learned her lessons.
8. A novel has been written by her.
9. Have you finished the report?
10. Scientists have discovered traces of ice on the surface.

Solutions

1. This experience will never be forgotten by me.
2. A cake was made by my mother yesterday.
3. The boy teased the girl.
4. The tiger was chasing the deer.
5. The thief has been caught by the police.
6. Did she do her duty?
7. Her lessons have been learned by her.
8. She has written a novel.
9. Has the report been finished by you?
10. Traces of ice have been discovered on the surface of Mars (by scientists)

Learn About All Types of Tenses Here!

Present Tense	Past Tense	Future Tense
Simple Present Tense	Simple Past Tense	Simple Future Tense
Present Continuous Tense	Past Continuous Tense	Future Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Tense	Past Perfect Tense	Future Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense	Past Perfect ContinuousTense	Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Present Unreal (Second Conditional)	Past Unreal (Third Conditional)	Future Unreal (Mixed Conditional)

FAQs

This was all about the Active Voice and Passive Voice Examples, rules and more. Hope you understand the concept and where it’s used. You can also follow Leverage Edu for more exciting and informative blogs.