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An active passive voice chart is a helpful grammar tool that shows how to change sentences from active voice to passive voice across different tenses. In active voice, the subject performs the action, while in passive voice, the subject receives the action. This chart helps students clearly understand the structure and rules of both voices. It shows the verb forms used in each tense and provides examples for better understanding.
This active passive voice chart will provide you with all the information on how you can use these rules.
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Also Read: Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses [PDF Available]
What is Active Voice?
Active voice is a grammatical structure in which the subject of a sentence performs the action expressed by the verb. In other words, the focus is on the doer of the action rather than the receiver. This form of writing is usually clear, direct, and more engaging for the reader.
For example, in the sentence “The teacher explained the lesson,” the subject “the teacher” is actively doing the verb “explained,” and the object “the lesson” receives the action.
Active voice is commonly used in both spoken and written English because it makes sentences easier to understand and more concise. It contrasts with passive voice, where the object of the action becomes the focus, such as in “The lesson was explained by the teacher.”
Structure of Active Voice:
In active voice, the sentence structure typically follows the pattern: subject + verb + object.
This structure helps create strong and effective communication, especially in academic writing, storytelling, and everyday conversation.
Example: The dog is chasing the ball.
What is Passive Voice?
Passive voice is a grammatical construction in which the subject of a sentence receives the action rather than performing it. In this structure, the focus shifts from the doer of the action to the receiver of the action.
For example, in the sentence “The book was read by the student,” the subject “the book” is not doing the action but rather receiving it. The real doer of the action, “the student,” comes later in the sentence, often introduced by the word “by.”
Structure of Passive Voice:
The typical structure of a passive voice sentence is: object + form of the verb “to be” + past participle + (by + subject).
Passive voice is often used when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or implied, such as in “The window was broken” or “The homework was completed.”
While passive voice can be useful in certain situations, especially in formal or scientific writing, overusing it can make sentences sound vague or wordy. Therefore, it is generally recommended to prefer the active voice for clearer and more dynamic communication.
Example: The ball is being chased by the dog.
Active Passive Voice Chart
In this section, we have active passive voice chart with all the tenses, which will help you understand how you can construct sentences by incorporating the rules.
These charts are useful because they show the change in verb form and sentence structure for each tense. Students can use it to practice converting active sentences into passive ones and vice versa. It also helps improve writing skills by teaching when and how to use both voices correctly. This chart is especially useful in grammar exams and school writing tasks, making sentence transformation much easier to learn.
Simple Present Active Passive Voice Chart
Here is a table which has listed down the rules of Active and Passive Voice with examples for Present Simple.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice (Auxiliary Verb – is/am/are) |
| Subject + V1+s/es+ object | Object+ is/am/are+ V3+ by + subject |
| Subject + Do/does+ not + V1 + Object | Object + is/am/are+ not + V3+ by Subject |
| Does+ Subject+ V1+Object+? | Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by subject +? |
Here are some examples of both active and passive for Present Simple Tense:
Active: She reads a novel.
Passive: A novel is read by her.
Active: She does not paint.
Passive: Painting is not done by her.
Active: They grow crops.
Passive: Crops are grown by them.
Active: She teaches me.
Passive: I am taught by her.
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Present Continuous Active Passive Voice Chart
Here is a table along with examples for the Present Continuous Tense.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Subject + is/am/are+ v1+ ing + object | Object+ is/am/are+ being+ V3+ by + subject |
| Subject + is/am/are+ not+ v1+ ing+ object | Object + is/am/are+ not + being+V3+ by Subject |
| Object + is/am/are+ not + being+V3+ by Subject | Is/am/are + Object+ V3+ by subject +? |
Here are some examples of both active and passive for Present Continuous Tense:
Active: Radha is singing a song.
Passive: A song is being sung by Radha.
Active: Priya is not chopping onions.
Passive: Onions are not being chopped by Priya.
Active: The ministers are serving the poor people.
Passive: The poor people are being served by the ministers.
Active: She is disturbing Ramesh
Passive: Ramesh is being disturbed by her.
Present Perfect Active Passive Voice Chart
| Active Voice | Passive Voice (Auxiliary Verb- is/am/are + being) |
| Subject + has/have+ v3+ object | Object+ has/have+ been+ V3+ by + subject |
| Subject + has/have+ not+ v3+ object | Object + has/have+ not + been+V3+ by Subject |
| Has/have+ subject+ v3 + object+? | Has/Have + Object+ been+V3+ by subject +? |
Check out some examples of this tense in both active and passive voice:
Active: Manoj is singing a song.
Passive: A song is being sung by Manoj.
Active: Is Khushi buying a table?
Passive: Is a table being bought by Khushi?
Active: Rishi has created this masterpiece.
Passive: This masterpiece has been created by Rishi
Simple Past Active Passive Voice Chart
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Subject + V2+ object | Object+ was/were V3+ by + subject |
| Subject +did+ not+v1+ object | Object + was/were+ not +V3+ by Subject |
| Did+ subject+V1+ object+? | Was/were + Object+ V3+ by subject +? |
Examples:
Active: Seema cleaned the floor.
Passive: The floor was cleaned by Seema.
Active: Aisha bought a car.
Passive: A car was bought by Aisha.
Active: I saved him from drowning.
Passive: He was saved from drowning by me.
Download Active Passive Voice Chart PDF for School
Here is a PDF of the active-passive voice chart which will help you with a better understanding.
FAQs
When constructing passive voice sentences, we often use this formula: form of “be” verb + past participle
In active voice sentences, we use this formula: Subject + past participle + object in simple past tense.
To change the sentence, interchange the object with the subject with each other, i.e. object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
Active voice is usually better for clear and direct communication, but passive voice is helpful when the focus should be on the action or the object.
Examples of passive voice in everyday use are:
1. The homework was done
2. The cake was baked
3. The room was cleaned.
Start by writing simple active sentences, identify the subject, verb, and object, then switch the object to the subject’s place and adjust the verb accordingly.
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