page(301-315)
Chapter 14 Active and Passive Voice
Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb. Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action. You may have learned that the passive voice is weak and incorrect, but it isn’t that simple. When used correctly and in moderation, the passive voice is fine.
In English grammar, verbs have five properties: voice, mood, tense, person, and number; here, we are concerned with voice. The two grammatical voices are active and passive.
Active voice
When the subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that the sentence is in the active voice. Sentences in the active voice have a strong, direct, and clear tone. Here are some short and straightforward examples of active voice.
Active voice examples
Monkeys adore bananas.The cashier counted the money.
The dog chased the squirrel.
All three sentences have a basic active voice construction: subject, verb, and object. The subject monkey performs the action described by adore. The subject the cashier performs the action described by counted. The subject the dog performs the action described by chased. The subjects are doing, doing, doing—they take action in their sentences. The active voice reminds us of the popular Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”
Passive voice
A sentence is in the passive voice, on the other hand, when the subject is acted on by the verb. The passive voice is always constructed with a conjugated form of to be plus the verb’s past participle. Doing this usually generates a preposition as well. That sounds much more complicated than it is—passive voice is actually quite easy to detect. For these examples of passive voice, we will transform the three active sentences above to illustrate the difference.
Passive voice examples
Bananas are adored by monkeys.The money was counted by the cashier.
The squirrel was chased by the dog.
When to use active and passive voice
Using the active voice conveys a strong, clear tone, and the passive voice is subtler and weaker. Here’s some good advice: Don’t use the passive voice just because you think it sounds a bit fancier than the active voice.
That said, there are times the passive voice is useful and called for. Take “The squirrel was chased by the dog,” for example. That sentence construction would be helpful if the squirrel were the focus of your writing and not the dog.
A good rule of thumb is to try to put the majority of your sentences in the active voice, unless you truly can’t write your sentence in any other way.
Active and Passive Voice active voice Passive Voice
active voice
He punished a boy.
Mary eats a mango.
I shall write a letter.
A boy was punished by him.
active voice He MARY I
active voice
: Passive Voice
A boy was punished by him.
A mango is eaten by Mary.
A letter will be written by me.
Passive Voice A BOY “A mango” “A letter”
Active voice Passive Voice
Active voice Passive Voice
- Active Passive Voice
(P.301)
- Verb to be Tense Active
- Active Passive Verb To be )
- Active Passive “by ”
: Verb to be
Passive Voice
Passive Voice 12Tense :-
Present Simple = S. + is, am, are + verb 3 + by …..
Present Continuous = S. +is, am, are + being + Verb 3 + by…
Present Perfect =S.+ have, has been + Verb 3 by…
Present per. Conti. =S. have, has + been + being + Verb 3 + by…
Past Simple = S. + was, were+ Verb 3+ by….
Past Continuous = S. + was, were + being+ Verb 3+ by…
Past Perfect = S.+ had+ been+ Verb 3 + by…
Past Per. Conti. =S. + had+ been + being + Verb 3 +by..
Future Simple = S. + will, shall +be+ Verb 3 +by…
Future Continuous = S. + will, shall +be +being + Verb 3 + by…
Future Perfect = S. +will, shall + have + been + Verb 3 +by…
Future Per. Conti . =S. + will, shall + have + been + being +Verb 3+ by…
Passive Voice Present Perfect Continuous , Past Perfect Continuous, Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Active Passive 12 Tense
Present Simple Tense
Active : Mary eats a mango.
Passive : A mango is eaten by Mary.
Present Continuous Tense
Active : Mary is eating a mango.
Passive : A mango is being eaten by Mary.(302)
Present Perfect Tense
Active : Mary has eaten a mango.
Passive : A mango has been eaten by Mary.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Active : Mary has been eating a mango.
Passive : A mango has been being eaten by Mary.
Past Simple Tense
Active : Mary ate a mango.
Passive : A mango was eaten by Mary.
Past Continuous Tense
Active: Mary was eating a mango.
Passive : A mango was being eaten by Mary.
Past Perfect Tense
Active : Mary had eaten a mango :
Passive : A mango had been eaten by Mary.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
Active : Mary had been eating a mango.
Passive A mango had been being eaten by Mary.
Future Simple Tense
Active: Mary will eat a mango.
Passive: A mango will be eaten by Mary.
. Future Continuous Tense
Active : Mary will be eating a mango.
Passive : A mango will be being eaten by Mary.
Future Perfect Tense
Active : Mary will have eaten a mango.
Passive : A mango will have been eaten by Mary.
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
Active : Mary will have been eating a mango.
Passive : A mango will have been being eaten by Mary. (303)
(Pattern) Passive Voice can, could, may, might, must, ought to, has to, have to, be going to
Active Voice (Helping-Verb) can, could, may ,might, must, ought to, has to, have to, (be) going to Active Voice Passive Voice (Pattern):-
can
Could
may
might
must
can
ought to
has to
have to(be) going to
Change sentences from Active Voice to Passive Voice
- Somsri writes a letter every day.
- He is visiting his friends in Bangkok.
- They have painted the fence for three days.
- The man told them to repair their house.
- We shall postpone the football match because of the bad weather.
- The dentist pulled out one of my teeth last week.
- The teacher punished me when I talked in the class.
- After they had read those books they left.
- Wanna will break the glass if she is careless.
- Decha will have finished his work when we arrive.(306)
- A letter is written by Somsri every day.
- His friends are being visited by him in Bangkok.
- The fence has been painted by them for three days.
- . They were told by the man to repair their house.
- The football match will be postponed by us because of the bad weather.
- One of my teeth was pulled out by the dentist last week.
- I was punished by the teacher when I talked in the class.
- After those books had been read, they left.
- The glass will be broken by Wanna if she is careless.
- His work will have been finished by Decha when we arrive.
Passive Voice ” by ”
:Active Voice Passive Voice by
:Active by Passive (agent) by :-
The house was painted nicely before they moved in.
Passive Voice
The house was nicely painted by a painter before they moved in.
Active :The people in Italy speak Italian.
Passive : Italian is spoken in Italy.
by the people by Passive Voice :- (307)
- Active Voice (Personal Pronoun) I, We, You, He ,She, They by :-
They will build a new road through here soon.
=A new road will be built through here soon.
She closed the door of the house.
= The door of the house was closed.
2) Active Voice everyone , everybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody, by passive:-
No one has used the gate for five years.
=The gate hasn’t been used for five years. by no one)
Somebody stole my watch last night.
= My watch was stolen last night.
(by somebody )
Everybody learns English in this school.
=English is learned in this school.
( by everybody )
: Passive Voice by + agent agent by + agent :-
Active : Samran Kamying wrote Advanced English Grammar. (308)
Passive : Advanced English Grammar was written by Samran Kamying.
Active : Shakespeare wrote “Macbeth”.
Passive :”Macbeth” was written by Shakespeare.
Active :Columbus discovered America.
Passive: America was discovered by Columbus.
Active Voice …..
People say that….., People believe that….
It is said that ……., It is believed that…….
:- People say that honesty is the best policy.
Passive : It is said that honesty is the best policy.
People believe that the earth is round.
Passive :It is believed that the earth is round.
Active Voice Objective
: Active Voice Objective Passive
: Objective 2 Objective2
- Direct Object =
- Indirect Object =
(Direct Object) ( Indirect Object) (309)
Passive Voice :-
Active: He gave me a book.
Passive : I was given a book by him.
Passive : A book was given to me by him.
Active : My grandfather told me a story.
Passive: I was told a story by my grandfather.
Passive: A story was told to me by my grandfather.
Active :The teacher teaches Dam English.
Passive Dam is taught English by the teacher.
Passive : English is taught to Dam by the teacher.
Objective 2:-
Give Promise
Send Teach
Show lend
Ask Tell
Call Offer
Pay Sell
buy Answer
write Fetch (310)
Passive Voice Question Words
: Active Voice Question Words Passive voice
: Active Voice Question Words Passive Voice :-
- Question Words What, When, Where, Why, Whom, Whose, Which, etc. Active Who By Whom
- Verb to be , can, could, must, may, might, etc. (Question Words)
- Active Voice By
- Active Passive
Active: What do you want?
Passive: What is wanted by you?
(What Active want, passive is wanted)
Active: Who punished him?
Passive: By whom was he punished ?
Active : Where do you see her?
Passive: Where is she seen by you?
Active: When did she seen her a letter?
Passive: When was she sent a letter by him?
Active: Which book do you buy?
Passive: Which book is bought by you?
Active: Why did they destroy it?
Passive : Why was it destroyed (by them)?
Active : Whose car are you going to buy?
Passive: Whose car is going to be bought by you?
Active: Whom does she love?
Passive: Who is love by her?
Active: How will you do it?
Passive: How will it be done by you?(311)
Passive Voice
: Active Voice (Imperative Sentence) Passive Voice
: Active Voice Passive Voice Structure :-
Let + Objective+ be+ Verb
Active : Open your book.
Passive: Let your book be opened.
Active: Don’t kill the tiger.
Passive: Let the tiger not be killed.
Active: Close the window.
Passive : Let the window be closed
Active: Don’t destroyed the contents.
Passive: Let the contents not be destroyed.
Active: Do it.
Passive Let it be done. (312)
Passive Voice Adverb Of Manner
: Active Voice Adverb of Manner Well, badly, etc. Passive Voice
:Passive Voice Active Voice Adverb of Manner Adverb of Manner Passive:-
Active : They did the work well.
Passive: The work was well done (by them).
Active: She dressed her children badly.
Passive: Her children were badly dressed.
Active Voice Infinitive Without “to”
Active Voice Infinitive Without “to” Passive Voice Infinitive With “to” Infinitive to :-
Active : We saw them go out. (without “to”)
Passive : They were seen to go out. (without “to”)
Active: They heard her sing there. (without “to”)
Passive: She was heard to sing there. (without “to”)
: Let Infinitive Without “to” :-
Active: They let us go. (without “to”)
Passive: We were let go. (without “to”) (313)
Active Voice Present Participate (V-ing)
Active Voice Present Participate Passive Voice:-
Being + ……3
Active: I saw Daeng writing the letter.
Passive: I saw the letter being written by Daeng.
Active: I looked at him making the table.
Passive :I looked at the table being made by him.
Active: She met me buying things at the market.
Passive : She met things being bought at the market by me.
: Objective Present Participate Active Voice Passive Being + Verb 3
Passive Voice by
Active Voice Passive Voice by in, at, with, ect. :-
Active : His essay interests me.
Passive: I am interested by his essay.
:I am interested by his essay.)
Active: My success pleases her much.
Passive: She is much pleased at my success. (314)
: She is much pleased by my success.)
Active : Snow covered the mountain.
Passive: The mountain was covered with me
: The mountain was covered by snow.
Active: The Fire killed four boys.
Passive : Four boys were Killed by the fire.
: Four boys were Killed by the fire.)
Change these sentences from Active Voice to Passive Voice
- People listened to the radio before someone invented television.
- They close the library at 5 p.m every day.
- Someone knocked David down and broke his leg yesterday.
- Don’t kill the tiger We should reserve it.
- What will you give me?
- Send for the doctor. Because she is in bad illness.
- Who wrote “Advanced English Grammar for High Learns”?
- When will you finish your essay?
- I saw Ladda washing her skirt yesterday.
- We let them play football after class.
- The radio was listened to before television was invented.
- The library is closed at 5 p.m every day.
- David was knocked down and his leg was broken yesterday.
- Let the tiger not be killed. It should be reserved.
- What will (shall) I be given by you?
- Let the doctor be sent for. Because she is in bad illness.
- By whom was “Advance English Grammar for High Learns” written?
- When will your essay be finished ?
- I saw her skirt being washed by Ladda yesterday.
- They were let play football after class. (315)