Active and Passive Voice Rules and Examples

An Introduction: Active and Passive

In this amazing blog, we are going to teach you active and passive with complete structures and examples so that you can make sentences of active and passive easily. In order to have a good command over English language you must know active and passive. This lesson is a complete guide that how to use active and passive.

When we speak or write something in English, we want to keep the things simple and clear, one way to keep the things easy and clear is by using active and passive voice.

Voice: Voice is word which tells that something is done by a noun in a sentence OR something is done on a noun in a sentence.

Types of Voice: There are mainly two type of voice in English language (Active voice and Passive voice) and we have mentioned both voice with definitions and examples below.

Active Voice: When the doer of an action is the subject of a sentence is called active voice.

Examples:

He plays cricket.

She writes a letter.

Passive Voice: When something is done on a noun in a sentence, it becomes affected and when an affected noun is used as a subject of a sentence is called passive voice.

Example:

Cricket is played by him.

A letter is written by her.

Verb: a verb is a word which shows an action or state of being in a sentence.

Examples: (Play, Write, Read, Give, Sleep, Go, Walk) etc.

Kinds of Verbs: The following are the kinds of verbs.

Transitive verbs: These verbs are used with object in a sentence without object their meanings are incomplete.

Examples: (He writes. We drive. She plays)

Intransitive verbs: These verbs are not used with objects, without object their meanings are complete.

Examples:

She sleeps.

He weeps.

Travel verbs: These are the verbs used for travel.

Examples:

He goes home.

She is walking.

He is running.

Ergative verbs: These verbs are used both as transitive and intransitive verbs.

Examples:

The birds are flying. (Transitive)

She flies a kite. (Intransitive)

Change of Helping Verbs

Helping verbs are changed as:-

Active	Passive
Do	Are, am
Is, are, am	Is being, are being, am being.
Has	Has been
Have	Have been
Had	Had been
Did	Was, were
Was	Was being
Were	Were being
Will	Will be
Does	Is
Are	Are being
Am	Am being

Present Indefinite Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject + V1 (s,es,ies) + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (is, are, am) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” after the helping verb, and interrogative by putting helping verb at the beginning of the sentence.

Active	Passive
They speak English.	English is spoken by them.
She plays cricket.	Cricket is played by him.
She does not beat him.	He is not beaten by her.
We do not play football.	Football is not played by us.
I write a letter.	A letter is written by me.
We eat food.	Food is eaten by us.
Everyone loves flower.	Flower is loved by everyone.
His brother taunts him.	He is taunted by his brother.
He cleans the room.	The room is cleaned by him.

Practice Exercise:

He is squeezing the orange.

Asad is wasting his time.

They are fulfilling their promise.

Present Continuous Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject Helping verb (is,are,am) + V ing + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (is being, are being, am being) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” between “is,are,am” and being, and interrogative by putting helping verb (is, are, am) at the beginning of the sentence and then subject and then “being”.

Active	Passive
They are writing a novel.	A novel is being written by them.
We are playing chess.	Chess is being played by us.
We are eating food.	Food is being eaten by us.
They are collecting the books.	Books are being collected by them.
Is he speaking English?	Is English being spoken by him?
He is not writing a letter.	A letter is not being written by him.
Aslam is beating Ali.	Ali is being beaten by Ali.
You are punishing the students.	Students are being punished by you.
She is watching a movie.	A movie is being watched by her.

Practice Exercise:

We are forbidding you.

They are wasting their time.

Ali is reading a book.

Present Perfect Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject Helping verb (has, have) + V3 + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (has been, have been) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” between has/have and been, and interrogative by putting helping verb (has/have) at the beginning of the sentence and then subject and then “been”.

Active Voice	Passive Voice
They have made a cake.	A cake has been made by them.
Ali has bought a new phone.	A new phone has been bought by Ali.
They have traveled to Europe.	Europe has been traveled to by them.
The teacher has prepared the lesson.	The lesson has been prepared by the teacher.
The teacher has taught Arabic.	Arabic has been taught by the teacher.
Shaista has finished her homework.	Her homework has been finished by Shaista.
We have cleaned the room.	The room has been cleaned by us.
He has written three books.	Three books have been written by him.
I have eaten dinner.	Dinner has been eaten by me.

Past Indefinite Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject + helping verb (did) + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (was,were) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” after the helping verb, and interrogative by putting helping verb at the beginning of the sentence.

Active	Passive
The artist designed a logo.	A logo was designed by the artist.
The students completed their project.	Their project was completed by the students.
The artist created a painting.	A painting was created by the artist.
Rehan cooked dinner.	Dinner was cooked by Rehan.
Amjad made a mistake.	A mistake was made by Amjad.
They finished their work.	Their work was finished by them.
The teacher explained the lesson.	The lesson was explained by the teacher.
The company launched a new product.	A new product was launched by the company.
The team scored three goals.	Three goals were scored by the team.

Past Continuous Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject Helping verb (was,were) + V ing + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (was being, were being) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” between “was,were” and “being”, and interrogative by putting helping verb (was,were) at the beginning of the sentence and then subject and then “being”.

Active	Passive
He artist was creating a painting.	A painting was being created by the artist.
We were playing tennis.	Tennis was being played by us.
The teacher was explaining a lesson.	A lesson was being explained by the teacher.
Sabir was writing a book.	A book was being written by Sabir.
The teacher was grading our exams.	Our exams were being graded by the teacher.
Shazia was reading a novel.	A novel was being read by Shazia.
She was making a cake.	A cake was being made by her.
They were watching TV.	TV was being watched by them.
He was conducting an experiment.	An experiment was being conducted by him.

Past Perfect Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject Helping verb (had) + V3 + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (had been) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” between had and been, and interrogative by putting helping verb (had) at the beginning of the sentence and then subject and then “been”.

Active	Passive
We had visited a museum.	A museum had been visited by us.
Shumaila had sung in a choir.	A song had been sung by Shumaila in a choir.
They had built a house.	A house had been built by them.
The teacher had explained a concept.	A concept had been explained by the teacher.
Akbar had written a story.	A story had been written by Akbar.
She had made breakfast.	Breakfast had been made by her.
They had watched a movie.	A movie had been watched by them.
The teacher had taught math.	Math had been taught by the teacher.
They had made a video.	A video had been made by them.

Future Indefinite Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (will) + Verb 1 + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (Will be) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” between “will” and “be”, and interrogative by putting helping verb at the beginning of the sentence.

Active	Passive
They will make a decision.	A decision will be made by them.
The teacher will explain a concept.	A concept will be explained by the teacher.
We will attend a meeting.	A meeting will be attended by us.
He will conduct an experiment.	An experiment will be conducted by him.
We will play soccer.	Soccer will be played by us.
She will read a novel.	A novel will be read by her.
David will read a book.	A book will be read by David.
They will travel to America.	America will be traveled to by them.
The teacher will check the papers.	The papers will be checked by the teacher.

Future Perfect Tense Active and Passive

Verb Form: Third form.

Active Voice: Subject Helping verb (will have) + V3 + Object +.

Passive Voice: Subject + Helping Verb (will have been) + V3 + by + object +.

Note: We can make negative of this tense by putting “not” between “will” and “have been”, and interrogative by putting helping verb (will) at the beginning of the sentence and then subject and then “have been”.

Active	Passive
Akram will have read a book.	A book will have been read by Akram.
We will have visited 3 museums.	3 museums will have been visited by us.
She will have written 2 poems.	2 poems will have been written by her.
They will have made 5 decisions.	5 decisions will have been made by them.
We will have finished our project.	Our project will have been finished by us.
She will have learned French.	French will have been learned by her.
They will have traveled to Europe.	Europe will have been traveled to by them.
The teacher will have taught Arabic.	Arabic will have been taught by the teacher.
They will have traveled to Africa.	Africa will have been traveled to by them.