Complete Active-Passive Voice Guide

Master the conversion between active and passive voice across all tenses with comprehensive notes and interactive exercises

Introduction to Voice

What is Voice?

Voice is a form of verb that shows whether the subject performs the action (active voice) or receives the action (passive voice).

Active Voice

In active voice, the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.

Structure: Subject + Verb + Object

Example: "The cat chased the mouse."

Here, "the cat" (subject) performs the action of chasing.

Passive Voice

In passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed by the verb.

Structure: Object + Verb + Subject (optional)

Example: "The mouse was chased by the cat."

Here, "the mouse" (subject) receives the action of being chased.

When to Use Passive Voice

• When the doer of the action is unknown
• When the doer is obvious or unimportant
• When we want to emphasize the receiver of the action
• In scientific writing to maintain objectivity

Present Tense - Active and Passive Voice

Simple Present Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + V1 + Object	She writes a letter.
Passive	Object + is/am/are + V3	A letter is written by her.

Present Continuous Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + is/am/are + V-ing + Object	She is writing a letter.
Passive	Object + is/am/are + being + V3	A letter is being written by her.

Present Perfect Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + has/have + V3 + Object	She has written a letter.
Passive	Object + has/have + been + V3	A letter has been written by her.

Past Tense - Active and Passive Voice

Simple Past Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + V2 + Object	She wrote a letter.
Passive	Object + was/were + V3	A letter was written by her.

Past Continuous Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + was/were + V-ing + Object	She was writing a letter.
Passive	Object + was/were + being + V3	A letter was being written by her.

Past Perfect Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + had + V3 + Object	She had written a letter.
Passive	Object + had + been + V3	A letter had been written by her.

Future Tense - Active and Passive Voice

Simple Future Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + will/shall + V1 + Object	She will write a letter.
Passive	Object + will/shall + be + V3	A letter will be written by her.

Future Perfect Tense

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + will/shall + have + V3 + Object	She will have written a letter.
Passive	Object + will/shall + have + been + V3	A letter will have been written by her.

Test Your Knowledge

1. Which of the following is in active voice?

The cake was baked by Mary. The letter is being written by John. The team won the championship. The house was built in 1990.

2. What is the passive form of: "The students are studying the lesson"?

The lesson was studied by the students. The lesson is being studied by the students. The lesson has been studied by the students. The lesson studied the students.

3. Which sentence is in passive voice?

She is cooking dinner. They have completed the project. The book was written by a famous author. We will finish the work tomorrow.

4. Convert to passive: "She will have finished the work by tomorrow."

The work will have been finished by her by tomorrow. The work will be finished by her by tomorrow. The work had been finished by her by tomorrow. The work is finished by her by tomorrow.

5. Convert to active: "The song was being sung by the artist."

The artist sings the song. The artist was singing the song. The artist is singing the song. The artist will sing the song.

© 2023 Complete Active-Passive Voice Guide | Created for educational purposes