Activepassive voice 1.Rubahlah kalimat berikut ini menjadi passive voice: He meets them everyday Jawaban: They are met by him everyday Pembahasan: Jika active voice dalam simple present tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah is, am atau are. 2.Rubahlah kalimat berikut ini menjadi Active voice: They were met by him yesterday PerbedaanActive Voice dan Passive voice. Rumus Passive Voice. Passive voice ada pada beberapa tenses (bentuk kata kerja yang dibedakan berdasarkan waktu). 16: The actress thanked all the people who helped her win. 17: The actress was driven to the ceremony in a white limousine. 18: 16 Future Past Perfect Continuous Tense. Aktif : S + would + have + been + V1-ing + O. Pasif : S + would + have + been +being + V3 + by + O. Contoh : Aktif : My students would have been speaking English. Pasif : English would have been being spoken by My students. Nah itulah pendalaman Rumus Passive Voice 16 Tenses dalam bahasa Inggris yang Johnand Amanda have already begun opening their presents! In the afternoon Amanda and John are expecting some old friends and they hope that all of them will come They haven’t seen some of their friends for a long time although when they ViewActive and Passive Voice (12 Tenses).pdf from PSYC 1 at San Jose State University. MODUL PERKULIAHAN English for Psychology 1 Active and Passive Voice - Present Tense - Past Tense - Future. Study Resources. Dari total 16 tenses, yang akan dibahas pada perkuliaan ini Usethis teacher-made Passive and Active Voice lesson pack to teach KS2 students about the different types of voices in writing and speech. This handy pack features a comprehensive lesson plan, PowerPoint, sentence builder cards and assessment worksheets. Our KS2 Passive and Active Voice pack will teach your children how to: identify both Active: Mr. Kumar taught us English. Passive : We were taught English by Mr. Kumar. 2. Active : You should teach the man a lesson. Passive : The man should be taught a lesson by you. 3. Active : The police gave him a reward of Rs. 1000/-. Passive : He was given a reward of Rs. 1000/- by the police. Phrasesin active and passive voice in English. Menu. Active – Passive in English Grammar. Active and Passive forms. We used the phrase I drive and put this phrase into the most common tenses. Active (Simple Forms) Simple Present: I drive: Simple Past: I drove: Present Perfect: . Download this explanation in PDF here. See all my exercises about the passive here. An active sentence like I drank two cups of coffee has the subject first the person or thing that does the verb, followed by the verb, and finally the object the person or thing that the action happens to. So, in this example, the subject is 'I', the verb is 'drank' and the object is 'two cups of coffee'. But, we don't always need to make sentences this way. We might want to put the object first, or perhaps we don't want to say who did something. This can happen for lots of reasons see the explanation further down the page. In this case, we can use a passive, which puts the object first Two cups of coffee were drunk we can add 'by me' if we want, but it isn't necessary. How to make the Passive in English We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive. So play becomes played. Click here to learn about irregular verbs. TenseActivePassive present simple I make a cake. A cake is made by me. present continuous I am making a cake. A cake is being made by me. past simple I made a cake. A cake was made by me. past continuous I was making a cake. A cake was being made by me. present perfect I have made a cake. A cake has been made by me. pres. perf. continuous I have been making a cake. A cake has been being made by me. past perfect I had made a cake. A cake had been made by me. future simple I will make a cake. A cake will be made by me. future perfect I will have made a cake. A cake will have been made by me. Practise with these exercises Verbs with two objects Some verbs that have two objects can make two different active sentences, and so two different passive sentences too GiveActive He gave me the book / He gave the book to me. You can choose either of the two objects to be the subject of the passive sentence. Passive I was given the book by him/ The book was given to me by him. Other verbs like this are ask, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw. Try an exercise about this hereThe passive in subordinate clauses You can make the passive in a subordinate clause that has a subject and a normal conjugated verb. This is really the same as a normal passive. Active I thought that Mary had kissed John. Passive I thought that John had been kissed by Mary. Active He knew that people had built the church in 1915. Passive He knew that the church had been built in 1915. You can also make the passive using a passive gerund or a passive infinitive in the same place as a normal gerund or infinitive. The child loves being cuddled. She would like to be promoted. Try an exercise about this here When should we use the Passive? 1 When we want to change the focus of the sentence The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. We are more interested in the painting than the artist in this sentence 2 When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or 'people in general' He was arrested obvious agent, the police. My bike has been stolen unknown agent. The road is being repaired unimportant agent. The form can be obtained from the post office people in general. 3 In factual or scientific writing The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer. 4 In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they these can be used in speaking or informal writing The brochure will be finished next month. 5 In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence to improve style Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell. 'Dr. Bell wrote the books' sound clumsy 6 When the subject is very long I was surprised by how well the students did in the test. More natural than 'how well the students did in the test surprised me' Take a sentence like “I want ice cream now.” It’s clear and straightforward—you know immediately that the subject, I, wants an object, ice cream. Now, recast this sentence, flipping it so that the object is in the position of the subject “Ice cream is wanted by me now.” It isn’t just longer, but it’s also more detached, roundabout, and a little awkward, too. Those two sentences are examples of the active voice and the passive voice. Certain kinds of writing are best suited for the active voice, while the passive voice is most appropriate for other kinds of writing. Understanding how, when, and why to use each is key to being an effective writer and speaker. Here’s a tip Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write. What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what are their different functions? In the active voice, the subject is performing an action The dog chases the ball. Notice how the subject, dog, is performing the action, chase, on the target of the action, ball. This is a simple, direct example of the active voice. In the passive voice, the action’s target, ball, is positioned first as the focus of the sentence. The sentence gets flipped, and the subject is now being acted upon by the verb. In other words, the subject is passive The ball is being chased by the dog. Active and passive are the two grammatical voices in English. Neither is inherently better than the other, but each is suited to certain types of writing. There’s a reason why news anchors sound detached from the stories they’re reporting They often speak using the passive voice. There’s also a reason why the authors of opinion pieces sound so sure of their positions They usually write in the active voice. Although the idea of teachers telling their students to avoid the passive voice is repeated so frequently that it feels like a trope, the truth is that the passive voice does have its applications. We’ll get into those later. For now, let’s look at how to recognize the active voice and the passive voice in your writing and in others’ work. Active voice As we’ve learned, in the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action. Here are two examples of sentences in the active voice Shira likes birdwatching. She loves twilight. No matter what verb you use, structuring your sentence so the subject performs the verb is writing in the active voice. The active voice has a direct, clear tone. Use it when you want the reader to focus on the subject of your sentence and the action it is doing rather than on the action’s target. Passive voice In the passive voice, the action’s target is the focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. Or, to put it in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. Every sentence in the passive voice contains two verbs A conjugated form of “to be” The main verb’s past participle Take a look at the previous examples, now written in passive voice Birdwatching is liked by Shira. Twilight is loved by her. Notice how the targets of the action—also the direct objects of the sentences—are now the focus. The sentences now contain a conjugated form of “to be” is and the main verb’s past participle liked and loved. Often, sentences in the passive voice are longer than sentences in the active voice simply because they have to include additional words like prepositions. Take a look at this sentence in the passive voice Summer break is [conjugated form of “to be”] loved [past participle of the main verb] by [preposition] my friends. However, sentences written in the passive voice don’t necessarily need a preposition. Take a look at the example sentences below The check was paid. He will be remembered. The Philippines is known for its marine biodiversity. The passive voice has a subtler tone than the active voice has. Sometimes your writing needs this tone, like when you want your reader to focus on the action being described or the action’s target rather than on who or what is performing the action. This is why the passive voice is used in lab reports—it conveys scientific objectivity by minimizing the focus on the doer of the action. Active and passive voice usage Although you may have been told that writing in the passive voice is “bad writing,” it’s actually more nuanced than that. For most of the writing you do, like emails, blog posts, and many kinds of essays, the active voice is a more effective way to communicate the ideas, themes, and facts you’re expressing. In certain kinds of writing, though, the passive voice is necessary. Think about how news reports about crime and incidents are usually written and delivered A car was broken into on Elm Street last night. Cash was stolen from the register. In these kinds of reports, the passive voice is used to emphasize the action that occurred rather than the individual or group who committed the action, often because the perpetrator isn’t known or hasn’t yet been found guilty of the offense. There are other kinds of writing where the action itself, rather than the doer of the action, is the primary focus. These include scientific and, in some cases, historical reports. These use the passive voice to keep the reader’s focus on what has happened or is happening. Here are a few examples The rats were placed into the maze. The governor was inaugurated at the statehouse. Notice how in both of these sentences, the doer of the action isn’t mentioned. That’s because it’s either implied or irrelevant. In the first example, the scientist performing the experiment is the one who placed the rats in the maze. In the second, those conducting the inauguration ceremony aren’t relevant to what’s being expressed in the sentence. How to change passive voice to active voice After you finish your first draft, read it. You might even want to read it aloud and listen to how it sounds. By reading and listening to your own work, you can catch awkward sentences and unclear phrasing and mark them as points to revise in your next draft. You’ll also hear where you used the active and passive voices and how they shift your work’s tone as a whole. Let’s say you’ve detected a few instances of the passive voice in your argumentative essay More flexible scheduling options are deserved by students. Significant amounts of tuition are paid to the university every year, and many feel the level of service being paid for by students is not being received. See how these sentences feel like they’re dancing around the topic at hand rather than addressing it head-on? The writer isn’t making a particularly persuasive argument, but they can make their writing far more impactful by changing it to the active voice. Sentence-by-sentence, identify who or what is performing the action, and make that the subject when you rewrite it. In the first sentence, make students the subject, since that’s who is performing the action. The main verb in this sentence is deserve, and the target is more flexible scheduling options, which will become the direct object in your new sentence. With these identified, restructure the sentence so the subject is now directly performing the verb. In the active voice, this sentence would read like this Students deserve more flexible scheduling options. See how this version gets right to the point? It makes the writer sound more confident too, which is a priority in argumentative writing. Let’s try changing the second sentence to the active voice, which also allows us to condense Students pay a significant amount of tuition to the university every year, and many feel they aren’t receiving the level of service they’re paying for. As you can see from the compound sentence above, you can write any kind of sentence in the active or passive voice as long as the sentence has a transitive verb. Whether it’s a simple or complex sentence or even a compound-complex sentence, you can dramatically alter your tone by simply reworking its structure. If you aren’t sure whether a sentence is active or passive based on how it sounds, use the rules we outlined above to identify the two voices in your work. The biggest clue you have a passive voice sentence on your hands will be a form of “to be” followed by a past participle was requested or will be missed. Not every passive voice sentence says who is performing the action, but if it does, you’ll see a preposition next to it by zombies or by my brother. You can use either voice when you’re paraphrasing a longer work. Sometimes, such as in cases where you’re paraphrasing a scientific article, you’ll need to use the passive voice in your paraphrased version. In others, you might actually make the original clearer by paraphrasing in the active voice. Active and passive voice examples Take a look at these examples of both the active and passive voices in action Active Is Ajani visiting us today? Passive Will we be visited by Ajani today? As you see, questions can be written in either voice. Other kinds of sentences, like exclamatory and imperative sentences, are often best written in the active voice Active Please remove your shoes before entering my house. Passive Shoes should be removed before entering my house. Active Lock the door! Passive Let the door be locked! See how with the first pair, the passive voice makes the request feel more like a suggestion? In the second pair, the passive voice makes the message sound stilted and formal rather than an urgent exclamation. Now take a look at these two examples Active I poured the solution into the beaker and heated it to 100℉. Passive The solution was poured into the beaker and heated to 100℉. Active and passive voice FAQs What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what’s the difference? In the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action on the action’s target. In the passive voice, the target of the action is the main focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. There are numerous differences between the two grammatical voices, but the most important is that the active voice is clearer and more direct, while the passive voice is subtler and can feel more detached. When should you use active vs. passive voice? Use the active voice in any sentence that focuses on the doer of the action. Unless the majority of your writing is scientific or reporting incidents involving unknown perpetrators, most of the sentences you write should be in the active voice. The passive voice is meant for sentences where you need to emphasize the target of an action or the action itself rather than who or what is performing the verb. How do you change passive voice to active? To change the passive voice to the active voice, determine who is actually performing the action in the sentence, then restructure the sentence so that the performer is the focus, clearly performing the verb upon the sentence’s direct object. Passive Salsa dancing has always been loved by our community. Active Our community has always loved salsa dancing. Here’s a tip You don’t have to guess whether you’re using certain words correctly or breaking grammar rules in your writing. Just copy and paste your writing into our Grammar Checker and get instant feedback on whether your sentences have misspellings, punctuation errors, or any structural mistakes. Learn how to form the passive voice and do the exercises to practise using it. Level beginner Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms Active Passive The hunter killed the lion. The lion was killed by the hunter. Someone has cleaned the windows. The windows have been cleaned. Passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle Subject be Past participle Adverbial English is spoken all over the world. The windows have been cleaned. Lunch was being served. The work will be finished soon. They might have been invited to the party. If we want to show the person or thing doing the action, we use by She was attacked by a dangerous dog. The money was stolen by her husband. Active and passive voice 1 GapFillDragAndDrop_MTY0MTg= Active and passive voice 2 GapFillDragAndDrop_MTY0MTk= Active and passive voice 3 GapFillTyping_MTY0MjE= Level intermediate The passive infinitive is made up of to be with a past participle The doors are going to be locked at ten o'clock. You shouldn't have done that. You ought to be punished. We sometimes use the verb get with a past participle to form the passive Be careful with that glass. It might get broken. Peter got hurt in a crash. We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb Active Passive I gave him a book for his birthday. He was given a book for his birthday. Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros. She was sent a cheque for a thousand euros. We can use phrasal verbs in the passive Active Passive They called off the meeting. The meeting was called off. His grandmother looked after him. He was looked after by his grandmother. They will send him away to school. He will be sent away to school. Active and passive voice 4 ReorderingHorizontal_MTY0MjI= Active and passive voice 5 GapFillTyping_MTY0MjM= Level advanced Some verbs which are very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive be supposed to be expected to be asked to be told to be scheduled to be allowed to be invited to be ordered to John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting. You are supposed to wear a uniform. The meeting is scheduled to start at seven. Active and passive voice 6 GapFillDragAndDrop_MTY0MjQ= Active and passive voice 7 GapFillTyping_MTY0MjU= Do you need to improve your English grammar? Join thousands of learners from around the world who are improving their English grammar with our online courses. 403 ERROR Request blocked. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner. If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent this error by reviewing the CloudFront documentation. Generated by cloudfront CloudFront Request ID G4IbO5aOScyF35mTZklmMEVaT7gE58C0hZqv-Im_d8l49UBLf7ll8g== What is the passive voice? The passive voice in English grammar allows us to make the recipient of the action the focus of the sentence; the person or thing performing the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious. The passive is formed as follows form of be + past participle. Learn the difference between the active and passive voice with Lingolia, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises. Example My bike was stolen last night. The cellar in our building was broken into and several bikes were taken. I called the police earlier, but they had already been informed by my neighbour. An investigation is being conducted, but the thief has not been arrested yet. Any information should be reported to the police. When to use the passive in English grammar Active sentences usually follow the subject-verb-object word order and focus on the person or thing performing the action. Example A criminal stole my bike. In contrast, the passive voice focuses on the action itself. Passive sentences tell us what happens to the recipient of the action. Example My bike was stolen. We use the passive when the person or thing performing the action known as the agent is unknown, unimportant or obvious. Examples My bike was stolen. → unknown agent An investigation is being conducted. → obvious agent the police A mistake has been made. → avoids naming the agent Any information should be reported to the police. → people in general If we want to include the agent of a passive sentence, we use the preposition by. Example My bike was stolen by a criminal. They had already been informed by my neighbour. How to form the passive in English grammar Passive sentences are formed as follows form of be + past participle of the main verb. Only the form of the verb be changes depending on the tense that we are using; the past participle remains the same in every tense. The table below provides an overview of the passive voice in all of the English tenses. How to change a sentence from active to passive When transforming a sentence from active to passive, we can take a step-by-step approach. Step 1 identify the object of the sentence and bring it to the front active Someone stole my bike. passive My bike … Step 2 identify the tense and conjugate the verb be accordingly active Someone stole my bike. = simple past passive My bike was … Step 3 find the past participle of the main verb active Someone stole my bike. → steal – stole – stolen passive My bike was stolen. Step 4 decide if you need to include the agent active Someone stole my bike. → Who stole the bike? We don’t know. The agent is unknown and therefore unnecessary in this case. Step 5 if the agent is important, we introduce it using the preposition by. active A cyclist caused the crash. passive The crash was caused by a cyclist. This sentence does not make sense without the agent. Note Because the direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence, we can only use transitive verbs in the passive voice steal a car, write a book, make a mistake …. Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object arrive, die, go … so cannot be used in the passive. Learn more about the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Table of English Tenses in Active and Passive Check out the table below to learn how to change active sentences into the passive voice in every tense. The passive in sentences with two objects Certain verbs like ask, give, offer, pay, send, show etc. are used with two objects. Usually, one is a person indirect object and the other is a thing direct object. In the active voice, these sentences can be expressed in two different ways Example Someone gave Josie this calendar. Someone gave this calendar to Josie. indirect object IO Josie; direct object DO this calendar This is the same in the passive voice; either object can become the subject of the passive sentence. Example Josie was given this calendar. indirect object Josie → subject Josie This calendar was given to Josie. direct object this calendar → subject this calendar Changing object pronouns to subject pronouns When the indirect object of an active sentence is an object pronoun me, you, him, her …, we must change it to a subject pronoun in the passive voice. Personal & Impersonal Passive In formal situations such as news reports or academic articles, we use reporting verbs and verbs of speech and thought in the passive voice to express information in a neutral, unbiased way. Common verbs agree, announce, assume, believe, claim, consider, declare, expect, feel, find, know, mention, say, suppose, think, and understand. Such sentences can start with it impersonal passive or with the subject personal passive. Example It is said that this area has a high crime rate. impersonal passive This area is said to have a high crime rate. personal passive = They say that this area has a high crime rate. Impersonal Passive Sentences in the impersonal passive begin with it it is said/believed/agreed etc. + that + clause. Examples It is believed that the suspect has blonde hair. It is said that the neighbourhood is a hotspot for crime. It is assumed that the thief is local to the area. Note in the impersonal form, only the reporting verb is formed in the passive voice; the rest of the sentence stays the same. Personal Passive Sentences in the personal passive begin with the subject and contain an infinitive clause subject + is said/believed/thought etc. + to + infinitive. Examples The suspect is believed to have blonde hair. The neighbourhood is said to be a hotspot for crime. The thief is assumed to be local to the area. We use the perfect infinitive have + past participle after the reporting verb to refer to the past. Example The theft is believed to have occurred at midnight last night. The thief is said to have acted alone. have/get something done We can also form the passive with have/get + object + past participle. Note get is more informal than have. We use this form when someone else does something for us, particularly in the context of paid services. Active I do my hair. I do this myself Passive I have/get my hair done. I pay someone else to do this for me Like with a standard passive, the agent of the action is unknown or unimportant; the focus is on the action itself. Example Tom has/gets his car cleaned at the garage. If we want to include the agent, we use by. Example He had his suit made by a tailor. We can use this structure in every tense Examples I’m getting my hair done tomorrow. present progressive We had our kitchen renovated last year. simple past They’ve had the dishwasher repaired several times. present perfect simple Info This passive structure is a type of causative. You can learn more on our page all about causative structures with have and get. Passive with have In addition to services, the passive with have has an extra meaning. We use have + object + past participle to express an experience that was negative, painful or unpleasant. Examples I had my bike stolen last week. He had his wisdom tooth taken out. we can’t use get in these examples Online exercises to improve your English Improve your English with Lingolia. Each grammar topic comes with one free exercise where you can review the basics, as well as many more Lingolia Plus exercises where you can practise according to your level. Check your understanding by hovering over the info bubbles for simple explanations and handy tips. Passive Voice – Free Exercise Passive – mixed exercise Lingolia Plus English Unlock all grammar exercises for English with a Lingolia Plus account 983 interactive grammar exercises for English sorted by topic and level A1–C1 with a built-in progress tracker and awards system Get started with Lingolia Plus Passive Voice – Lingolia Plus Exercises Passive voice in simple present 1 A2 Passive voice in simple present 2 A2 Passive voice in simple present 3 A2 Passive voice in simple present 4 A2 Passive voice in simple present 5 A2 Passive voice in simple present Bonfire Night A2 Passive voice in simple present Vietnamese New Year B1 Passive voice in simple present active to passive 1 A2 Passive voice in simple present active to passive 2 A2 Passive voice in simple past 1 A2 Passive voice in simple past 2 A2 Passive voice in simple past 3 A2 Passive voice in simple past 4 A2 Passive voice in simple past active to passive 1 A2 Passive voice in simple past active to passive 2 A2 Passive voice in simple past Shipwrecked B1 Passive voice simple present vs. simple past 1 A2 Passive voice simple present vs. simple past 2 A2 Passive voice simple present vs. simple past 3 B1 Passive voice in present progressive 1 B1 Passive voice in present progressive 2 B1 Passive voice in present progressive 3 B1 Passive voice in past progressive 1 B1 Passive voice in past progressive 2 B1 Passive voice in past progressive 3 B1 Passive voice in present perfect simple 1 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 2 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 3 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 4 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 5 B1 Passive voice in past perfect 1 B2 Passive voice in past perfect 2 B2 Passive voice in past perfect 3 B2 Passive voice in past tenses B1 Passive voice in future simple B1 Passive voice in future perfect B2 Passive voice in future tenses B2 Passive infinitive 1 B2 Passive infinitive 2 B2 Passive voice – perfect infinitive 1 C1 Passive voice – perfect infinitive 2 C1 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 1 B1 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 2 B1 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 3 B2 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 4 B2 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 5 B2 Passive voice impersonal passive with it B2 Passive voice personal passive 1 B2 Passive voice personal passive 2 B2 Passive voice – personal & impersonal passive C1 Passive voice mixed 1 B2 Passive voice mixed 2 B2 Passive voice mixed 3 C1 Active or passive – Hadrian’s Wall C1 Passive voice have/get something done B2 Passive voice have something done 1 B2 Passive voice have something done 2 C1 Passive with have negative experiences C1 A1Beginner A2Elementary B1Intermediate B2Upper intermediate C1Advanced Mark Twain was in London when he heard that his obituary news had been published by mistake. He sent a cable to the USA, which read the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Introduction to Active and Passive Voice Voice is one of the five basic properties of English grammar. The other four are mood, tense, person, and number. Voice is the connection between the subject and the object, which are linked through a verb. It's interesting to see how English enables us to play with sentences by changing the word order, and come up with two entirely different structures to form active and passive. While the active voice is undoubtedly the more common of the two, the passive voice is used to serve certain purposes. In this lesson, we are going to take a look at how and when we use active and passive voices. What Is Active Voice? The active voice is a style of writing where the subject acts upon its verb. Here, the subject always comes first, followed by the verb and the complements. The active voice is so called because, unlike the passive voice where the subject is passive, the subject here is active. Example Sentences with Active Voice Andrew hit the ball. Students always learn by doing. People call Orlando the theme park capital of the world. Catherine doesn't enjoy visiting malls. When to Use Active Voice The active voice is the more preferred of the two voices. Because using active voice helps make writing shorter, more precise, and more straightforward, a lot of people choose to use it in most of their communication. This means unless there is a specific requirement making passive voice an ideal choice, we stick to active voice. Given this fact, there are more rules for when to use passive voice than there are for when to use active voice. Advantages of Active Voice Since a sentence in active voice has a clear subject, it is easier for the reader to understand the sentence. Consider the below sentence, for example I love reading Mark Twain's witty quotes. active voice If we wrote the sentence in passive voice, it would sound awkward. Reading Mark Twain's witty quotes is loved by me. passive voice If we rewrote the sentence "Reading Mark Twain's witty quotes is a favorite pastime of mine", it would sound great. But, this is yet again an instance of active voice and not of passive voice. Active voice instantly connects with the reader. This is because it's free from the tangle of phrases that often accompany the passive voice. Read the following example Mr. Miller said the park must introduce an entrance fee in order to facilitate uninterrupted service. active voice It was said by Mr. Miller that an entrance fee must be introduced by the park in order for uninterrupted service to be facilitated. passive voice The string of phrases introduced in the passive version of this sentence makes it a little hard for the reader to understand. Hence, we prefer to use the active voice. What Is Passive Voice? The passive voice is the style of writing where you change the order of words and make the object of the action the subject of a sentence. In other words, the subject is the recipient of a verb's action. It's called passive because, unlike the active voice where the subject is active, the real subject is passive here. How to Recognize Passive Voice To recognize if a sentence is in passive voice, look for the following words. This is not an exhaustive list, though. by is are being has been have been will be Example Sentences with Passive Voice Kim's wallet was stolen during the fair. 50 volunteers are required to make the campaign a success. Over 1000 people were killed during the war. The results will be published later today. When to Use Passive Voice There are specific rules for when using the passive voice is better or more appropriate than using active voice. when we don't know who is responsible for the action Examples My pet dog has been stolen. Someone has stolen the dog; we don't know who it is. My essay has been corrected. You gave your essay to the correction service, and one of the teachers corrected it. when it's not important who did the action, or we don't want people to know who did it Examples My car was fixed on Monday. What is important is that the car was fixed; we don't really care who fixed it. Mistakes were made. We don't want to specifically mention who made the mistakes. when the reader or listener knows who did the action Example Kenneth has been asked to submit the grammar assignment again. It's obvious from the context that it's the English teacher who has asked Kenneth to submit the assignment again. when people in general are responsible for the action Example The worksheet can be freely downloaded from the website. Anybody can download a free worksheet, so the passive voice is used. when we report crimes or write in scientific contexts Examples The burglars were arrested as soon as they left the building. The animals were kept in a zoo for two years as part of an experiment. Subjects in Passive Voice The subject in passive voice is introduced with "by". That said, not every passive sentence has a by phrase containing the subject. Subjects can sometimes be assumed or remembered from a previous sentence. Examples The dish was prepared by Grandma. The subject is introduced in the by phrase. After the party, a lot of food was wasted. The subject is not mentioned, but it can be assumed from the context. There was a gathering at Grandma's. All family members were invited. In the second sentence, the subject "Grandma" is remembered from the first sentence. How to Convert Active Voice into Passive Voice The chart below includes all tenses that are used in passive voice. There is no passive voice for perfect progressive tenses present, past, and future and future progressive tense. Tense Active Voice Passive Voice Active Sentence Passive Sentence present simple read is read Keith reads the poem. The poem is read by Keith. present progressive is reading is being read Keith is reading the poem. The poem is being read by Keith. past simple read was read Keith read the poem. The poem was read by Keith. past progressive was reading was being read Keith was reading the poem. The poem was being read by Keith. future simple will read will be read Keith will read the poem. The poem will be read by Keith. present perfect has read has been read Keith has read the poem. The poem has been read by Keith. past perfect had read had been read Keith had read the poem. The poem had been read by Keith. future perfect will have read will have been read Keith will have read the poem. The poem will have been read by Keith. conditional present would read would be read If Keith had the poem, he would read it. If Keith had the poem, it would be read by him. conditional past would have read would have been read Keith would have read the poem if he had had it. The poem would have been read by Keith if he had had it. present infinitive to read to be read Keith wants to read the poem. The poem wants to be read by Keith. Take an Active and Passive Voice Quiz Now! Sorry, your answer is Active voice and Passive voice, Active and Passive Verb Tenses in english, present simple, present continuous, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, past perfect, future simple, infinitive, modals;TenseActivePassivePresent simpleReporters write news reportsNews reports are written by reportersPresent continuousMichael is baking a brownieA brownie is being baked by simpleThe company hired new workers last workers were hired by the company last continuousThe salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the perfectThey have already discussed the book has already been perfectHe had delivered the letters had been simpleThe company will hire new workers will be hired by the has to deliver the letters have to be must deliver the letters must be The Author englishstudyhere Test your knowledge on grammar – English tenses active and passive voice. After submitting your answers, you will see how well you have done in the test. Hadrian's Wall Fill the gaps with the correct tenses active or passive voice. In the year 122 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian visit his provinces in Britain. On his visit, the Roman soldiers tell him that Pictish tribes from Britain's north attack them. So Hadrian give the order to build a protective wall across one of the narrowest parts of the country. After 6 years of hard work, the Wall finish in 128. It be 117 kilometres long and about 4 metres high. The Wall guard by 15,000 Roman soldiers. Every 8 kilometres there be a large fort in which up to 1,000 soldiers find shelter. The soldiers watch over the frontier to the north and check the people who want to enter or leave Roman Britain. In order to pass through the Wall, people must go to one of the small forts that serve as gateways. Those forts call milecastles because the distance from one fort to another be one Roman mile about 1,500 metres. Between the milecastles there be two turrets from which the soldiers guard the Wall. If the Wall attack by enemies, the soldiers at the turrets run to the nearest milecastle for help or light a fire that can / see by the soldiers in the milecastle. In 383 Hadrian's Wall abandon . Today Hadrian's Wall be the most popular tourist attraction in northern England. In 1987, it become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.