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Active and Passive Voice – BCR Notes CA Foundation
Concept and Kinds of Voice:
Voice means that property of the verb which shows whether the subject is performing or experiencing the action. In other words, voice is that form of verb which indicates that subject works or something is done for it.
For example:
- Ram likes Shyam (Subject does something)
- Shyam is liked by Ram (something is done)
In functional form, there is no difference in the meaning of the two sentences. But in the first sentence, subject itself works while in the second sentence verb works for the subject.
Voice is of two kinds:
- Active Voice (wherein subject is the topic of what has been said)
- Passive voice (wherein object is the topic of what has been said)
Let us analyse the sentences given above.
General Rules To Change The Voice:
In order to change an active voice sentence into a passive voice sentence, the following rules are helpful:
1. Make the object your subject: In case there is a pronoun of objective case in the object, apply the following rules:
- me = I
- her = She
- us = We
- it = It
- you = You
- whom = Who
- him = He
- them = They
2. Make subject your object and add ‘by’ before the object.
In case there is a pronoun of the nominative case in the subject, apply the following rules.
- I = by me
- She = by her
- We = by us
- Who = by whom
- You = by you
- They = by them
- He = by him
- It = by it
3. The verb is used according to the subject, change in the verb is done according to the Tense.
(i) Present Indefinite Tense:
(a) Assertive Sentences: is/am/are+3rd form Use am with I; is with He, She, It; and are with We, You, They, Noun
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| 1st form 1st form+s/es |
is/am/are+3rd form |
| 1. He likes me | I am liked by him |
| 2. She lights the lamp | The lamp is lighted by her |
| 3. I do my homework | My homework is done by me |
| 4. They expect success | Success is expect by him |
| 5. We help the needy | The needy are helped by us |
(b) Negative Sentences: is/am/are+not+3rd form
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| do not/does not 1st form | is/am/are+not+3rd form |
| 1. The girls do not make a noise | A noise is not made by the girls |
| 2. He does not like me | I am not liked by him |
| 3. Deepak does not blame you | You are not blamed by Deepak |
(c) Interrogative Sentences: is/am/are+subject+3rd form ……….?
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Do/does ← subject → 1st form | is/am/are subject+3rd form |
| 1. Do you eat fish? | Is fish eaten by you? |
| 2. Does he wear rings? | Are rings worn by him? |
| In case question is made by when/where/why/how then use it before the helping verb, e.g. | |
| 3. When do you do your homework? | When is your homework done by you? |
| 4. Why does she cry? | Why cries are made by her |
| 5. How do you prepare coffee? | How is coffee prepared by you? |
| 6. Where does she keep her jewellery? | Where is her jewellery kept by her? |
| What works as an object in active voice and as subject in passive voice. Therefore, helping verb is used after what. Similarly, helping verb is used after the noun which comes after which. | |
| 7. What do you eat? | What is eaten by you? |
| 8. Which mobile do you like? | Which mobile is liked by you? |
| In case the question is formed by who or whom, then who is converted into by whom and whom is converted into who in passive voice. | |
| 9. Who teaches you? | By whom are you taught? |
| 10. Whom do you serve? | Who is served by you? |
(ii) Present Perfect Tense:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| is/am/are+(1st form+ing) | is/am/are+being+3rd form |
| is/are/am+not+(1st form+ing) | is/are/am+not being+3rd form |
| Is/are/am-subject+(1st form+ing) | Is/are/am-subject+being+3rd form |
| 1. She is driving a truck | A truck is being driven by her |
| 2. She is plucking the flowers | The flowers are being plucked by her |
| 3. I am not making a note | A note is not being made by me |
| 4. Why are you shouting at him? | Why is he being shouted at by you? |
| 5. Who is writing an essay? | By whom is an essay being written? |
| 6. What are they singing? | What is being sung by them |
(iii) Present Perfect Tense:
Use ‘has’ with He, She, It and Singular Noun. Use ‘have’ with I, We, You, They and Plural Noun.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| has/have+3rd form | has/have+been+3rd form |
| has/have+not+3rd form | has/have+not been+3rd form |
| Has/have ← subject → 3rd form | Has/have ← subject → been+3rd form |
| 1. I have done by homework | My homework has been done by me |
| 2. She has not returned by book | My book has not been returned by her |
| 3. Have you eaten breakfast? | Has breakfast been eaten by you? |
| 4. Why have you missed the lecture? | Why has the lecture been missed by you? |
| 5. Who has broken this desk? | By whom has this desk been broken? |
| 6. What have they done? | What has been done by them? |
(iv) Past Indefinite Tense:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| 2nd form | was/were+3rd form |
| did not 1st form | was/were+not+3rd form |
| 1. Newton invented the law of gravitation | The law of gravitation was invented by Newton |
| 2. We did not expect her | She was not expected by us |
| 3. The boy drank all the milk | All the milk was drunk by the boy |
| 4. Did he make a noise? | Was a noise made by him? |
| 5. When did she do her homework? | When was her home work done by her? |
| 6. Where did you find the mobile? | Where was the mobile found by you? |
| 7. Which movie did you see last night? | Which movie was seen by you last night |
(v) Past Continuous Tense:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| was/were I form+ing | was/were+being+3rd form |
| was/were+not form+ing | was/were+not being+3rd form |
| 1. The victim was crying for help. | The cries for help were being made by the victim |
| 2. The doctors were not operating the patient | The patient was not being operated by the doctors |
| 3. Was she combing her hair? | Were her hair being combed by her |
| 4. Why were you shouting at your servant? | Why was your servant being shouted at by you |
| 5. What was Rohan doing? | What was being done by Rohan? |
| 6. Whom were you helping? | Who was being helped by you? |
(vi) Past Perfect Tense:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| had+3rd form | had+been+3rd form |
| had+not+3rd form | had not+been+3rd form |
| 1. They had cheated the bank | The bank had been cheated by them |
| 2. The patient had already taken the medicine | The medicine had already been taken by the patient |
| 3. I had not read this book-before | This book had not been read by me before |
| 4. Had she attended the class? | Had the class attended by her? |
| 5. Why had you rebuked him? | Why had he been rebuked by you |
(vii) Future Indefinite Tense:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| will/shall+1st form | will/shall+be+3rd form |
| will/shall+not+1st form | will/shall+not be+3rd form |
| Use shall with I and we, use will with you, he, she and it | |
| 1. This boy will help you cross the road | You will be helped to cross the road by this boy |
| 2. She will not attend the of bee | The office will not be attended by her |
| 3. I shall not lend you a single rupee | Not a single rupee will be lent to you by |
| 4. Will you accompany me to the book fair? | Shall I be accompanied by you to the book fair? |
| 5. Why will you pay the bill? | Why will the bill be paid by you? |
| 6. What will you have for dinner? | What will be had for dinner by you? |
(viii) Future Perfect Tense:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| will/shall have+3rd form | will/shall have+been+3rd form |
| 1. The doctor will have operated on the patient | The patient will have been operated on by the doctor |
| 2. We shall have completed our morning walk | Our morning walk will have been completed by us |
| 3. She will not have helped me | 1 shall not have been helped by her |
| 4. Will you have finished your examination by then? | Will your examination have been finished by you by then? |
| 5. Who will have broken the window? | By whom will the window have been broken? |
(ix) Verbs Followed by Modals:
Modals include can, could, may, mould, must, should, etc. In passive voice, be is used between modal and verb.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| 1. You can do this job | This job can be done by you |
| 2. I could not help them | They could not be helped by me |
| 3. We should obey our parents | Our parents should be obeyed by us |
| 4. Would you take a cup of coffee? | Would a cup of coffee be taken by you |
| 5. Who will close the door? | By whom will the door be closed? |
| 6. May I help You? | May you be helped by me? |
(x) Imperative Sentences:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Let+be/not be+3rd form. Remove Please/kindly, use you are requested to/ advised to/ordered to | |
| 1. Get out of the class | You are ordered to get out of the class |
| 2. Lock the room | Let the room be locked |
| 3. Do not beat the dog | Let the dog not be beaten |
| 4. Kindly do not make noise here | You are requested note to make noise here |
| 5. Please help me | You are requested to help me |
| 6. Never tell a lie | Let a lie never be told |
| 7. Let her teach the kids | Let the kids taught by her |
| 8. Inform the police at once | Let the police be informed at once |
(xi) Change of Voice in the Infinitive Verbs:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| to+1st form | to+be+3rd form |
| 1. I expect to finish this project in time | I expect this project to be finished in time |
| 2. I am to complete this book | This book is to be completed by me |
| 3. We ought to obey our parents | Our parents ought to be obeyed by us |
| 4. There is no room to let | There is no room to be let |
| 5. It is time to leave the office | It time for the office to be left |
| 6. Women like men to praise them | Women like to be praised by men. |
(xii) Two Objects of the Verb:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| In case two objects are given in a sentence, change the object nearest to the verb into the subject | |
| 1. She teaches us English | We are taught English by her |
| 2. I shall give you a gift | You will be given a gift by me |
| 3. They refused me admission | I was refused admission by them |
| 4. She has sent me a greeting | I have been sent a greeting by her |
| 5. I teach her French | She is taught French by me |
(xiii) Propositional Sentences:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Preposition+1st form | Preposition+3rd form |
| 1. She will look into the matter | The matter will be looked into by her |
| 2. He acceded to my request | My request was acceded to by her |
| 3. They thought over the problem | The problem was thought over by them |
| 4. A tempo ran over a child | A child was run over by a tempo |
| 5. We laughed at the joke | The jokes was laughed at by us |
(xiv) Where ‘By’ is not used:
By is not used with the following verbs:
- Alarmed at
- Annoyed at
- Contained in
- Displeased with a person at behaviour
- Disgusted with
- Known to
- Dined with
- Married with a girl to a boy
- Pleased with a person at behaviour
- Satisfied with
- Surprised at
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| 1. He knows me | I am known to him |
| 2. His failure surprised us | We were surprised at his success |
| 3. Arjun married Dropadi | Dropadi was married to Arjun |
| 4. The news alarmed her | She was alarmed at the news |
| 5. This bottle contains juice | Juice is contained in this bottle |
(xv) Miscellaneous Sentences:
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| 1. A mall was building | A mall was being built |
| 2. Sit down | Be seated |
| 3. The rose smells sweet | The rose is sweet when smelt |
| 4. He kept us waiting | We were kept waiting by her |
| 5. The children should obey their parents | The parents should be obeyed |
| 6. One should keep one’s promise | Promise should be kept |
| 7. Someone has stolen my watch | My watch has been stolen |
| 8. They say honesty is the best policy | It is said that honesty is the best policy |