Voice

Note: there are two voices in English (Active and Passive voice). In the active voice the door of the action is given important and in the passive voice the victim (object) is given prominence. The object which is acted upon gains significance and the doer recedes into the background.

Passive forms of active in English :

Simple Tense

Subject + (is/am/are) + past pacticles.

examples :

He often writes to me.

- I am often written to by him.

He teases them.

- They are tested by him.

Simple Past tense :

Subject + (was/were) + past particles.

examples :

Ram killed a snake.

- A snake was killed by Ram.

Sita ate the apples.

- The apples were eaten by Sita.

Future Tense :

Subject + (will/shall) + be + past particles.

examples :

They are repairing the bridge.

- The bridge is being repaired by them.

He is scolding us.

- We are being scolded by him.

Present Continuous Tense :

Subject + (is/am/are) + being + past participle.

examples :

They are repairing the bridge.

The bridge is being repaired by them.

He is scolding us.

We are being scolded by him.

Past Continuous Tense :

Subject + (was/were) + being + past particles

examples :

They were carrying the injured player off the field.

The injured player was being carried off the field.

Present perfect Tense :

Subject + (has/have) + bee + past participles.

I have returned all the books to the library.

- All the books have been returned to the library by me.

They have repaired the road.

- The road has been repaired by them.

Past perfect tense :

Subject + (had + been) + past participle.

examples :

She had taught me.

- I had been taught by her.

The farmer had branched the newly bought cattle.

- The newly bought bought cattle had been branched by the farmer.

Future Perfect Tense :

Subject + (will have/shall have) + been + past participle.

examples :

We will have completed our course within a few months.

- Our course will have been completed within a few months.

They will have read the novel by tommorow.

- The novel will have been read by them tommorow.

(Note : perfect continuous tenses are not used in passive).

Passive of different sentences :

1. Modals :

- When a sentence has (can, could, may, might, must, should, would, or ought to) then these modals themselves don’t change, ‘be’ is added before the main verb.

Examples :

I can read a book.

- A book can be read by me.

She ought to take medicine.

- The medicine ought to be taken by her.

- When ‘have’ is used after the modals in the active, ‘have been’ is used in the passive.

examples :

Ram should have told him.

- He should have told by Ram.

I may have eaten it.

- He should have been eaten by Ram.

- It may have been eaten by me.

- When infinitive is used in the active voice, ‘to be’ + past participle is used in the passive.

examples :

I am to write a letter.

- A letter is to be written by me.

He has to invite us.

- We have to be invited by him.

2. Interrogative :

While transforming active questions, two things must be remembered.

- The question form must be retained.

- The question mark should not be forgotten

examples :

Does she read novels ?

- Are novels read by her ?

Did Hari catch the bus ?

- Was the bus caught by Hari ?

Will she forgive us ?

- Shall we be firgiven by her ?

Can you carry the box ?

- Can the box be carried by you ?

How does the girl help the boy ?

- How is the boy helped by the boy ?

Who made the kite ?

- By whom was the kite made ?

- Who was the the kite made by ?

3. Infinitive construction after passive verbs :

(say, think, know, feel, find, understand, believe, considered, claim, agree, assume, acknowledge, estimate, presume, report, decide, hope, remember) take the following forms in the passive.

examples :

People say that he is a learned man.

- It is said that he is a learned man.

- He is said to be a learned man.

People know that he was a theif.

-It is known that he was a theif.

- He is known to have been a theif.

I saw him work.

- He was seen to work.

People think that she is working hard.

- She is thought to be working hard.

4. Imperative :

Draw the curtain.

- Let the curtain be drawn.

Do not make fun of the poor.

- Let the poor no be made fun of.

Please draw the figure.

- You are requested to draw the figure.

5. Gerund combination :

He recommended using bulletproof glass

- He recommended that bulletproof glass should be used.

6. Omission of “by”:

- When the action is more important than the doer.

examples :

People are destroying the jungle.

- The jungle is being destroyed.

They murdered the chief.

- The chief murdered the chief.

The radiologist will x-ray your hand.

- Your hand will be x-rayed.

We are building a new public library.

- A new public library is being built.

- When subject would be the indefinite pronoun “one” is used

One sees this sort of advertisement everywhere.

- This sort of advertisement is being seen everywhere

- When we don’t know or have forgotten who did the action we use someone or somebody

examples :

have Somebody has forgotten who d-id the action we complete

Someone has moved my car.

- My car has been moved by someone.

(Note : If the subject is people, they, we, somebody, someone, nobody, no one, everybody etc. we don’t normally use “by + agent”)

7. Sometimes a transitive verb takes two objects. Direct and Indirect object. :

When there is only object, it becomes the grammatical subject of the passive sentence, where as there are two objects either of them could become the grammatical subject in the passive form of the sentences.

examples :

My uncle offered me a gift.

- A gift was offered to me by my uncle.

- I was offered a gift by my uncle

(Note : The forms of ‘be’ cannot be changed to passive voice.)

examples :

He is a man. (cannot be changed to passive voice).

8. Preposition with passive verbs :

Some passive verbs take other prepositions instead of ‘by’ .

examples :

Know, Oblique, Marry, Please, Displace, Satisfy, Dissatisfy, Interest, Contain, Astonish, Surprise.