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Active voice | passive voice
Form
Present simple: The car is repaired. Present continuous: The car is being repaired. Past simple: The car was repaired. Past continuous: The car was being repaired. Present perfect: The car has just been repaired. Past perfect: The car had been repaired. Future simple: The car will be repaired. Present conditional : The car would be repaired. Perfect conditional: The car would have been repaired.
The passive voice in English is formed with the verb to be and the past participle, which is different for regular verbs (translated, mended) and irregular verbs (taken, thrown). Statement: The letter is written. This shop has been opened. Question: Is the letter written? Has the shop been opened? Negative: The letter is not written. The shop has not been opened.
The continuous forms are as follows. (Other continuous tenses are normally used in the active voice, but not in the passive.) Present: A new house is being built in our street. Past: A new house was being built in our street.
In all the examples above the agent is not mentioned. We do not know it. Similarly: Flowers were planted in the garden. (We do not know who did it). If we want to say who planted the flowers we mention the agent at the end of the sentence and use the preposition by. The flowers were planted by my mother. But: The window was smashed with a stone. (The stone is not the agent. We do not know who smashed the window. We only know how he or she did it).
Direct and indirect objects
If there are both direct and indirect objects in the active voice, the indirect object becomes the subject in the passive voice. Active: My friend sent me a letter. Passive: I was sent a letter by my friend. (Not: A letter was sent to me by my friend. This sentence does not sound natural in English.) Similarly: They offer Trevor a place. - Trevor is offered a place.
The infinitive without to
In the active voice some verbs are followed by the infinitive without to. In the passive we use most such verbs with the infinitive with to. Active: We saw them come. She made him do it. Passive: They were seen to come. He was made to do it. But: They let us go. - We were let go.
PASSIVE VOICE- COMPLETE THE STATEMENTS
Letters ………………….. by the postman at 8 every day. (deliver)
This bag ……………………….in the bus yesterday. (find)
The dress……………..…….in hot water. (cannot wash)
…………………..your motorbike ……………………yet? (repair)
The message …………………………. tomorrow. (send)
These offices ……………………….. now. (clean)
This report ……………………. in time if you didn't help me. (not finish)
Why …………………. The TV ………………………. ? (turn on)
This building ……………………… since the 1930's. (not reconstruct)
Bags ……………………. in the cloakroom. (must leave)
The engine …………………… just …………………….. when the manager saw it. (test)
The last umbrellas ………………………. in the morning. (sell)
You …………………………….to arrive so late if you worked for me. (not allow)
The plan ………………………… in two days. (announce)
All the halls ……………………………… at the moment. (paint)
What were we doing at 11 o'clock? We ………………………… . (interview)
After the window pane …………………… someone smashed the window again. (replace)
Letters are delivered
by the postman at 8 every day. (deliver) right
Right: are delivered
This bag w as found
in the bus yesterday. (find) right
Right: was found
The dress cannot be w a
in hot water. (cannot wash) right
Right: cannot be washed
has your motorbike
been repaired yet? (repair) right
Right: Has / been repaired
The message w ill be sent
tomorrow. (send) right
Right: will be sent
These offices are being clea
now. (clean) right
Right: are being cleaned
This report w ould not be f
in time if you didn't help me. (not finish) right
Right: would not be finished
Why is
the TV turned on
? (turn on) right
Right: is / turned on
This building has not been r
since the 1930's. (not reconstruct) right
Right: has not been reconstructed
Bags must be left
in the cloakroom. (must leave) right
Right: must be left
The engine w as
just being tested
when the manager saw it. (test) right
Right: was / being tested
The last umbrellas w ere sold
in the morning. (sell) right
Right: were sold
You w ould not be a
to arrive so late if you worked for me. (not allow) right
Right: would not be allowed
The plan w ill be announ
in two days. (announce) right
Right: will be announced
All the halls are being pain
at the moment. (paint) right
Right: are being painted
What were we doing at 11 o'clock? We w ere being int
. (interview) right
Right: were being interviewed
After the window pane w as being rep
someone smashed the window again. (replace) right
Right: had been replaced
Look. Your car lifted off the ground.
Tim has been given a new chanceA new chance has been given to TimHis place will be offered to Mr. ChangMr.
Chang will be offered his place
They accept it.
This hole was dug up a spade.
This boat by storm.
Tim has been given a new chanceA new chance has been given to TimHis place will be offered to Mr. ChangMr.
Chang will be offered his place
If we weren't careful, the bike .
When I stopped, my car from behind.
He didn't take part in the conference because he informed.
answers
Look. Your car lifted off the ground. Right: is just being
Tim has been given a new chanceA new chance has been given to TimHis place will be offered to Mr. ChangMr.
Chang will be offered his place
Right: Tim has been given a new chance.
They accept it.
Right: were made to
This hole was dug up a spade.
Right: with
This boat by storm.
Right: was damaged
Tim has been given a new chanceA new chance has been given to TimHis place will be offered to Mr. ChangMr.
Chang will be offered his place
Right: Mr. Chang will be offered his place.
If we weren't careful, the bike .
Right: would be destroyed
When I stopped, my car from behind.
Right: was hit
He didn't take part in the conference because he informed.
Right: had not been
Grammar Exercises - Passive Voice
Passive Voice
Active - Passive - Test 1
Active - Passive - Test 2
Active or Passive - Exercise 1
Active or Passive - Exercise 2
Active or Passive - Exercise 3
Passive - Questions - Click Exercise 1 - MIX
Passive - Questions - Click Exercise 2 - MIX
Passive - Statements - Active sentence given - various tenses
Passive - Statements - Active sentences given - Simple Past
Passive - Statements - Active sentences given - Simple Present
Passive - Statements - Active sentences given - more objects
Passive - Statements - Fill-in Exercise - various tenses
Passive - Statements - Form sentences - Simple Past
Passive - Statements - Form sentences - Simple Present
Grammar Explanations - Passive Voice
Choosing between Active and Passive Voice Verbs when Writing
Usually, effective writing uses the active voice and shuns the passive. Nevertheless, some situations are awkward or inappropriate when expressed in the active voice. Certainly, these situations call for the passive voice.
Reasons to use the passive voice:
The agent (doer) of the action is unimportant.
The pyramids were built thousands of years ago.
The agent is unknown.
Several robberies were committed during the night.
The agent is common knowledge, and mentioning it would be redundant.
George Bush was elected in 2000.
The writer desires to control focus of sentence.
1) to de-emphasize the agent’s role in the action
o The alarm was triggered by my son. [Passive construction shifts focus away from the son’s responsibility.]
2) to emphasize the party receiving the action
Jack was kicked by Jill.
Reasons to use the active voice:
The active voice is shorter and more direct.
Compare.
Active: The waiter dropped the tray of food. Passive: The tray of food was dropped by the waiter.
The active voice is less awkward and clearly states relationship between subject and action.
Compare.
Passive: Your request for funding has been denied by the review committee. Active: The review committee denied your request for funding.
The active voice sentence pattern propels the reader forward through your writing thus avoiding weak prose.
Used with permission from Oregon State University Business Writing web page by Donna Shaw www.orst.edu
Identifying Passive Voice Verbs AR 1/21/02
Verbs have two voices: active and passive.
In active voice sentences, the verb expresses the action in the sentence, the subject performs the action, and the object is the recipient of the action. Active sentences follow the pattern: subject-verb-object.
Jill kicked Jack.
In a passive voice sentence, the subject and object flip-flop. The subject becomes the passive recipient of the action.
Jack was kicked by Jill.
Form of Passive Voice Verbs
The passive voice requires a "double verb" and will always consist of a form of the verb "to be" and the past participle (usually the "en/ed/t" form) of another verb. Example: is kicked
Writers should be familiar with the forms of "to be" so that they can easily identify the passive voice in their work.
Review the forms of "to be": am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been
Note the forms of "to be" in the examples of the verb "to kick" in various forms of the passive voice:
is kicked----------------had been kicked was kicked-------------is going to be kicked is being kicked---------will be kicked has been kicked-------can be kicked was being kicked------should be kicked
Often passive voice sentences will contain a "by" phrase indicting who or what performed the action. Passive sentences can be easily transformed into active sentences when the object of the preposition "by" is moved to the subject position in the sentence.
Passive: The cookies were eaten by the children. Active: The children ate the cookies.
Passive: The tunnels are dug by the gophers. Active: The gophers dug the tunnels.
Level 1: Directions: Change the sentences below to the passive voice.
1. Children cannot open these bottles easily. 2. The government built a road right outside her front door. 3. Mr. Ross broke the antique vase as he walked through the store. 4. When she arrived, the changes amazed her. 5. The construction workers are making street repairs all month long. 6. The party will celebrate his retirement. 7. His professors were discussing his oral exam right in front of him. 8. My son ate all the homemade cookies. 9. Corrosion had damaged the hull of the ship. 10. Some children were visiting the old homestead while I was there.
Directions: Change the sentences below to the active voice.
1. The statue is being visited by hundreds of tourists every year. 2. My books were stolen by someone yesterday. 3. These books had been left in the classroom by a careless student. 4. Coffee is raised in many parts of Hawaii by plantation workers. 5. The house had been broken into by someone while the owners were on
vacation. 6. A woman was being carried downstairs by a very strong firefighter. 7. The streets around the fire had been blocked off by the police. 8. Have you seen the new movie that was directed by Ron Howard?
9. My car is in the garage being fixed by a dubious mechanic. 10. A great deal of our oil will have been exported to other countries by our
government.
Used with permission from Oregon State University Business Writing web page by Donna Shaw www.orst.edu
Level 2 Revision Practice: Avoiding Passive Voice Verbs
Read this essay carefully paying special attention to passive voice verbs. Revise the essay by changing the passive verbs into active verbs where appropriate.
Mistakes
1. Technological civilization has reached its
2. present "advanced" state by the trial-and-error behavior of 3. those who lived before us. Many of the most useful 4. discoveries and inventions were the result of mistakes when
5. people were looking for something else. The New World was
6. found by Columbus, who was really looking for India. The
7. discovery of penicillin was speeded by somebody who left a
8. loaf of bread out to get moldy. Think how far behind
9. ourselves we’d be now if mistakes were impossible for us to
10. make. 11. Our knowledge is also increased by our mistakes, if 12. only because once a mistake has been made, a way of 13. correcting it must be found. If the mistake had not been
14. made by us in the first place, we might have had no reason
15. to learn how things are done. As I wrote the first version
16. of this essay, I made a few minor errors. As a result of my
17. mistakes, since I did discover them, I learned the
18. difference between continuous and continual; I learned that 19. useful has only one l (and that the rule goes for hundreds
20. of other words, like wasteful, harmful, spoonful); and I 21. learned how to use a semicolon when a comma won’t do. 22. Had I made no mistakes in the first place, I might 23. have had a pretty good essay, but I would still not have
24. known why. 25. Of course, mistakes have to be recognized for what they
26. are. If Columbus had thought San Salvador was India and let 27. things go at that, the world would be smaller today. Had
28. the moldy bread been tossed to the birds, the birds might 29. have become healthy while human life went on suffering from
30. raging diseases. (I realize these statements are somewhat 31. doubtful, but now I’m so curious about Columbus and
32. penicillin that I’m going to learn the real facts
33. tomorrow.)
34. Mistakes are made by computers, but only rarely by
35. comparison with the human brain’s continual bumbling. Human
36. beings, one might say, have emotions and desires and
37. prejudices that mistakes are the result of. Those quirks, 38. are not things that computers have. Distractions, 39. and fatigue are suffered by human beings but not by
40. computers. So it is possible to say that we are in a bit of 41. danger. If the time should ever come when most of the
42. world’s work is done by computers rather than by people, 43. fewer mistakes will be made. And fewer mistakes will mean
44. fewer of those useful discoveries and inventions brought 45. about by the stumblings of the human species.
Adapted from Readable Writing: Revising for Style by H. Wendell Smith p 112-114.
Answers for Level 2 Revision Practice: Avoiding Passive Voice Verbs
You should have used the active voice to replace passive in lines 5-6, 7-8, 11, 12, 1, 25, 34, 37, 39, and 42-43. Remember an occasional passive-voice sentence, if not awkward, may be appropriate.
Note Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity & Grace by Joseph M. Williams contains a really nice discussion of passive voice and exercises (pp. 72-83). The book is located in the style section of the Writing Center library.
Level 3: Working with Passive Voice Constructions
Directions: Identify and eliminate the passive constructions in the sentences below.
1. The particular topic chosen by the instructor for study in his section of English 2 must be approved by the Steering Committee. [Hint: Start with "The Steering Committee."]
2. Recommendations concerning the type of study needed to assure adequate definition of the larger problem and develop feasible options in programs designed to eliminate or greatly reduce both the direct and indirect effects within a reasonable time and at acceptable cost were presented in the report. [Begin with "The report."]
3. Avoidance of such blunders should not be considered a virtue for which the student is to be commended, any more than he would be praised for not wiping his hands on the tablecloth or polishing his shoes with guest towels. [Hint: Begin with "We should not."]
4. Collaborative analytical determinations were utilized to assess the probable consequences of mechanical failure. [Start with "Analysts."]
5. The difference between restrictives and nonrestrictives can also be better approached through a study of the different contours that mark the utterance of the two kinds of element than through confusing attempts to differentiate the two by meaning. ["One can."]
6. Individuals whose income is insufficient to lift them above poverty must be provided with assistance from public sources. [Start active, and try "Supplement."]
7. In the next thirty-five years it is expected that there will be more engineering work to be done than has been done in all of recorded history.[Make "The next thirty-five years" the subject.]
8. If expansion is not accomplished, then two less-efficient alternatives must be acted upon: either the book sales will have to be in separate quarters or else the whole enterprise will have to be moved to a new location. [Try "we."]
9. Trees on average sites are expected to be about twenty inches in diameter when they are eighty years old if they are managed properly since youth. [Start "Managed properly."]
10. Any amended declaration should be filed with the Internal Revenue Office with whom the original declaration was filed even if you move to another district.
From The Complete Stylist and Handbook by Sheridan Baker (p.181-182)
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• Start › Cram Up › Grammar › Passive Voice
Passive Voice
Exercises on Passive
Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is
performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
Examples of Passive
Tense Subject Verb Object
Simple Present Active: Rita writes a letter.
Passive: A letter is written by Rita.
Simple Past Active: Rita wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by Rita.
Present Perfect Active: Rita has written a letter.
Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.
Future I Active: Rita will write a letter.
Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.
Hilfsverben Active: Rita can write a letter.
Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.
Examples of Passive
Tense Subject Verb Object
Present Progressive Active: Rita is writing a letter.
Passive: A letter is being written by Rita.
Past Progressive Active: Rita was writing a letter.
Passive: A letter was being written by Rita.
Past Perfect Active: Rita had written a letter.
Passive: A letter had been written by Rita.
Future II Active: Rita will have written a letter.
Passive: A letter will have been written by Rita.
Conditional I Active: Rita would write a letter.
Passive: A letter would be written by Rita.
Conditional II Active: Rita would have written a letter.
Passive: A letter would have been written by Rita.
Passive Sentences with Two Objects
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the
subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put
the focus on.
Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2
Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.
.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Personal and Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object
that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you
need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In
English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than
men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put
into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs
and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to
become the subject of the passive sentence.
Excercises
Exercises on Passive (Form)
Exercise on Passive with Simple Present
Exercise on Passive with Simple Past
Exercise on Passive with Present Perfect
Exercise on Passive with Future I
Exercises on Passive (Active → Passive)
Exercise on Passive with Simple Present
Exercise on Passive with Simple Past
Exercise on Passive with Present Perfect
Exercise on Passive with Future I
Exercise on Passive with Auxiliary Verbs
Mixed Exercise on Passive with Passive
Sentences with 2 Objects (Indirect Object, Personal Passive) (neu)
Sentences with 2 Objects (Direct Object) (neu)
Personal Passive (verbs of perception) (neu)
Exercise on Passive with Present Progressive
Exercise on Passive with Past Progressive
Exercise on Passive with Past Perfect
Exercise on Passive with Future II
Exercise on Passive with Conditional I
Exercise on Passive with Conditional II
Exercises on Passive (Active or Passive)
Exercise on Simple Present
Exercise on Simple Past
Exercise on Present Perfect
Exercise on Future I with will
Exercise – The Statue of Liberty (neu)
Exercise – Portal Dolmen (neu)
Summary – The Fellowship of the Ring, part 2, part 3
Grammar in Texts
Show Passive Voice in „The Canterville Ghost“
Grammar Exercise on „Washington, DC“
Show Passive Voice in „History of Snowboarding“
Tests on Passiv
Tenses Active and Passive
Changed: 10th Dec 2010 19:35
URL: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive
Exercise on Passive Voice – Present Perfect
Complete the sentences (Active or Passive Voice). Use Present Perfect Simple.
1. The car (steal) .
2. I (bake) a cake.
3. My friends (buy) a house.
4. The cup (put) on the table.
5. Trees (plant) in the street.
6. The boy (fall / not) off his bike.
7. I (bite / not) by a snake.
8. He (step) on my toe.
9. We (walk) all the way home.
10. She (pick up / not) by a friend.
ANSWERS
Exercise on Passive Voice – Present Perfect
Complete the sentences (Active or Passive Voice). Use Present Perfect Simple.
1. The car has been stolen.
2. I have baked a cake.
3. My friends have bought a house.
4. The cup has been put on the table.
5. Trees have been planted in the street.
6. The boy has not fallen off his bike.
7. I have not been bitten by a snake.
8. He has stepped on my toe.
9. We have walked all the way home.
10. She has not been picked up by a friend.
xercise on Passive Voice – Future I mit will
Complete the sentences (Active or Passive Voice). Use Future I mit will.
1. The house (build) here.
2. You (send) home.
3. I (eat) an ice-cream.
4. We (go) home now.
5. I (help) you.
6. The match (win / not) by our team.
7. The weather (improve / not) tomorrow.
8. The trees (cut) down.
9. The meeting (cancel / not) .
10. They (do / not) that again.
Complete the sentences (Active or Passive Voice). Use Future I mit will.
1. The house will be built here.
2. You will be sent home.
3. I will eat an ice-cream.
4. We will go home now.
5. I will help you.
6. The match will not be won by our team.
7. The weather will not improve tomorrow.
8. The trees will be cut down.
9. The meeting will not be cancelled.
10. They will not do that again.
Revising Passive Constructions
Directions: Rewrite the following sentences in the text-areas provided so that passive
constructions have been changed to active verbs. WARNING! Some of these sentences do not
use passive verbs or are better off left in the passive, so this exercise will also engage your
attention in recognizing passive constructions and in using them when appropriate.
When you are finished with each sentence (or, if you wish, wait until you've done them all),
click on Grammar's Version, which will reveal how we might have rewritten the sentence (when
appropriate) to achieve a more vigorous and concise statement. (You might notice, too, that
changing from a passive to an active construction does not always improve a sentence!) If you
try to cheat by looking at Grammar's version first, loud sirens will go off and there will be a
general decline in the country's moral health. There is, however, no single right answer to these
rewrites, and if you come up with a clearly improved version, please write us e-mail (using the
ASK GRAMMAR form on the main page of this Guide).
1. Before the semester was over, the new nursing program had been approved by the
Curriculum Committee and the Board of Trustees.
Before the semester was over, the Curriculum Committee and the Board of
Trustees had approved the new nursing program.
2. With five seconds left in the game, an illegal time-out was called by one of the
players.
With five seconds left in the game, one of the players called an illegal time-out.
3. Later in the day, the employees were informed of their loss of benefits by the boss
herself.
Later in the day, the boss herself informed the employees of their loss of benefits.
4. The major points of the lesson were quickly learned by the class, but they were also
quickly forgotten by them. The class quickly learned, and then quickly forgot, the lesson's major points.
5. For several years, Chauncey was raised by his elderly grandmother.
Chauncey's elderly grandmother raised him for several years. (However, the first version
puts more emphasis on Chauncey than it does on the grandmother, and there's nothing
really wrong with that.).
6. An unexpected tornado smashed several homes and uprooted trees in a suburb of Knoxville.
Whoa! This sentence is already in the active voice.
7. I was surprised by the teacher's lack of sympathy.
The teacher's lack of sympathy surprised me. (However, if you wish to emphasise the fact
that _I_ was surprised -- as opposed to the effect itself or its source -- then there's nothing
wrong with the sentence.).
8. "The Yellow Wallpaper" was written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper." The original sentence actually puts a
bit more emphasis on the author's name, and there is really nothing wrong with that sentence.
9. Participants in the survey were asked about their changes in political affiliation.
There's nothing wrong with the passive construction in this sentence. _Who_ asked the
questions is not particularly important here.
10. Tall buildings and mountain roads were avoided by Raoul because he had such a fear of
heights.
Raoul avoided tall buildings and mountain roads because he had such a fear of heights.
