Active Voice to Passive Voice

PASSIVE VOICE FOR ALL TENSES

• The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
• 3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
• Auxiliary verbs for each tense are given below in the table.

Present Simple Tense (passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: am/is/are
Active voice: He sings a song. He does not sing a song.Does he sing a song?	Passive voice: A song is sung by him. A song is not sung by him. Is a song sung by him?

Present Continuous Tense (passive Voice)Auxiliary verb in passive voice: am being/is being/are being
Active voice: I am writing a letter I am not writing a letter. Am I writing a letter?	Passive voice: A letter is being written by me. A letter is not being written by me. Is a letter being written by me?

Present Perfect Tense (passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: has been/have been
Active voice: She has finished his work She has not finished her work. Has she finished her work?	Passive voice: Her work has been finished by her. Her work has not been finished by her. Has her work been finished by her?

Past Simple Tense (passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: was/were
Active voice: I killed a snake I did not kill a snake. Did I kill a snake?	Passive voice: A snake was killed by me. A snake was not killed by me. Was a snake killed by me?

Past Continuous Tense (Passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: was being/were being
Active voice: He was driving a car. He was not driving a car. Was he driving a car?	Passive voice: A car was being driven by him. A car was not being driven by him. Was a car being driven by him?

Past Perfect Tense (Passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: had been
Active voice: They had completed the assignment. They had not completed the assignment. Had they completed the assignment?	Passive voice: The assignment had been completed by them. The assignment had not been complete by them. Had the assignment been completed by them?

Future Simple Tense (Passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: will be
Active voice: She will buy a car. She will not buy a car. Will she buy a car?	Passive voice: A car will be bought by her. A car will not be bought by her. Will a car be bought by her?

Future Perfect Tense (passive Voice) Auxiliary verb in passive voice: will have been
Active voice: You will have started the job. You will have not started the job. Will you have started the job?	Passive voice: The job will have been started by you. The job will not have been started by you. Will the job have been started by you?

Note: The following tenses cannot be changed into passive voice.

1. Present perfect continuous tense
2. Past perfect continuous tense
3. Future continuous tense
4. Future perfect continuous tense
5. Sentence having Intransitive verbs

Fundamental Rules

• The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
• 3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
• Auxiliary verbs for each tense are given below in the table.

• Passive voice for Present/Future Modals
  “CAN, MAY, MIGHT, SHOULD, MUST, OUGHT TO”

  • The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
  • 3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
  • To change sentences having present/future modal into passive voice, auxiliary verb “be” is added after modal in sentence.

  Passive voice for Present/Future Modals                              “CAN, MAY, MIGHT, SHOULD, MUST, OUGHT TO” Auxiliary verb in passive voice: be
  Active voice: CAN She can play a violin. She cannot play a violin. Can she play a violin?	Passive voice: CAN BE A violin can be played by her. A violin cannot be played by her. Can a violin be played by her?
  Active voice: MAY I may buy the computer. I may not buy the computer. May I buy the computer?	Active voice: MAY BE The computer may be bought by me. The computer may not be bought by me. May the computer be bought by me?
  Active voice: MIGHT  Guests might play chess. Guests might not play chess.	Active voice: MIGHT BE Chess might be played by guests. Chess might not be played guests.
  Active voice: SHOULD Students should study all lessons. Students should not study all lessons. Should students study all lessons?	Active voice: SHOULD BE All lessons should be studied by students. All lessons should not be studied by students. Should all lessons be studied by students?
  Active voice: MUST You must learn the test-taking strategies. You must not learn the test-taking strategies.	Active voice: MUST BE Test-taking strategies must be learnt by you. Test-taking strategies must not be learned by you.
  Active voice: OUGHT TO They ought to take the examination.	Active voice: OUGHT TO BE The examination ought to be taken by them.

  Passive voice for Past Modals
  “MAY HAVE, MIGHT HAVE, SHOULD HAVE, MUST HAVE, OUGHT TO HAVE”

  • The places of subject and object in sentence are inter-changed in passive voice.
  • 3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used only (as main verb) in passive voice.
  • To change sentences having past modal into passive voice, auxiliary verb “been” is added after modal in sentence.

  Passive voice for Present/Future Modals   “MAY HAVE, MIGHT HAVE, SHOULD HAVE, MUST HAVE, OUGHT HAVE TO” Auxiliary verb in passive voice: been
  Active voice: MAY HAVE You may have availed the opportunity. You may not have availed the opportunity.	Active voice: MAY HAVE BEEN The opportunity may have been availed by you. The opportunity may not have been availed by you.
  Active voice: MIGHT HAVE He might have eaten meal. He might not have eaten meal.	Active voice: MIGHT HAVE BEEN Meal might have been eaten by him. Meal might not have been eaten by him.
  Active voice: SHOULD HAVE You should have studied the book. You should not have studied the book.	Active voice: SHOULD HAVE BEEN The book should have been studied by you. The book should have not been studied by you.
  Active voice: MUST HAVE He must have started job. He must not have started job.	Active voice: MUST HAVE BEEN Job must have been started by you. Job must not have been started by you.
  Active voice: OUGHT TO HAVE You ought to have helped him.	Active voice: OUGHT TO HAVE BEENHe ought to have been helped by you

• Passive voice of imperative sentences 

                                 (command and request)

  
  
  A sentence which expresses command or request or advice is called imperative sentence.
  
  For example,
  
        Open the door.
        Turn off the television.
         Learn your lesson.
  
  For changing these sentences in to passive voice, auxiliary verb “be” is used. The word “Let” is added before sentence in passive voice. Auxiliary verb “be” is added after object in sentence in passive voice. Main verb (base form) of imperative sentence is changed to 3rd form of verb (past participle) in passive voice. For best understand read the following examples.

  Examples 

  Passive voice of “Imperative Sentences”
  Active Voice	Passive Voice
  Open the door.	Let the door be opened.
  Complete the work.	Let the worked be completed.
  Turn off the television.	Let the television be tuned off.
  Learn your lesson.	Let your lesson be learnt.
  Kill the snake.	Let the snake be killed.
  Punish him.	Let him be punished.
  Speak the truth.	Let the truth be spoken.
  Help the poor.	Let the poor be helped.
  Revise your book.	Let your book be revised.
  Clean your room.	Let your room be cleaned.

   

  Passive voice of imperative sentences 

                                 (command and request)

  
  

  A sentence which expresses command or request or advice is called imperative sentence.
  
  For example,
  
        Open the door.
        Turn off the television.
         Learn your lesson.
  
  For changing these sentences in to passive voice, auxiliary verb “be” is used. The word “Let” is added before sentence in passive voice. Auxiliary verb “be” is added after object in sentence in passive voice. Main verb (base form) of imperative sentence is changed to 3rd form of verb (past participle) in passive voice. For best understand read the following examples.

  Examples 

  Passive voice of “Imperative Sentences”
  Active Voice	Passive Voice
  Open the door.	Let the door be opened.
  Complete the work.	Let the worked be completed.
  Turn off the television.	Let the television be tuned off.
  Learn your lesson.	Let your lesson be learnt.
  Kill the snake.	Let the snake be killed.
  Punish him.	Let him be punished.
  Speak the truth.	Let the truth be spoken.
  Help the poor.	Let the poor be helped.
  Revise your book.	Let your book be revised.
  Clean your room.	Let your room be cleaned.