Passive Voice
Difference between Active and Passive voices
In the Active voice construction, the person or object
signified by the subject is the agent of the action.
S V O
Eg. Rama /killed /Ravana.
In the passive voice construction, the object of the active
verb becomes the subject. The verb is reconstructed using Be and Past
participle form of the verb. Thus in passive voice we get
O+Be + PP
The auxiliary verb ‘be’ has several other forms also.
Be – am,is,are,
was,were,
[Be,being,been
]
PP – past participle
Out of four verb forms namely simple, continuous, perfect and
perfect continuous only three have (simple,continous and perfect) passive
voices. Perfect continuous has no passive voice construction. Verbs formed with
Modal auxiliaries are treated separately. Thus in passive voice constructions
we have four separate categories
1. Simple
2. Continuous
3 Perfect
4 Modal
1.Simple
Am/is/are/was/were + pp
Past
|
Present
|
Was/were
|
Am/is/are
|
Look at the sentence below
1.Rama / killed /Ravana
We have to mark the subject ,verb, and object. Object is
obtained by asking ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ to the verb.
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object ( obtained by
asking ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ to the verb)
|
Rama
|
Killed
|
Ravana
|
As earlier mentioned the object of the verb in the active
voice will become the subject in the passive voice. The sentence will turn like
this.
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
Ravana
|
by Rama
|
Now only the verb is remaining to be filled.
The ‘verb’ in the above sentence is ‘killed’ and we find that
verb is in the past tense form(simple past). Hence either ‘was’ or ‘were’ need
to be selected for passive voice construction. We know that ‘was’ is singular
and ‘were’ is plural. Now we have to look at the new subject in the passive
voice construction. Here it is Ravana. We know that Ravana is singular hence
‘were’ cannot be used. Thus we ultimately select ‘was’ from the family of ‘Be’.
Now the past participle form of the verb is needed. Past
participle form of ‘kill’ is ‘killed’ itself. Thus the answer is
Ravana /was killed / by Rama
Now try the following exercises.
2. Tom /wrote/ a poem.
A poem/ was written /by Tom
3.The child/ ate /oranges
Oranges /were eaten /by the child
4.Salim/ learnt/ English.
English /was learnt/ by Salim.
5.They /drank/ tea.
Tea/ was drunk /by them
6.We /played /Tennis.
Tennis /was played/ by us
7.Anil /plays /chess
Chess/ is played/ by Anil
8.The teacher /writes/ poem.
The poem/ is written/ by the teacher.
9.Hari /learns /grammar
Grammar/ is learnt /by Hari.
10. Mother /drinks/ tea
Tea/ is drunk /by mother
11. Father /tells /stories.
Stories /are told /by father.
2.Continuous
Be + being + PP
Look at the sentence below.
- Anil is playing chess.
Let us mark subject, verb and object if any.
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object ( obtained by
asking ‘what?’ or ‘whom?’ to the verb)
|
Anil
|
is playing
|
Chess
|
The verb is in continuous (ing) form. We know that in the passive
voice construction past participle form of the verb must be used. So ‘playing’
will automatically become ‘played ‘ but the idea that the action was in progressive
tense should be there in the passive voice construction also. So we have to
bring in the ’ ing ‘ form of the auxiliary verb ‘be’.
In the last step we have to make the verb agree with the new
subject i,e ‘Chess’. Chess is singular hence ‘is’ is enough. The answer is
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
Chess
|
is being played
|
by Anil
|
1.Anil/ is playing /chess.
Chess/ is being played /by Anil.
Now do the following exercises.
2.The teacher/ is writing /a poem.
A poem/ is being written/ by the teacher
3.Hari /is learning /grammar
Grammar/ is being learnt /by Hari.
4.Mother/ is drinking /tea.
Tea /is being drunk /by mother.
5.Father/ is telling/ a story.
A story/ is being told/ by father.
6.We/ are eating /fruits.
Fruits/ are being eaten/ by us.
7.She /is studying/ commerce.
Commerce/ is being studied /by her.
Past continuous
1.Sam /was writing /a poem.
A poem /was being
written /by Sam.
2.The child/ was eating /oranges.
Oranges /were being eaten/ by the child.
3.Salim /was learning /English.
English /was being learnt/ by Salim.
4.They /were drinking /tea.
Tea /was being drunk/ by them.
5. We /were playing/ Tennis.
Tennis/ was being played/ by us.
6.The servant/ was preparing /food.
Food /was being prepared/ by the servant.
7.Rama /was playing /football.
Football /was being played /by Rama.
8.Children /were collecting/ flowers.
Flowers /were being collected /by children.
9.He /was singing/ a song.
A song /was being sung/ by him.
10. Rama /was killing/ a snake.
A snake /was being
killed /by Rama.
11.Appu was preparing beef.
Beef /was being prepared /by Appu.
12.Hari was typing letter.
Letter/ was being typed /by Hari.
Perfect
Look at the sentence below
Sitha /has written /a letter.
In the case of perfect tenses the past participle form of the
verb is used in the active voice itself. So to convey the perfectness of the
verb in the passive voice we have to bring in the past participle form of ‘be’
- i,e ‘ been’
Active
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
Sitha
|
has written
|
a letter
|
Passive
‘Been’ is inserted and the subject verb agreement is checked
for the new subject.
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
A letter
|
has been written
|
by Sitha
|
Exercises
Present perfect
1.He/ has done/ her work
Her work/ has been done /by her.
2.I /have eaten/ apples.
Apples /have been eaten/ by me.
3.Father /has read/ that novel.
The novel /has been read /by father.
4.Mother /has written /a letter.
A letter/ has been written /by mother.
5.Leela/ has sung /a song.
A song/ has been sung /by Leela.
6.Rama /has killed /a snake.
A snake/ has been killed /by Rama.
7.I /haven’t read /that book.
That book/ has not been read/ by me.
8.He /has not eaten /all the apples.
All the apples/ have not been eaten/ by him.
9.Gopal /has written/ a story.
A story /has been written /by Gopal.
10.I /have finished /my homework.
My home work /has been finished /by me.
Past perfect
1.He /had done /his work.
His work/ had been done /by him.
2.She /had eaten /mangoes.
Mangoes/ had been eaten/ by her.
3.Hari /had written/ a poem.
A poem /had been written/ by Hari.
4.I /had read /that novel.
That novel/ had been read/ by me.
5.Shiji/ had sung /a song.
A song/ had been sung/ by Shiji.
6.Raji /had prepared /some pickles.
Some pickles /had been prepared/ by Raji.
7.They/ had made /biscuits.
Biscuits /had been made /by them.
8.She/ had collected/ flowers.
Flowers /had been collected /by her.
9.She/ had studied /music.
Music /had been studied/ by her.
Modal
Look at the sentence below
Raju /will drive /the car.
A modal auxiliary (will) is there in the verb. We know that a
modal auxiliary is always followed by a bare infinitive (base form
without ‘to’). So the bare infinitive form of the auxiliary verb ‘be’ is
brought in.
Active
Subject
|
Verb
|
Object
|
Raju
|
will drive
|
the car
|
Passive
‘Be’ is inserted and the past participle form of the main verb is used
|
Subject |
Verb
|
Object
|
The car
|
will be driven
|
by Raju
|
1. The teacher /will teach/ English.
English /will be taught /by the teacher.
2. He /will watch /the sky.
The sky /will be watched /by him.
3. Mother /will take /medicines.
Medicines /will be taken/ by mother.
4. I /will be playing/ Tennis.
Tennis /will be being/ played by me.
5. Sudha /will be singing/ a song.
A song /will be being sung/ by Sudha.
6. Rama /will be writing/ a poem.
A poem /will be being written /by Rama.
7. Children /will be playing/ football.
Football /will be being played /by children.
8. She /will be doing /her homework.
Her homework /will be being done/ by her.
9. I /will be learning/ Hindi.
Hindi /will be being learnt/ by me.
10. He /will be collecting /stamps.
Stamps /will be being collected /by him.
Additional exercises
1. He /will be writing/ a letter
A letter will be being written by him.
2. The examiners/ will be interviewing/ you /tomorrow at this
time.
You /will be being interviewed/ tomorrow at this time
3. He will have written a letter.
A letter will have been written by him.
4. They /will have completed /the work /by January.
The work/ will have been completed /by them by Janaury.
5. Invite him to the meeting.
Let him be invited to the meeting.
6. Do not inform the officer now.
Let not the officer be informed now.
7. Do they undertake video coverage?
Is video coverage undertaken by them?
8. Should we postpone the meeting?
Should the meeting be postponed?
9. Where did he do the mischief?
Where was the mischief done?
10. When did you build your house?
