Active and Passive Voice Rules of English Grammar

Understanding Active and Passive Voice rules are imperative for candidates preparing for various Government exams as well as other competitive exams.  

In this article, we shall discuss in detail the Active and Passive Voice rules followed by examples, along with the sample questions asked in the examinations, based on the same. Candidates will be explained the concept and active -passive rules in English grammar both in the text and video format.

Active & Passive Voice

Let us first understand the meaning of voice, and what is active voice and passive voice.

What is Voice of a verb?

The voice of a verb expresses whether the subject in the sentence has performed or received the action.

Example:

• The watchman opens the door.
• The door is opened by the watchman.

Types of Voices of Verb

Verbs have two voices (i) Active Voice (ii) Passive Voice

Active Voice – When an action performed by the subject is expressed by the verb, it is an active voice. Active voice is used when more straightforward relation and clarity is required between the subject and the verb.

Active Voice example:

• Hens lay eggs.
• Birds build nests.

Passive Voice –  When the action expressed by the verb is received by the subject, it is passive voice. Passive voice is used when the doer of the action is not known and the focus of the sentence is on the action and not the subject.

Passive Voice Examples:

• Eggs are laid by hens.
• Nests are built by birds.

Candidates preparing for any Government exam can check other important topics for the English language section.

Active And Passive Voice Rules For Conversion of Sentence

Below are the active-passive voice rules to follow for changing an active sentence into a passive voice. Before heading to the rules of active-passive voice, let’s check the examples of active and passive voice sentences.

Conversion of Active and Passive voice examples

• Rita wrote a letter. (Subject + Verb + Object)
• A letter was written by Rita.  (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject).
• She cooks food. (Subject + Verb + Object)
• The food is cooked by her. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject)

Candidates can watch the video on Active-Passive voice rules and concept in English. This will help them gain conceptual knowledge and understand the variety of questions asked in the exams even better.

Rules of Active – Passive Voice in English Grammar – Part 1

Rules for Active – Passive Voice Conversions

Rule 1. Identify the (S+V+O) Subject, Verb and object in the active sentence to convert to passive voice 

Example: 

He drives car. (Subject – He, verb – Drives, object – Car)

Rule 2. Interchange the object and subject with each other, i.e. object of the active sentence become the subject of the passive sentence.

Example : 

Active voice : She knits sweater. (Subject – She, Verb – Knits, Object – Sweater)

Passive Voice : The sweater is knitted by her. (Object sweater is interchanged with the subject She).

Rule 3. In passive voice sometimes the subject is not used, i.e. the subject in passive voice can be omitted if the sentence without it gives enough meaning.

 Example : 

Milk is sold in litres

Rule 4. Change the base verb in the active sentence into the past participle ie. third form verb in a passive sentence i.e. preceded by (By, With, to, etc). Base verbs are never used in passive voice sentences.

Example: 

• Active voice: She prepares dinner.
• Passive voice: The dinner is prepared by her.
• Active voice: She knows him.
• Passive voice: He is known to her.
• Active voice: Juice fills the jar.
• Passive voice: The jar is filled with juice.

Rule 5. While conversion of Active voice sentence to Passive voice sentence, the pronoun used in the sentence also changes in the following manner.

Rule 6. Use the suitable helping or auxiliary verb (is/am/are/was, etc.). The rules for using auxiliary verbs in passive voice sentences are different for each tense.

Example:

• The letter is written by her
•  A book was not bought by her
• Chocolates are being eaten by them.

Forms of Active And Passive Voice For All Tenses

• Simple Present Tense 

• Present Continuous Tense

• Present Perfect Tense 

Note- [except certain exemptions, no passive Voice formation for the following tenses can be formed, Present Perfect Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Perfect Continuous Tense and Future Continuous Tense]

• Simple Past Tense

• Past Progressive/Continuous Tense

• Past Perfect Tense

• Simple Future Tense 

• Future Perfect Tense

Rules of Active & Passive Voice in English Grammar – Part 2

Also, check the following for English language preparation:

• Conjunctions List & Rules
• Rules For Prepositions
• Rules For Tenses
• Rules Of Nouns in English
• List of Prefix and Suffix with Examples
• Adjective Degree of Comparison Rules

The syllabus of the English language is vast and for convenient preparation of this section, candidates can check English For Competitive exams to get more relevant topics.

Active And Passive Voice – Sample Questions 

The significance of knowing the rules of active and passive voice for the English language section of various competitive exams can only be understood by knowing the type of questions asked in the examination, based on the same.

Hence, given below are sample questions on active and passive voice asked in the English language section of various government examinations:

[Directions] In the following questions, a sentence has been given in either Active or Passive Voice. From the four options select the one which best expresses the same sentence in the opposite voice than mentioned in the question.

Q.1. Never disobey your elders

1. You are asked not to disobey your elders.
2. You are ordered not to disobey your elders.
3. Do not disobey your elders.
4. You are not to disobey your elders.

Answer (1) You are asked not to disobey your elders

Q.2. The students were listening to the teacher.

1. The teacher is listened to by the students.
2. The teacher listened to students.
3. The teacher was listening to by the students
4. The teacher was listened to by the students.

Answer (4) The teacher was listened to by the students.

Q.3. I have to do it.

1. It is be done by me.
2. It should to be done by me.
3. It has to be done by me.
4. It would to be done by me.

Answer (3) It has to be done by me.

Q.4.  Tell the maid to prepare tea.

1. You are ordered to tell the maid to prepare tea.
2. You are said to tell the maid to prepare tea.
3. You are advised to tell the maid to prepare tea.
4. You are asked to tell the maid to prepare tea.

Answer (4) You are asked to tell the maid to prepare tea.

Q.5. Who stole your bike?

1. Your bike was stolen by him?
2. By whom was your bike stolen?
3. Your bike was stolen by whom?
4. By whom your bike stolen?

Answer (2) By whom was your bike stolen?

Apart from the MCQ type questions given above, active-passive voice questions appear in reading comprehension and error spotting as well. Candidates to practice well for the exam can check out a few important Sentence correction questions asked in various competitive exams in the link provided.

Also, check Previous Year Question Papers PDF with Solutions to understand the scope and difficulty level of question in the exams.

Candidates must be well aware of the rules of Active and Passive Voices in English, so as to use them correctly without making any errors in the exam. Knowledge of active and passive voice will help score good marks in the exam as well as improve their understanding of English. 

Being well acquainted with the rules of the active and passive voice will not only enhance the vocabulary skills for descriptive sections in the examination, but it will also improve candidates usage of English in day to day communication as well.

Almost all the exams, such as SSC exam, Bank exam, RRB exam, Insurance exam or any other Government exams have a separate section for the English Language in both objective and descriptive paper. Candidates can go through the English Question and Answers on important topics given below-

• Direct & Indirect Speech Questions & Answers
• Prepositions Questions And Answers
• One Word Substitution Questions & Answers
• Tenses Questions And Answers 

For more practice exercise and question and answers on different English topics, candidates can check the Verbal Ability page linked here.

Candidates preparing for the various government exams can refer to the detailed exam syllabus in the links given below:

For a better understanding of the formation of words in English and to know the English words that are asked in most of the competitive exams, visit the links provided below

1. English Root Words
2. Most asked English Vocabulary Words

Aspirants preparing for the upcoming government exams must carefully go through the concept and rules of active and passive voice in English grammar, as they tend to score the least in the English Language section.

To ace this section, it is important that candidates have a clear concept of mistaken words or the confusing words in the English language. Given below are a few such words that they can check for reference-

Similarly, 100 Difference between Articles on various topics, subjects, concepts etc are given on the link provided for your revision.
For further questions or information regarding competitive exams, study material or best books for preparation, candidates can turn to BYJU’S.