Question

Which of the sentence(s) below is/are in active voice:
1. The teacher taught the students.
2. The students learnt from the teacher.
3. The students were taught by the teacher.
4. The students did not learn from the teacher.

• A. Only 1
• B. 1 and 2
• C. 1, 2 and 4
• D. All of the above sentences (1, 2, 3 and 4)

Answer 1

Answer: (C)

1, 2 and 4

A sentence is in active or passive voice depending on whether its verb is in active or passive voice. A verb is in active voice when the Subject does something or some action. A verb is in passive voice when something is done to the Subject. In other words, the Subject receives the action expressed by the verb. In passive voice, the doer of the action may appear in the phrase, "by .....". This could be one easy way of identifying a sentence in passive voice. However, in some cases, this phrase is omitted.

Let us look at the Subject in each sentence. In 1), "the teacher" is the Subject who performs the action "taught". In 2), "the students" is the Subject who perform the action of "learnt". In 4), "the students" is the Subject, who perform the action "did not learn". In all these three sentences, the Subject performs an action. Hence all these are in Active voice.

In sentence 3), "the students" is the Subject. They "were taught" by the teacher. i.e an action is performed on the Subject. Note the use of the phrase "by the teacher" which helps conclude that the teacher is the doer of the action. Hence, this sentence is in passive voice.

Given the above, options A, B and D are incorrect. And option C is the correct answer.