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    Active and Passive Voice

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    Mohammad Usman

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    Active and Passive Voice

    Uploaded by

    Mohammad Usman
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    18 views6 pages

    Active and Passive Voice

    Uploaded by

    Mohammad Usman

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 6

    Active and Passive Voice

    Voice: Is a form of a verb which shows whether the subject does an action or an action is done to
    the subject.
    Voice has two main types in English
    Active Voice: Is a form of a verb in which the subject is clear and performs an action.
    Ex: He wrote a letter.
    Passive Voice: Is a form of a verb in which the subject is unclear and an action is referred/done
    to the subject.
    Ex: A letter was written.
    When we say what people and things do, we use active voice.
    Ex: He speaks English.
    When we say what happened to people and things, we use passive voice.
    Ex: What is done to them?

    Usage of passive
    When do we have to use the passive voice?
     When we do not know, who does/did the action.
    Ex: Naeem’s pocket was stolen.
     When the doer of the action is unknown or indefinite pronoun, passive is used.
    Ex: Someone stole my pocket last night.
    My pocket was stolen last night.
    “By” cannot be used because the doer is unknown.
     When the object is more important than the subject, using passive voice is preferred.
    Ex: I will meet the president.
    The president will be met by me.
     When the doer of the action represents a large group of different individual, passive voice
    is used.
    Ex: A lot of coffee is grown in Brazil.
    By phrase is unnecessary.
     When the subject is the word people.
    Ex: People speak Pashto in Afghanistan.
    Pashto is spoken in Afghanistan.
    The second sentence is better than the first one.

    Passive formation
    How we can change active voice to passive voice?
    1) The verb in active voice must be transitive. Intransitive verbs are not used in passive
    voice.
    Memo: Transitive and intransitive verbs are described at the end of this lesson.

    2) The object of an active sentence becomes the subject of the passive.


    Ex: Muhabat studies English. (Active)
    English is studied by Muhabat. (Passive)
    3) We normally use one form of the auxiliary “be”: be, am, is, are, was, were, have/
    has been, had been being, will be –followed by past participle.
    (Be + Past Participle)
    English is studied by Muhabat.
    (Be + Past Participle)

    4) The subject of an active sentence becomes part of “by phrase” in the passive
    sentence.
    Muhabat studies English. (Active)
    English is studied by Muhabat. (Passive)
    5) The object pronoun of the active sentence gets change to subject pronoun in the
    passive sentence.
    Arman saw me. (Active)
    I was seen by Arman. (Passive)
    Memo: Use PATAP to change active to passive.
    Verb + PATAP
    PATAP is the contraction form of: P=place, A=adjective, T=time, A=adverb,
    P=preposition.
    If we have these things after verb we can’t change the sentence to passive.
    By phrase (by): It shows the performer of an action. If the performer of an action is important
    use by. If it is not important we don’t use by.
    Ex: The man was killed by rubbers.
    Sometimes the preposition with is used in a passive clause to introduce a tool or instrument used
    by the agent.
    Ex: He was killed “by police” with knife.
    Reflexive pronouns in passive
    Verbs followed by reflexive pronouns cannot be used to passive voice.
    Ex: I saw myself in the mirror.
    Ex: Myslf was seen in the mirror. (Incorrect)

    Change of tenses to passive voice


    Simple present tense: (Be + 3rd form of verb)
     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: Mujib catches the ball.
    P. V: The ball is caught by Mujib.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: Rshid doesn’t catch the ball.
    P. V: The ball is not caught by Rashid.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Do Mujib and Rashid catch the ball?
    P. V: Are the ball caught by Mujib and Rashid?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Doesn’t Janat catch the ball?
    P. V: Isn’t the ball caught by Janat?

    Present continuous tense: (Be + being + 3rd form of verb)


     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: Umar is writing a letter.
    P. V: A letter is being written by Umar.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: Umar is not writing a letter.
    P. V: A letter is not being written by Umar.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Is Umar writing a letter?
    P. V: Is a letter being written by Umar?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Isn’t Umar writing a letter?
    P. V: Isn’t a letter being written by Umar?

    Present perfect tense: (Have/has + been + 3rd form of verb)


     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: Mariam has cooked dinner.
    P. V: Dinner has been cooked by Mariam.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: Mariam has not cooked dinner.
    P. V: Dinner has not been cooked by Mariam.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Has Mariam cooked launch and dinner?
    P. V: Have Mariam been cooked lunch and dinner?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Hasn’t Mariam cooked dinner?
    P. V: Hasn’t dinner been cooked by Mariam?
    Simple past tense: (Was/were + 3rd form of the verb)
     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: I broke a pen.
    P. V: A pen was not broken by me.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: I didn’t break a pen.
    P. V: A pen was not broken by me.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Did I break a pen?
    P. V: Was a pen broken by me?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Didn’t I break pens?
    P. V: Were not pens broken by me?
    Past continues tense: (Was/were + being + 3rd form of a verb)
     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: Arman was teaching English.
    P. V: English was being taught by Arman.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: Arman was not teaching Biology and chemistry.
    P. V: Biology and chemistry were not being taught by Arman.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Was Arman teaching English?
    P. V: Was English being taught by Arman?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Wasn’t Arman teaching English?
    P. V: Wasn’t English being taught by Arman?
    Past perfect tense: (Had + been + 3rd form of verb)
     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: He had studied grammar.
    P. V: Grammar had been studied by him.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: He had not studied grammar.
    P. V: Grammar had not been studied by him.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Had he studied grammar?
    P. V: Had grammar been studied by him?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Had not he studied grammar?
    P. V: Had not grammar been studied by him?
    Simple future tense: (Will + be + 3rd form of verb)
     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: We will bring a new English system.
    P. V: A new English system will be brought by us.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: We will not use old system.
    P. V: Old system will be not used by us.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Will we bring a new system?
    P. V: Will a new system be brought by us?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Won’t we bring a new system?
    P. V: Won’t a new system be brought by us?
    Future perfect tense: (Will + have + been + 3rd form of verb)
     Affirmative: Ex: A.V: She will have eaten lunch.
    P. V: Lunch will have been eaten by her.
     Negative: Ex: A. V: She will not have eaten lunch.
    P. V: Lunch will not have been eaten by her.
     Interrogative: Ex: A. V: Will she have eaten lunch?
    P. V: Will lunch have been eaten by her?
     Negative interrogative: Ex: A. V: Won’t she have eaten lunch?
    P. V: Won’t lunch have been eaten by her?

    Imperative sentences: (Let + object + be + 3rd form of a verb)


    Ex: A. V: Open the widow. P. V: Let the widow be opened. (By you)
    Ex: A. V: Write a letter. P. V: Let a letter be written.

    Modal auxiliary verbs: (Modal auxiliary + be + 3rd form of a verb)


    Ex: A. V: I can learn math. P. V: Math can be learn by me.
    Stative passive:
    When the past participle form of the verb is used as an adjective which shows state not an action.
    It is called Stative passive. Stative passive express existing state rather than an action.
    Stative passive verbs are used to describe the following situation.
    Location and position
    Afghanistan is located in the heart of Asia.
    Part whole relation
    Korea is divided in two parts.
    Connection
    Afghanistan and Uzbekistan are joined by Hairatan Bridge.
    Purpose
    Phone is used to talk with each other
    Manner of method
    Temperature is measured in degree
    Note: the Stative passive do not have active forms.

    Note: These four tenses can be changed to passive voice, but they are not common to be used in
    passive voice:
    1- Present perfect continues tense
    2- Past perfect continues tense
    3- Future continues tense
    4- Future perfect continues tense

    Transitive and intransitive verbs


    Transitive verbs: Are those verbs which need an object. Its meaning isn’t complete without an
    object.
    Ex: I closed the door. I called her. Our grandma tells us stories.
    Intransitive verbs: Are those verbs which don’t need an object.
    Ex: It rained. The sun rises every day. Ali drives slowly.

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