This document provides information about active and passive voice in English grammar. It defines active and passive voice, discusses their structures and uses with different tenses and verbs. Examples are given to illustrate how to change sentences from active to passive voice. The document concludes with some guidelines on appropriate uses of passive voice in academic writing and an activity for readers to practice changing between active and passive sentences.

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CHAPTER
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
INTRODUCTION
Voice is one of the different aspects of English grammar. This section is fundamentally
written for English language learners at medium and advanced levels to give detailed
information on voice without the existence of the teacher(instructor), so it is prepared for self
-study purpose. It is intentionally organized to provide learners with definition, examples, and
some steps to change active voice to passive voice.
Throughout this section, clear explanations and exemplar sentences are given to make the
reader confident and self- reliant. It also provides a self- study exercise that enables the
readers to evaluate their knowledge on the target topic. Therefore, the writer hopes that all
now who use it will enjoy with the confidence and mastery this material will bring.
OBJECTIVES
After completing this section, students will be able to:
 Define and explore the concept of voice.
 Identify the structure of active and passive voice.
 Practice and apply the concept of voice in academic writing.
Voice
According to Murray and Anna (2016), voice refers to the form of a verb which shows
whether the person or thing represented by the subject performs the action or receives the
action. There are two voices in English:
1. Active Voice: when the subject of a sentence does anything himself or itself, we can say
that the sentence is in active voice. As, He speaks Oromifa fluently.
2. Passive Voice: when the subject receives the action or when something is done to the
subject of the verb of a sentence, it is often considered as a passive voice. As, Oromifa is
spoken fluently (by me).
In the above example of an active sentence, the subject is “He” and “speaks” is the verb. In
the passive sentence, “Oromifa” is the subject and “is spoken” is the verb. Basically, the
object of the active sentence becomes subject of the active sentence. Even though both

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sentences have the same fundamental elements, their structure makes them different from
each other. In academic writing, it is generally preferred to use an active verb and pair it with
a subject that names the person or thing doing the action, because active verbs are stronger
and usually more emphatic than forms of the verb “be” or verbs in the passive voice.
Active and passive voice with tenses
Murray and Anna (2016), state the following summary of the form of all passive verb tense.
1. Simple Present tense (is/am/are + V3 or past participle)
Active Voice Passive Voice
She washes the plates.
Do you write the letter?
They do not play the tennis.
The plates are washed by her.
Is the letter written by you?
The tennis is not played by them.
2. Present Continuous tense (is/am/are + being + V3 or past participle
He is driving a car.
I am not eating the meat.
Am I eating the meat?
A car is being driven by him.
The meat is not being eaten by me?
Is the meat being eaten by me?
3. Present Perfect tense (has/have + been + V3)
She has revised the lesson.
She has not revised the lesson.
Has she revised the lesson?
The lesson has been revised by her.
The lesson has not been revised by her.
Has the lesson been revised by her?
4. Simple Past tense (was/ were + V3)
They submitted the proposal.
They didn’t submit the proposal.
Did they submit the proposal?
The proposal was submitted by them.
The proposal was not submitted by them.
Was the proposal submitted by them?
5. Past Continuous tense (was/were + being +V3)
He was singing a song.
He was not singing a song.
Was he singing a song?
A song was being sung by him.
A song was not being sung by him.
Was a song being sung by him?
6. Past Perfect tense (had + been + V3)
They had broken the glass.
They had not broken the glass.
Had they broken the glass?
The glass had been broken by them.
The glass had not been broken by them.
Had the glass been broken by them?

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7. Simple Future tense (will/shall + be + V3)
My friend will finish the assignment.
My friend will not finish the assignment.
Will my friend finish the assignment
The assignment will be finished by my friend.
The assignment will not be finished by my friend.
Will the assignment be finished by my friend?
8. Future Perfect tense (will/shall + have been + V3)
We shall have visited the museum.
We shall have not visited the museum.
Shall we have visited the Museum?
The museum shall have been visited by us.
The museum shall not have been visited by us.
Shall the museum have been visited by us?
Note: In present perfect continuous tense, past perfect continuous tense, and future perfect
continuous tense, we use the same tense in passive voice. In other words, these tenses cannot
be changed in passive form.
Active and Passive Voice with Modals
Modal verbs are helping or auxiliary verbs which give extra/ additional meaning to the main
verb. Modals show the “mode” or the manner indicated by the main. They describe
probability, possibility, permission, request, necessity/obligation, and advice, etc. Susiltyo
(2010, p. 27), states that the passive form of a sentence with modal verbs abide by the
following rules.
Modals
Auxiliary verb in
passive voice Active voice Passive voice
Can/ could Can/could + be +
V3
I can/ could solve the puzzle. The puzzle can/could be solved
by me.
Has to/
have to
Has to/ have to +
be + V3
He has to finish the work. The work has to be finished by
him.
Must Must + be + V3 You must read this book. This book must be read by
you.
May/might May/might+ be +
V3
They may/might play baseball. Baseball may/might be played
by them.
Should Should + be + V3 Students should attend the all
the lessons.
All the lessons should be
attended by the students.

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Active and Passive Voice with Imperatives
Imperative sentences refer to the sentences in which we express our feelings or emotions such
as order, command, advice and request. They are usually introduced by “let” in passive voice.
Rule: Let + object +not/ be + V3
Examples: write the letter. = Let the letter be written.
Don’t write the letter. = Let the letter not be written.
 For sentences containing request, advice and order, we will use you are requested to,
advised to, and ordered to. Please can also be changed into you are requested in passive
voice.
Examples: Get out of my office. = You are ordered to get out of my office.
Kindly do not smoke in the park. = You are requested not to smoke in the park.
Please fetch me the green marker. = You are requested to fetch me the green marker.
Verbs with two Objects in Active and Passive voice
If the active sentence has two objects (both direct and indirect), it can be changed to passive
voice by taking any object as a subject.
Example: He told me a proverb (active). In this example, there are two objects a proverb is
the direct object while me is the indirect object. Therefore, using these two objects, we can
form two passive voices: A proverb was told to me by him and I was told a proverb by him.
N.B: Intransitive verbs are those verbs which do not require an object to complete their sense,
and they are non-passive form. These include die, grow, become, reach, arrive, etc.
Example: Alemu’s father died in a car accident.
Change of Personal Pronoun from Subject to Object for Active to Passive Voice Rules
Personal Pronoun Singular Plural
Person Subject Object Subject Object
1st
I me We us
2nd
You you You you
3rd
He/She/It Him/Her/It They Them

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Infinitives in Active and Passive Voice
Infinitives in the passive voice have the following pattern:
Subject + Verb (V1) + object + to be + V3
Example: I want to send the letter(active) = I want the letter to be sent(passive).
 It would also be possible to use other passive forms in English like:
It is / It was time + for + object + V3
Example: It was time to resign the work. = It was time for the work to be resigned.
“That” Clause in the Passive Voice
Rule: It is said/ believed/admitted + that + object + predicate and its complement
Example: We say that he is a doctor. = It is believed that he is a doctor.
State Verbs in Passive Voice
Rule: … when + it is + V3
Example: The milk tastes sour. = The milk tastes sour when it is tasted.
When to use Passive Voice
Although active voice is generally preferred in academic writing, passive voice is acceptable
under certain circumstances. For instance, use passive voice:
 To emphasis the receiver of the action instead of the doer of the action.
Example: Lectures are given regularly.
 To keep the focus on the same subject throughout several sentences or paragraphs.
Example: My sister and I grew up and went to school in Jamaica. We were educated
according to the British system. In1997, we were given the opportunity to come to the
United States.

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 When we do not know who performed the action, for example, George’s laptop was made
in China.
 When we do not wish to mention the doer of the action or to avoid responsibility.
Example: In education, many problems have been identified for too long.
 When we want to sound objective or avoid using the subject “I”.
Examples: It can be suggested that … It is proved that …
Studies have revealed that … Othello is considered …
In general, to change an active voice into a passive voice, use the following basic rules:
1. Identify subject, object, and the main verb in the given active voice.
2. Convert object of the active voice into subject in the passive voice.
3. Use the suitable helping verb or auxiliary verb according to the tense. If helping verb is
given, use the verb as it is, but the helping verb should be according to the object.
4. Convert the main verb into the past participle (V3).
5. Convert the subject of the active voice into the object of the passive voice.
6. Use the preposition “by” at the end of the sentence if necessary.
Activity 1: Turn the following active voices into passive voice.
1. Alex has already submitted the assignment.
2. The soldiers are beating the thief mercilessly.
3. The countrymen criticized the mayor of our city.
4. The woman with a criminal record stole the camera last week.
5. People in England considered Shakespeare as one of the greatest poets of all times.
6. Why did she burn the document?
7. The government should reduce personal income tax by 5% this year.
8. The instructor wants us to follow all instructions.

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9. No one knows his phone number?
10. Finish this project in a week time.
Activity 2: Turn the following passive voices into active voice.
1. Today much is written and said about the quality education.
2. ‘Love onto the Crypt’ was written by Haddis Alemayehu in the second half of 1950s. It
was first published in Addis Ababa.
3. Volley ball will not be played today by the new students.
4. The letters had been sent by the president.
5. A new bridge has been built over Abbay river

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References
Adugna Guade. (2010). Advanced English Grammar for grade 11-12. Addis Ababa. Mega
Publishing Enterprise.
Betty, S. (2003). Fundamentals of English Grammar Workbook 3rd
Ed. Pearson Education,
10 Bank Street, White Plains. NY.
Murray and Anna C. (2016). Grammar and Mechanics: Active and Passive Voice. Rockowitz
Writing Centre, Hunter College. City University of New York.
Shewakena Cherinet. (2016). Comprehensive English Grammar. Addis Ababa. Mega
Publishing Enterprise.
Susiltyo. (2010).
Takele Legese. (2009). Extreme English for Grade 11-12. Addis Ababa. Mega Publishing
Enterprise.
______. Active and passive voice, worksheets, rules, examples (PDF) retrieved from
http://careersplay.com/activeandpassivevoiceitsworksheetsrulesandexamples/ on
4th September 2022.