This document is an English lesson on voices (active and passive) for Class 11 students. It begins with an introduction on voices and provides examples of sentences written in both the active and passive form. It then discusses the key differences in structure between active and passive sentences. Examples are given of changing sentences from active to passive voice and vice versa. The lesson emphasizes that only transitive verbs can be changed to the passive voice. Later, it discusses the four types of sentences and provides examples of changing sentences between voices for each type. In the end, exercises are given to practice changing between active and passive voices.

1. PES/ENG/XI/048
• This is BetaVersion file.
Words-2108
A PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY PRODUCTION
SUBJECT ENGLISH
CLASS XI
MODULE VOICES (Episode 2)
Opening Sequence
VOICE OVER
Remember the two ways a sentence can be expressed---- in ACTIVE VOICE and
in PASSIVE VOICE depending on whether the subject of the sentence is doing
any action or not.
Let us recall a couple of sentences
SUPER APPEARS
i. Man has made the society—The society has been made by man.
ii. The school rules must be followed by the students—The students must
follow the school rules.
iii. The essay was written by me—I wrote the essay.
iv. Who killed the tiger?----By whom was the tiger killed?
Cut to ANCHOR
Each of the three sentences above have been written in two ways yet they
mean the same. We know that they are in two different voices as discussed
earlier.
Learning Objectives
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It is not just to be able to identify the voice of any sentence but we should be
able to construct sentences in the two voices on our own. For that we need to
know
SUPER APPEARS
1. The difference in the structure of the sentences in the two voices.
2. How to change from one voice to the other without changing the
meaning of the sentence.
Main Content
Cut to ANCHOR
Many a times we think, that just by changing one or two words in a
sentence the voice has changed. But that is not so.
Let us look at the table below:
SUPER APPEARS
Active subject verb object
>
Cats eat fish.
VOICE OVER
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb:
SUPER APPEARS
Passive subject verb doer/agent
<
Fish is eaten by cats.
VOICE OVER
The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
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SUPER APPEARS
subject + auxiliary verb (be/have) + main verb (past participle) +
agent/doer(optional)
The main verb is always in its past participle form. Look at these examples:
subject auxiliary verb (to main verb (past
be) participle)
Water is drunk by everyone.
100 are employed by this company.
people
I am paid in rupees.
We are not paid in dollars.
Are they paid
Cut to ANCHOR
So when we are constructing a sentence with the verb in ACTIVE VOICE we
have to take care that
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
That the subject is doing the action AND there is an object.
Eg. Sub: I vb: am doing obj: the task.
What makes a man?
Cut to ANCHOR
While writing a sentence with the verb in PASSIVE VOICE the subject is no
longer doing the action. It is done by an agent OR the doer of the work is not
mentioned.
SUPER APPEARS
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Eg. i. The clothes have been hung by the maid.
ii. The clothes have been hung. (by the maid)
In both the cases the subject “clothes” is not doing any work.
In i. the work is done by an AGENT/ object.
In ii. the work is done by an object who is not mentioned.
This becomes important when we change from one voice to another.
We have to remember that
SUPER APPEARS
1. The meaning of the sentence DOES NOT CHANGE
2. The tense also DOES NOT CHANGE.
3. The SUBJECT of an active sentence becomes the OBJECT of the
passive sentence and vice versa.
4. The OBJECT of an active sentence becomes the SUBJECT of the
passive sentence and vice versa.
5. The verb of the active voice takes its PAST PARTICIPLE form in
passive voice preceded by vb. ‘to BE’ or vb. ‘to HAVE’ in the SAME
TENSE as the other sentence.
VOICE OVER
Let us have a look at the table
SUPER APPEARS
subject verb object>agent
Active Everybody drinks water.
Passive Water is drunk by everybody
Active Mary had done good work
Passive Good work had been done by Mary
Active Raj will bring your book
Passive Your book will be brought by Raj
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Active Somebody has stolen my bag
Passive My bag has been stolen ( agent not mentioned)
Active (You) raise the curtain
Passive Let the curtain be raised (by you)
Active Who broke the jug?
Passive By whom was(broken) the jug?
Passive Rules must be followed ?????
Active (All/you/students) must follow rules
Cut to ANCHOR
So you have seen how verbs can be changed from active to passive and passive
to active. But an important point has to be kept in mind.
Remember when we change from ACTIVE to PASSIVE
SUPER APPEARS
The OBJECT of the verb in ACTIVE voice becomes the SUBJECT of the verb in
PASSIVE voice.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
So only TRANSITIVE VERBS can be changed to PASSIVE voice and not
INTRANSITIVE VERBS.
WHY?
Because INTRANSITIVE VERBS have NO OBJECTS.
Let us look at the following sentences:
SUPER APPEARS
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1. Monica eats rice.
2. Monica eats in the morning.
Cut to ANCHOR
What is the difference?
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
1. Monica eats what?
---Rice
2. Monica eats when?
---in the morning.
Cut to ANCHOR
As RICE in 1.answers to the question WHAT it is the OBJECT of the verb EATS.
In 2. the question put is WHEN and the answer IN THE MORNING is an
ADVERBIAL phrase. So it is NOT an OBJECT.
So sentence 1.can be changed INTO PASSIVE VOICE
SUPER APPEARS
Rice is eaten by Monica.
Cut to ANCHOR
But the second cannot be changed. Try to do it!!
Let us do some teasers. Change these sentences to passive. If it cannot be done
say NO:
(The answers are to come a few seconds later)
SUPER APPEARS
1. I am writing a story.
Ans. A story is being written by me.
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2. The boy will give a speech.
Ans. A speech will be given by the boy.
3. Raju talks very fast.
Ans. NO
4. Ankit had studied only yesterday.
Ans. NO
5. Madhu burnt her fingers.
Ans. Madhu’s fingers were burnt by her.
6. We all burnt with shame.
Ans. NO
Cut to ANCHOR
So keep this in mind students that only when a verb in a sentence answers to the
question WHAT or WHO only then it has an OBJECT and can be changed to
PASSIVE. For the rest they are only ADVERBIAL PHRASES.
Let us do a few exercises.
SUPER APPEARS
Say which is the object in each of the sentences. If there is no object say NO:
( ans.to appear a few seconds after the question)
1. I bought three books yesterday.
A. three books.
2. Ritesh will throw a party next week.
A. a party.
3. Montu left early in the morning.
A. NO
4. The man paid the fine.
A. the fine.
5. Prateek is an active boy.
A. NO
(Always remember that the word or group of words which comes after any form
the verb ‘be’ is never an object, but a complement.
6. She will go by Monday.
A. NO
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Let us now recall something we had learnt in our junior classes—kinds of
sentences.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
There are FOUR kinds of sentences. They are:
ASSERTIVE—one that makes a statement
Eg. The children are playing cricket.
INTERROGATIVE—one that asks a question
Eg. Who broke this glass?
IMPERATIVE—one that gives commands/orders/requests
Eg. Hang the culprit (order).
Please give me a glass of water (request).
EXCLAMATORY—one that expresses a feeling/emotion
Eg. What a beautiful sight!
Cut to ANCHOR
Of these, the first three can have verbs written in ACTIVE or PASSIVE voice
after fulfilling the condition of the verb having an OBJECT.
Let us try out a few transformations from one voice to another.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
ASSERTIVE—ACTIVE: Praveen distributed sweets.
PASSIVE: Sweets were distributed by Praveen.
INTERROGATIVE—ACTIVE: Who will take the responsibility?
PASSIVE: By whom will the responsibility be taken?
ACTIVE: Why should the man punish Manu?
PASSIVE: Why should Manu be punished by the man?
IMPERATIVE—ACTIVE: Raise the curtain.
PASSIVE: Let the curtain be raised.
ACTIVE: Please allow me a day’s leave.
PASSIVE: Please let me be allowed a day’s leave.
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Cut to ANCHOR
But where is the subject in an imperative sentence?
One important and interesting point must be noted in the IMPERATIVE
sentence---that apparently the subject IS MISSING. But it definitely is not so.
Actually the subject is nothing but second person YOU. So in active voice it is
YOU ……….. and in passive voice it is ………. BY YOU, both of which need not
be used.
So anytime you need to change from one voice to another in IMPERATIVE put
YOU and BY YOU appropriately and you will have no problem.
There are two ways to change an IMPERATIVE sentence. Look at these
sentences
SUPER APPEARS
.
.
1. Shut the door.
Let the door be shut.
You are ordered to shut the door.
2. Please clean the room.
Let the room be cleaned.
You are requested to clean the room.
Let us tackle some quizzes
(ans.to appear a few seconds after the questions)
SUPER APPEARS
Change from one voice to another:
1. The teacher asked a simple question to the students
A. A simple question was asked by the teacher to the students.
2. The money will be returned by Shyam tomorrow.
A. Shyam will return the money tomorrow.
3. By whom had the clothes been washed?
A. Who had washed the clothes?
4. Can you get an umbrella?
A. Can an umbrella be got by you?
5. Call all the men.
A. All the men must be called.
6. Please close the windows.
A. Please may the windows be closed.
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7. Let the room be cleared.
A. Clear the room.
8. The room had been arranged.
A. Someone/a girl/they had arranged the room.
9. What will be told to Ram?
A. What will you/they/she tell Ram?
10. Let the best win.
A. Let the match/contest/election be won by the best.
Summary
Cut to ANCHOR
Thus we have seen that the two voices viz. ACTIVE and PASSIVE even though
they express the same meaning in a sentence, have their unique characters.
Also we have seen the changes that need to be put in when we are transforming
one voice to the other. These changes are very important and must be kept in
mind when doing the transformation.
We will now try out a few exercises:
SUPER APPEARS
1. What are the main features of a sentence in ACTIVE VOICE?
--The main features of a sentence in ACTIVE VOICE are a. subject b. object
c. verb
2. How is a sentence in PASSIVE VOICE different from that of an ACTIVE
VOICE?
--A sentence in a PASSIVE VOICE has for its subject that which is the
object of an ACTIVE VOICE.
3. What are the changes that comes to the verb of a sentence in PASSIVE
VOICE ?
The verb in PASSIVE VOICE takes its PAST PARTICIPLE form preceded
by either verb ‘to be’ or ‘to have’.
4. Change the voice of the following sentences:
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a. The food has been cooked by my mother----My mother has cooked the
food.
b. The discipline must be maintained---All/people/students must maintain
the discipline.
c. How has this dish been prepared?----How has she/the chef prepared
this dish?
d. May you be blessed---May God/your parents/all bless you.
e. Arrest the criminal----The criminal must be arrested / Let the criminal
be arrested.
f. The exams will be held by next week---The school/board/teacher will
hold the exams by next week. NOT Next week will hold the exams.
g. Give me the answer---the answer must be given to me.
Cut to ANCHOR
So we end with VOICES today. Please remember that the correct use of voice in
appropriate place makes a writing beautiful. So use the VOICES in the right way.
BETA STAGE OF SCRIPT
Submitted No. of Times: 1 2 3 4
Subject: _Baljeet Kaur, Class: _XI
Topic: VOICES-II
Script ID: PES/ENG/XI/048
Date of Receiving by PES: 26-11-09
Date of Receiving by Subject Specialist: 26-11-09
Name of Subject Specialist: Baljeet Kaur
Tick (√ ) any one of the following:
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