English (CAPS)

Grade 10

Active and Passive voice

Active and Passive voice
Action verbs can be in the active voice or in the passive voice.

Active voice
Most of the writing we do is in what we call the active voice. The active voice helps the
reader understand clearly who or what does the action by placing it first in the
sentence. The doer of the action is known as the ‘subject’, and this is almost always
followed immediately by the action or being word (verb).

Example 1: John played the piano solo.

John played the piano solo

Subject Active verb Object

Example 2: The children ate the chocolate.

In this sentence ‘The children’ are the subject or doers of the action ‘ate’ (verb). In this
instance ‘the chocolate’ is what we call the ‘object’ of the sentence – the receiver of the
action. Similarly, in the following sentence,

Example 3: The authors of the report analysed three alternative approaches.

In this sentence ‘The authors of the report’ is the subject and ‘analysed’ is the verb
describing what the report did. The object of the sentence is “three alternative
approaches’.

How to change from the passive voice to the active voice:

Step 1 – Identify your subject, finite verb, and object.

Hundreds of fossils were discovered by the palaeontologists while in Africa.

subject finite verb object

Step 2 - Make the object of your passive sentence, the subject of your active sentence.

The palaeontologists

Step 3 - Shift the verb tense*

The palaeontologists discovered

Step 4 - Remove the preposition “by”.

The palaeontologists discovered

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Step 5 - Make the subject of your passive sentence, the object of your active sentence.

The palaeontologists discovered hundreds of fossils

Step 6 - If there is any extra information like adverbs, add them to the sentence now:

The palaeontologists discovered hundreds of fossils while in Africa.

Active voice Passive voice

Present Simple He delivers the letters. The letters are delivered.
Past Simple He delivered the letters. The letters were delivered.
Future Simple He will deliver the letters. The letters will be delivered.
Present Continuous He is delivering the letters. The letters are being delivered.
Past Continuous He was delivering the letters. The letters were being delivered.
Going to He is going to deliver the letters. The letters are going to be delivered.
Present Perfect He has delivered the letters. The letters have been delivered.
Past Perfect He had delivered the letters. The letters had been delivered.
Infinitive He has to deliver the letters. The letters have to be delivered.
Modals He must deliver the letters. The letters must be delivered.

What if the sentence has no object?

If the sentence has no object, can we not change this to an active sentence? We can
by:

Substituting the word “someone” into the place of the object in your passive
sentence:

Example: Twenty-one children were rescued – no object.

Twenty-one children were rescued by someone.

Passive voice

Occasionally it is useful to change the focus of the sentence, so that the object (receiver
of the action) comes first. One way to achieve this is to use the passive voice. When we
use the passive voice, we can also sometimes choose to avoid saying who did the
action (the ‘agent’).

Example 1: The chocolate was eaten (by the children).

Example 2: Three alternative approaches were analysed (by the authors of the
report).

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Why do we use the passive voice?

The passive voice is used when we want to focus attention on the person or thing
affected by the action.

Example: Hundreds of women are abused.

The focus is on the women who are abused and not on who is abusing them.

How to change from the active voice into the passive voice:

Step 1 – Identify your subject, finite verb, and object.

They paint the house On Friday.

subject finite verb object

Step 2 – Make the object of the active sentence, the subject of your passive sentence.

The house

Step 3 – Shift the verb from your active sentence. *. Add an appropriate auxiliary
verb.

The house was painted

Step 4 – Add the preposition “by”.

The house was painted by

Step 5 – Make the subject of the active sentence, the object of your passive sentence.
Make sure to change pronouns appropriately.

The house was painted by them.

Step 6 - If there is any extra information, add that to the end of the sentence.

The house was painted by them on Friday.

When to use the passive voice

Most academic writing should be in the active voice. However, there are times when
it is useful to use the passive:

1. When you want to emphasise the thing or person acted on.

Example: The art collection containing over 2000 works was lost in the fire.
2. When the performer of the action is unknown or not important.
Example: Compulsory voting was introduced in Australia in 1911.
3.When it is obvious who did the action.
Example: The thief was sentenced to 3 years in prison.
4. In scientific writing to objectively describe a process or experiment.
Example: Research participants were asked to describe what they saw.

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 5. When you are talking about a general truth.
Example: Laws are made to make society run smoothly.
6. When you deliberately want to be vague about who was responsible for the action.
Example: Errors were made in the calculation of the budget.

When to avoid the passive voice

While it can be appropriate and useful to use the passive, many academic disciplines
prefer that you use the active voice and avoid the passive if possible. Check with your
own discipline to be sure what is expected of you. There are several possible reasons
for this.

1. Use of the active voice tends to make your writing clearer, stronger and more
direct.

2. Passives can be used to mask gaps in your knowledge, by avoiding crediting a

person or thing with an action. As a result, writing can be vague, and arguments can
be imprecise or weak.

Example: It is claimed that 73% students prefer to study with music on in the
background. (Who claimed this? Which study?)

3. Overuse of the passive can make a passage ‘wordy’ and hard to read.

Some more examples of active and passive voice

Tense Active Passive
The chocolate is eaten (by the
Present simple The children eat the chocolate
children)
The children are eating the The chocolate is being eaten (by
Present continuous
chocolate the children)
The children have eaten the The chocolate has been eaten (by
Present Perfect
chocolate the children)
The chocolate was eaten (by the
Past simple The children ate the chocolate
children)
The children were eating the The chocolate was being eaten
Past continuous
chocolate (by the children)
The children had eaten the The chocolate had been eaten (by
Past perfect
chocolate the children)
The chocolate will be eaten (by
Future simple The children will eat the chocolate
the children)
The children will be eating the The chocolate will be being eaten
Future continuous
chocolate (by the children)
The children will have eaten the The chocolate will have been
Future perfect
chocolate eaten (by the children
The children would eat the The chocolate would be eaten (by
Present conditional
chocolate the children)
The children would have eaten the The chocolate would have been
Past conditional
chocolate eaten (by the children)
The children should/could/must The chocolate should/could/must
Use with modals
eat the chocolate be eaten (by the children)

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Practice activities
Activity 1
Rewrite each active-voice sentence in the passive voice and each passive-voice
sentence in the active voice.

1. The book was read by everyone in the class.

2. The national anthem was sung by the school choir.

3. We drove the noisy car to the shop.

4. Nelisiwe was puzzled by the meaning of the last scene.

5. Nosipho shut the window suddenly.

6. The rugby coach will give the team a lecture after the match.

7. Samuel won the dance prize at the V-Bash.

8. The precious jewels were recovered by the police that same night.

9. The matric dance decorations were chosen by the grade eleven teachers.

10. My parents gave me a treadmill for my birthday.

11. The shepherd had not noticed the runaway sheep.

12. Water is not drunk by koala bears.

13. Our picture was taken by a photographer at the party.

14. This house was built 200 years ago.

15. A thief stole my purse while I was shopping at Woolworths.

16. On Wednesday, the post office sent me a notice of delivery.

17. The traffic officer had already given him a ticket for illegally parking on the side of
the road.

18. Someone is going to send her some flowers.

19. They showed the tourists the sights of Johannesburg.

20. They have to answer the questions in this workbook.

Answers to activity 1
1. Everyone in the class read the book.

2. The school choir sang the national anthem.

3. The noisy car was driven to the shop by them.

4. The meaning of the last scene puzzled Nelisiwe.

5. The window was shut by Nosipho suddenly. / The window was shut suddenly by
Nosipho.

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6. The team will be lectured by the rugby coach after the match./ After the match,
the team will be lectured by the rugby coach/ The team will be lectured after the
match by the rugby coach.

7. The dance prize was won by Samuel at the V-Bash. / The dance prize at the V-
Bash was won by Samuel.

8. The police recovered the precious jewels that same night. / That same night, the
police recovered the precious jewels.

9. The grade eleven teachers chose the matric dance decorations.

10. A treadmill was given to me by my parents for my birthday.

11. The runaway sheep had not been noticed by the shepherd.

12. Koala bears do no drink water.

13. A photographer took our picture at the party.

14. Someone built this house 200 years ago.

15. My purse was stolen by a thief while I was shopping at Woolworths.

16. A notice of delivery was sent to me by the post office on Wednesday.

17. A ticket was already given to him by the traffic officer for illegally parking on the
side of the road. / A ticket was already given to him for illegally parking on the side
of the road.

18. Flowers are going to be sent to her.

19. The tourists were shown the sights of Johannesburg by them.

20. The questions in this workbook have to be answered by them.

Activity 2
Change the following paragraphs into the passive voice:

1. My uncle painted this picture. Someone has offered him a lot of money for it. He will
deliver the painting tomorrow. When they give him the money, he will tell them the
truth. He painted it one night while he was sleepwalking!

2. Our school is organizing a contest. The teachers will choose the best project about
the environment. The students must include pictures and drawings in their projects.
The students will also have to do all the writing themselves. The school will give the
winner a set of encyclopaedias.

Answers to activity 2
1. This picture was painted by my uncle. A lot of money has been offered for it. The
painting will be delivered by him tomorrow. When the money has been given to him,
the truth will be told. It was painted by him one night while he was sleepwalking!

2. A contest is being organized by our school. The best project about the environment
will be chosen by the teachers. Pictures and drawings must be included by students in

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their projects. All the writing will also have to be done by the students. A set of
encyclopaedias will be given by the school to the winner.

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