Active Voice and Passive Voice

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
2
Guess

idiom
the
 Hold your horses

Meaning : used to tell someone to stop and consider

carefully their decision or opinion about something.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Just hold your horses, Bill! Let's think about this for
a moment.
3
Active voice: When a subject is directly acting
on the object.

eg., I sold a book.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Passive voice: When the object is acted upon by
the subject.

Eg., A book was sold by me.

4
Use of the Passive Voice President Kennedy was
killed by Lee Harvey
We use the passive when: Oswald.

➢ we want to make the active object

more important
My wallet has been stolen.
➢ we do not know the active
subject

5
 Conjugation for the passive voice
Tense Active Voice Passive Voice

Simple Present take am taken

takes is taken
are taken

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Present continuous Am taking Am being taken
Is taking Is being taken
Are taking Are being taken

Present Perfect Has taken Has been taken

Have taken Have been taken
6
 Tense Active Voice Passive Voice
Simple Past took Was taken
Were taken
Past Continuous Was taking Was being taken
Were taking Were being taken
Past Perfect Had taken Had been taken

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Simple future Will take Will be taken
Shall take Shall be taken
Can/may/must, etc + Can take Can be taken
base Must take Must be taken
7
The character Lady
Macbeth fascinates me.

I am fascinated by the

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
character Lady Macbeth.

8
Sara does not like tea.

Tea is not liked by Sara.

9
 They fund schools for girls.

Schools for girls are funded by them.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
10
The cat is chasing its own tail.

Its own tail is being chased by the cat.

11
I have sent the flowers.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The flowers have been sent by me.

12
They have published all the details of the
invention.

All the details of the invention have been

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
published by them.
13
Do you imitate others?

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Are others imitated by you?

14
Inform the police.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Let the police be informed.

15
The telegraph wires have been cut.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Someone has cut the telegraph wires.

16
 S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
17
idiom?
Guess
the
 Have your head in the clouds

Meaning : to not know the facts of a situation; be

absentminded or impractical.

• She must have had her head in the clouds when

she made the reservations, because they never
heard of us.
• He'll never be able to run the business—he's
always got his head in the clouds.
18
 The results surprised them.

They were surprised by the results.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
19
Her manners pleased us very much.
We were very much pleased with her

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
manners.

20
The monkey was stealing snacks from
unsuspecting tourists.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Snacks were being stolen from
unsuspecting tourists by the monkey.
21
The driver was blowing the horn.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The horn was being blown by the driver.

22
The kids were building a spaceship out of
cardboard boxes.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
A spaceship made of cardboard boxes was
being built by the kids.
23
The doctor had examined him.
He had been examined by the doctor.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
24
John will have finished the project next month.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The project will have been finished by next
month.

25
 I will mail the gift.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The gift will be mailed by me.

26
 Tom will be invited
Sharon will invite to the party by
Tom to the party. Sharon.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
27
 I am going to make the cake.
The cake is going to be made by me.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
28
Terry can not foretell the future.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The future can not be foretold by Terry.

29
 The lazy students may not do the
homework.
The homework may not be done by the

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
lazy students.

30
Children shouldn't smoke cigarettes.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Cigarettes shouldn't be smoked by children.

31
Customers must not That door must
use that door. not be used by

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
customers.

32
Sara and Tom have to wash the dishes every
day.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The dishes have to be washed by them (or Sara
and Tom) every day.

33
They are supposed Dessert for the family
to make dessert for is supposed to be

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
the family. made by them.

34
That firm may have offered Tara a new job.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Tara may have been offered a new job by that
firm.

35
Her company may give Katie a new office.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
Katie may be given a new office by her
company.
36
The children shouldn't have broken the
window.

S A M P L E F O OT E R T E X T
The window shouldn't have been broken by the
children.

37
Someone broke into the National Gallery late last
night. The thieves had broken the alarm system
before they climbed through a window. They stole
some priceless works of art. They used a getaway
car to escape. The police have questioned some
suspects. They have not caught the thieves yet.
38
38
The National Gallery was broken into late last
night. The alarm system had been broken by the
thieves before the window had been climbed
through. Some priceless works of art were stolen
by them. A getaway car was used by them to
escape. Some suspects have been questioned by
the police. The thieves have not been caught, yet.
39
39