Active and Passive

Voice
What does ‘voice’ in grammar mean?
Voice refers to the form of the verb that indicates
when a grammatical subject performs the action or is
the receiver of the action.
Active Voice
Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah.

The active voice

Mom read the novel in one day. describes a sentence
where the subject
performs the action stated
by the verb.
A forest fire destroyed the whole suburb.
Passive Voice
The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes.

With passive voice,

The novel was read by Mom in one day. the subject is the
receiver of the action.

The whole suburb was destroyed by a forest fire.

Sentence Patterns
The baby played with the toys. ACTIVE
Subject Verb Object receiving
action

The toys were played with by the baby. PASSIVE

Subject Verb Object doing
action
Verb Tenses
Tense Active Voice Passive Voice
Simple Present base form/-s form of the verb Is/are + past participle

Simple Past base form + -d or -ed was/were + past participle

Simple Future will + base form of the verb will be + past participle

Present Perfect has/have + past participle has/have been + past participle

Past Perfect had + past participle of the verb had been + past participle

Present Progressive is/are + -ing form is/are being + past participle

Past Progressive was/were + -ing form was/were being + past participle

Simple Present
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(base form/-s form of the verb) (is/are + past participle)

Once a week, Tom cleans the house. Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.

The volunteers eat delicious food. The delicious food are eaten by the
volunteers.
Simple Past
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(base form + -d or –ed) (was/were + past participle)

Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.

They planted trees yesterday. The trees were planted by them yesterday.

Base form + -d or -ed

Was/were + past participle
Simple Future
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(will + base form of the verb) (Will be + past participle)

Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM. The work will be finished by someone by
5:00PM.

The dragonfly will be caught by her.

She will catch a dragonfly.
Present Perfect
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(has/have + past participle) (has/have been + past participle)

Many tourists have visited that castle. That castle has been visited by many tourists.

My friends have read the books I gave to The books I gave have been read by my
them. friends.
Past Perfect
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(had + past participle of the verb) (had been + past participle)

George had repaired many cars before he Many cars had been repaired by George
received his mechanic's license. before he received his mechanic's license.

Anna had squeezed the fruits to get the juice. The fruits had been squeezed by Anna to get
the juice.
Present Progressive
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(is/are + -ing form) (is/are being + past participle)
Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.

The teacher is teaching English to the English is being taught to the students by the
students. teacher.
Past Progressive
ACTIVE PASSIVE
(was/were + -ing form ) (was/were being + past participle)

The salesman was helping the customer when The customer was being helped by the
the thief came into the store. salesman when the thief came into the store.

The girls were writing their notes when the The dog barked when the notes were being
dog barked. written by the girls.