Active to Passive Voice Change is a decisive subject as far as English Grammar is concerned. Active to Passive Voice Change may be of different types. Explore our comprehensive guide regarding the active to passive voice change of different types with examples.
When the subject of a sentence is in action i.e. does something himself/herself/itself, the verb of the sentence is in Active voice. For Example,
- Active Voice: The fishermen are catching fish.
When the verb form indicates that the subject of the sentence remains passive or is in inaction, the verb of the sentence is in Passive voice. For Example,
- Passive Voice: Fish is being caught by the fishermen.
Active to Passive Voice Change consists of different types and this has different rules. The factors necessary for Active to Passive Voice Change are – Tense, Verb forms, sentences, etc.
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Now, we will look at the different types of Active to Passive Voice Change in this article through different examples. The different types are –
- The passive voice of Modal Auxilary Verbs.
- The passive voice of Complex Sentences.
- The passive voice of Transitive verbs with two objects.
- The passive voice of with to + Infinitive.
- The passive voice of Intransitive Verbs.
- Passive voice with Reflexive Objects.
- The passive voice of a Factitive Object or Objective Complement
- The passive voice of the Quasi-Passive Voice
- Active to Passive Voice Omission of Agent
- The passive voice without preposition ‘by’
- Active to Passive Voice Conversion of Miscellaneous Examples
Active to Passive Voice Change with Modal Auxiliary Verbs
Basically, 'Shall', 'Will', 'Should', 'Would', 'May', 'Might', 'Can', 'Could', 'Must', 'Ought to', and' Used to' - are considered Modal Auxiliary Verbs in English. The Modal Auxiliary Verbs are also called Defective Verbs. The Modal Auxiliary Verbs or Defective Verbs cannot be used in all the 'Moods' and 'Tenses'. They can only be used in the Simple Present Tense and Simple Past Tense.
Passive Structure
Subject + Modal Auxilary Verb + be + Main Verb (past-participle form) + by + Object.
Examples
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| I can do this work. | This work can be done by me. |
| You may help your brother. | Your brother may be helped by you. |
| He should respect his father. | His father should be respected by him. |
| I would do physical exercise in my youth. | Physical exercise would be done by me in my youth. |
| The teacher must punish him. | He must be punished by the teacher. |
| You might take the book. | The book might be taken by you. |
| we ought to help the poor. | The poor ought to be helped by us. |
Active Passive Voice Complex Sentences
In case of active to passive voice change of complex sentences, if both the Principal Clause and Subordinate Clause consist of transitive verbs.
- We have to change The transitive verbs of both the Principal clauses and Subordinate Clauses.
- Sometimes we need to use Introductory ‘it’.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| I know that he did the work | It is known to me that the work was done by him./That the work was done by him is known to me. |
| Everybody says that you have done it. | It is said by everybody that it has been done by you./That it has been done by you is said by everybody. |
| We hope that we will finish the job in time. | It is hoped that the job will be finished by us in time. |
| We must endure what we cannot cure. | What cannot be cured must be endured. |
| We know that Columbus discovered America. | It is known to us that America was discovered by Columbus./That America was discovered by Columbus is known to us. |
| People say that one knows a tree by its fruit. | It is said that a tree is known by its fruit. |
| It is said that they know it. | Everybody says that it is known to them. |
More Active Passive Voice Complex Sentences
But in case, there is only one transitive verb in a complex sentence, the voice of that transitive verb only changes and the other remains unchanged.
| Active Voice | Active Voice |
| I hope that she will sign in life. | That she will sign in life is hoped by me. |
| He told me that he would come here. | I was told by him that he would come here. |
| We all know that the sun rises in the east. | It is known to us all that the sun rises in the east. |
Active to Passive Voice Change with different Objects for transitive verbs
A sentence can have different types of objects according to function. Objects work as an important factor for changing active to passive voice. Study the change from active to passive of transitive and intransitive with different objects.
The passive voice of Transitive verbs with two objects (Retained Object)
In case of verbs with two objects (ditransitive verbs) in the sentence, we have to make one of them as a subject in the passive voice and the other remains unchanged and we call this Retain object. Retain = Keep(something) in place.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| He teaches us English. | (1) English is taught to us by him. (2) We are taught English by him. |
| I gave him a book. | (1) He was given a book by me. (2) A book was given to him by me. |
The passive voice of Transitive verbs with (Factitive Object)
We can never use Factitive Object as the subject of passive voice. Factitive Objects of verbs take both an Object and a Complement. The Factitive Object is used as a complement to the Transitive Verbs.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| They made him King. | He was made King by them. |
| He called me a fool. | I was called a fool by him. |
| We consider her honest. | She was considered honest by us. |
| The members selected him secretary. | He was selected secondary by the members. |
| They elected him president. | He was elected president by them. |
The passive of verbs with (Reflexive Object)
We can never use Reflexive objects as the subject of the Passive voice. Passive Form: Subject + Verb + Reflexive Object. We can never use The Reflexive Object of Active Voice can never as the Subject of Passive Voice.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| He killed himself. | Himself was killed by him – Incorrect He was killed by himself – Correct |
| Know yourself. | Let you be known by yourself.- Correct |
| We praised ourselves | Ourselves were blamed by us. – Incorrect We were blamed ourselves. – Correct |
| He blamed himself. | Himself was blamed by him. – Incorrect He was blamed by himself. – Correct |
Active to Passive Voice Change with different Objects for Intransitive verbs
When a sentence contains a transitive verb in active voice, it is easy for us to change the sentence into passive voice. Since Intransitive verbs do not have objects, we can not use them in passive form. But the passive voice of intransitive verbs can be possible in the following cases.
The Passive voice of Intransitive Verbs with (Cognate Objects) used Transitively
Normally, intransitive verbs do not have objects. But Cognate Objects can function as the object of a verb, especially of a verb that is usually intransitive, when both object and verb derive from the same root. For example,
- Speak the speech.
Here ‘speech‘ is a cognate object as both the verb (speak) and object (speech) derive from the same root word (speak).
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| They run a race. | A race was run by them. |
| I dreamt a sweet dream. | A sweet dream was dreamt by me. |
| They laughed the last laugh. | The last laugh was laughed by them. |
| The soldiers fought a fierce fight. | A fierce fight was fought by the soldiers. |
The Passive voice of Intransitive Verbs (Prepositional or Group Verbs) used Transitively
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Don’t laugh at the lame. | The lame should not be laughed at. |
| You should not look down upon the poor. | The poor should not be looked down upon by you. |
| We agreed to his proposal. | His proposal was agreed to by us. |
| Send for the doctor. | let the doctor be sent for. |
Active to Passive Voice Change of Infinitive (to + verb)
Structure of passive infinitive
Subject + Auxiliary Verb + to be + Main Verb ( past participle form) +(by + Object)
| Active Voice | Passive voice |
| You have to do the work. | The work has to be done by you |
| I have to admit my own fault. | My own fault has to be admitted by me. |
| He has much money to spend. | There is much money to be spent by him. |
| Today I have no time to waste. | Today there is no time to be wasted by me. |
| They did not want to lose the game. | They did not want the game to be lost (by them). |
| I am to attend the function. | The function is to be attended by me. |
| You have hardly any time to lose now. | You have hardly any time to be lost now. |
| I saw him buy the book. | He was seen to buy the book by me. |
| They made us laugh. | We were made to laugh by them. |
| I have seen the thief pick the pocket of the passengers. | The thief has been seen by me to pick the pocket of the passengers. |
Active to Passive Voice Change of Verbal Noun with Preposition & Object
| Active Voice | Passive voice |
| We saw the feeding of the tigers. | We saw the tigers being fed. |
| I saw the opening of the new theatre. | I saw the new theatre being opened. |
| A new law has been passed against the hunting of tigers. | A new law has been passed against tigers being hunted. |
| Students have appealed for the holding of the examination a little later. | Students have appealed for the examination being held a little later. |
| He saw the painting of this portrait. | He saw this portrait being painted. |
| We saw the scoring of the goal. | We saw the goal being scored. |
| I saw the bathing of the deity. | I saw the deity being bathed. |
| We saw the opening of the showroom. | We saw the showroom being opened. |
| A new law has been passed against the illegal felling of trees. | A new law has been passed against trees being illegally felled. |
Active to Passive Voice Change of Quassi-Passive verbs
Quassi-Passive verbs are active in form but passive in sense. Quassi-Passive verbs are of two kinds.
- Quassi-Passive verbs with a complement
- Quassi-Passive verbs without a complement
Passive Voice Quassi-Passive verbs with a complement
| Active Voice | Passive voice |
| Honey tastes sweet. | Honey is sweet when it is tasted. |
| The book reads well. | The book is well when it is read. |
| The flower smells sweet. | The flower is sweet when it is smelt. |
| This bed feels soft. | The bed is soft when it is felt. |
| This word sounds good. | This word is good when it is read. |
| Sugar sells at twenty rupees a kilogram. | Sugar costs twenty rupees a kilogram when it is sold. |
Passive Voice Quassi-Passive verbs without a complement
| Active Voice | Passive voice |
| The house is building. | The house is being built. |
| The book is printing. | The book is being printed. |
| Mangoes are selling. | Mangoes are being sold. |
| The drums are beating. | The drums are being beaten. |
| The bell is ringing. | The bell is being rung. |
| The cows are milking. | The cows are being milked. |
| The guns are firing. | The guns are being fired. |
Active to Passive Voice Change of Other Prepositions
The Past-Participles of some verbs are followed by prepositions like, - 'to', 'at', and 'with'.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| We know the man. | The man is known to me. |
| The singer pleased the audience. | The audience was pleased with the singer. |
| His failure surprised us. | We were surprised at his failure. |
| Air filled the room. | The room was filled with air. |
| His conduct displeased the teacher. | The teacher was displeased with his conduct. |
| This cup contains tea. | Tea is contained in this cup. |
Active to Passive Voice Change without doer (Omission of Agent)
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| I have lost my book. | My book has been lost (by me). |
| People have elected a new government. | A new government has been elected (by the people). |
| People speak English here. | English is spoken here (by people) |
| One should keep one’s promises. | One’s promises should be kept (by someone) |
| Someone has stolen her purse. | Her purse has been stolen (by someone). |
| The publisher has brought out the book. | The book has been brought out (by the publishers). |
| The examiner has given good marks to the students. | The students have been given good marks (by the examiner). |
| The fielder caught Virat Kohli at mid-on. | Virat Kholi was caught at mid-on (by the fielder). |
| People should not look down upon the poor. | The poor should not be looked down upon (by people). |
| Circumstances obliged me to go. | I was obliged to go (by circumstances). |
Active to Passive Voice Change with Different Examples
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| It is time now to resume your work. | It is now time for your work to be resumed. |
| I have been obliged to do this. | Circumstances have obliged me to do this. |
| He hoped to win a prize. | To win a prize was hoped by him. |
| One should keep one’s promises. | Promises should be kept. |
| Someone has picked my pocket | My pocket has been picked. |
| We can gain nothing without labour. | Nothing can be gained without Labour. |
| The box contains gold ornaments. | Gold ornaments are contained in the box. |
| We should not encourage indiscipline. | Indiscipline should not be encouraged. |
| People in China speak Chinese. | Chinese is spoken in China. |
| We will not allow them to enter the room. | They will not be allowed to enter the room. |
| People say that he is a spy. | It is said that he is a spy. |
| We know that the earth is round. | It is known that the earth is round. |
| You could not understand what I told him. | What was told to him by me could not be understood by you. |
| Everybody says that morning shows the day. | It is said that morning shows the day. |
| You cannot hope that the boys will answer all the questions correctly. | It cannot be hoped that all the questions will be answered by the boys correctly. |
| They elected him secretary of the club. | He was elected secretary of the club. |
| Someone will serve the food soon. | The food will be served soon. |
Miscellaneous Active to Passive Voice Change Examples
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
| Readers must maintain silence in the library. | Silence must be maintained in the library. |
| I have to admit my own fault. | My own fault has to be admitted by me. |
| I saw him buy the book. | He was seen by me to buy the book. |
| A new law has been passed against the hunting of Tigers. | A new law has been passed against Tigers being hunted. |
| I have seen that he picked the pocket of the passenger. | The thief has been seen by me to pick the pocket of the passenger. |
| We saw the opening of a showroom. (Verbal-Noun with a preposition) | We saw a showroom being opened. |
| Mend your shoes on time. | Get / Have your shoes mended. |
| Change this method. | Get / Have this method changed. |
Exercises Special Active to Passive Voice Change
Change the voice of the following sentences.
1. He might drive the car.
2. He says that he knows you.
3. I thought that you did it.
4. They made him secretary in the meeting.
5. He did the work himself.
6. The teacher teaches us English.
7. One should keep one’s promise.
8. We can gain nothing without labour.
9. We expect you to be faithful.
10. Guests must wear musk.
11. I dreamt a sweet dream.
12. He laughed the last laugh.
13. Correct your errors.
14. Revise your answer.
15. Let us settle the issue.
16. He blamed himself.
17. The publisher has brought out the book.
18. The book is printing.
19. We saw the scoring of the goal.
20. The book reads well.