Understanding Active and Passive Voice
Active and passive voice are two different ways of expressing a sentence. In the active voice, the subject performs the action, while in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.
Example Sentence in Active Voice
- Riya likes to eat an apple every day.
In this sentence, Riya is the subject who performs the action of liking and eating.
Transforming to Passive Voice
To convert the sentence from active to passive voice, follow these steps:
1. Identify the Object: Determine the object of the active sentence. Here, "an apple" is the object that Riya likes to eat.
2. Rearrange the Sentence: The object becomes the subject in the passive voice.
3. Use the Appropriate Form of "To Be": Add the correct form of the verb "to be" based on the tense. Since "likes" is present simple, we use "is."
4. Make the Main Verb Past Participle: The main verb "like" changes to "liked."
5. Include the Original Subject: You can optionally include the original subject preceded by "by."
Final Passive Voice Sentence
- An apple is liked by Riya every day.
Key Points to Remember
- The focus in passive voice shifts from the doer (Riya) to the receiver (an apple).
- The original subject can be omitted if it is not important to the sentence.
- Passive voice is often used when the doer is unknown or irrelevant.
Understanding these principles will help you effectively transform sentences between active and passive voice, an essential skill for exams like UPSC.