Rules & Examples: Change of Voice | SSC CGL Tier 2 - Study Material, Online Tests, Previous Year PDF Download

What is the Voice of a Verb?

• The voice of a verb expresses whether the subject in the sentence has performed or received the action.
• Examples: (i) The watchman opens the door.
  (ii) The door is opened by the watchman.

Types of Voices of Verb

Verbs have two voices: 

1.  Active Voice 
2. Passive Voice

1. Active Voice 

• When an action performed by the subject is expressed by the verb, it is an active voice. 
• Active voice is used when more straightforward relation and clarity is required between the subject and the verb.
• Examples: (i) Hens lay eggs.
  (ii) Birds build nests.

2. Passive Voice

• When the action expressed by the verb is received by the subject, it is passive voice. 
• Passive voice is used when the doer of the action is not known and the focus of the sentence is on the action and not the subject.
• Examples: (i) Eggs are laid by hens.
  (ii) Nests are built by birds.

Rules for Active-Passive Voice Conversions

Below are the active-passive voice rules to follow for changing an active sentence into a passive voice. Before heading to the rules of active-passive voice, let’s check the examples of active and passive voice sentences.

Example 1:

Active: Rita wrote a letter. (Subject + Verb + Object)
Passive: A letter was written by Rita.  (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject).

Example 2:

Active: She cooks food. (Subject + Verb + Object)

Passive: Food is cooked by her. (Object) + (auxiliary verb) + (past participle) + (by subject)

Rules for Active-Passive voice conversions are:

Rule 1: Identify the (S+V+O) Subject, Verb and object in the active sentence to convert to passive voice 
Example: He drives a car. (Subject – He, verb – Drives, object – Car)

Rule 2: Interchange the object and subject with each other, i.e. object of the active sentence become the subject of the passive sentence.
Example: Active Voice: She knits a sweater. (Subject – She, Verb – Knits, Object – Sweater)
Passive Voice: A sweater is knitted by her. (Object sweater is interchanged with the subject She).

Rule 3: In passive voice sometimes the subject is not used, i.e. the subject in passive voice can be omitted if the sentence without it gives enough meaning.
Example: Milk is sold in litres.

Rule 4: Change the base verb in the active sentence into the past participle ie. third form verb in a passive sentence i.e. preceded by (By, With, to, etc). Base verbs are never used in passive voice sentences.
Example: (i) Active Voice: She prepares dinner.
Passive Voice: The dinner is prepared by her.
(ii) Active voice: She knows him.
Passive voice: He is known to her.
(iii) Active voice: Juice fills the jar.
Passive voice: The jar is filled with juice.

Rule 5: While conversion of Active voice sentence to Passive voice sentence, the pronoun used in the sentence also changes in the following manner.

Rule 6: Use the suitable helping or auxiliary verb (is/am/are/was, etc.). The rules for using auxiliary verbs in passive voice sentences are different for each tense.

Examples: (i) The letter is written by her
(ii) A book was not bought by her
(iii) Chocolates are being eaten by them.

Forms of Active And Passive Voice For All Tenses

1. Simple Present Tense 

2. Present Continuous Tense

3. Present Perfect Tense 

Note- [except certain exemptions, no passive Voice formation for the following tenses can be formed, Present Perfect Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Perfect Continuous Tense and Future Continuous Tense]

4. Simple Past Tense

5. Past Progressive/Continuous Tense

6. Past Perfect Tense

7. Simple Future Tense 

8. Future Perfect Tense

➢ Imperative Sentence

If the given sentence in the active voice is imperative, to get the passive voice use ‘Let’. Hence Passive Voice = Let + Object + be + Past Participle

➢ 

Question Sentences

If the question in the Active Voice begins with a Helping verb the Passive voice must also begin with a suitable helping verb. Supposing the question begins with ‘Wh or How’ form (what, when, how ...) the Passive Voice must begin with the same.

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