AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

Introduction to active and passive voices

Voice can be either active or passive
A/ active voice: - when the subject of the sentence acts on something it is known as active voice.
 Eman drinks a cup of milk.
 She wrote a letter to her friend.
 Ali dag the ground last week.
In the above examples, the sentences are stated in to:
Subject verb object
Eman drinks a cup of milk
She wrote a letter
Ali dag the ground
B/ Passive voice: - When we want to give emphasis to the action or we don’t want to express
the doer of the action we use passive voice.
Passive voice is one in which the doer of the action is either unknown or irrelevant; the subject is
then the receiver of the action.
We exchange the place of subject and object, and the verb will be converted in to its past participle
form.
 A cup of milk is drunk by Eman.
 A letter was written by her.
 The ground was dug by Ali.
 In the above examples sentences are changed. The object becomes at the beginning of the
sentence and subject become, at the end of the sentence.
Object verb Agent
A cup of milk is drunk by Eman
A letter was written by her
The ground was dug by Ali
 The subject is the doer of the action and the object is the receiver of the action in the
sentence. The verbs we use in the passive are always “verbs to be” with “V3” form.

Changing active to passive

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AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

Rules
1. We can use different tenses in active and passive voices, but we

cannot change:
 Present perfect continuous
 Future continuous
 Future perfect continuous
 Past perfect continuous …

2. The object of the active sentence will become the subject of the passive
sentences.

o Yasmin killed the dog.  The dog was killed by Yasmin.

o Ilili studies English. English is studied by Ilili.

3. The main verb must be changed to the past participle form. The verb in the passive
sentence should be in the past participle form. In short, the form of the passive
sentence is the verb to be + past participle, of the main verb.

The students are punished by the teacher.

The door was broken by the thief.

4. According to the tense of the verb, the suitable be” form must be
used. [Be forms could be: be, being, is, are, am, was, were, been.]

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 AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

TENSE CHANGES IN ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

S.No Tense in active voices Tense in passive voice

1 Simple present Simple present passive
S + v1 S + is/are/am + v3
He writes a letter. A letter is written by him.
2 Present continuous Present continuous passive
S+ is/are/am + ving S + is/are/am + being + v3
He is writing a letter. A letter is being written by him.
3 Present perfect Present perfect passive
S + has/have +V3 S + has/ have + been + V3
He has written a letter. A letter has been written.
4 Simple past Simple past passive
S + V2 S + was/ were + V3
He wrote a letter A letter was written by him.
5 Past continuous Past continuous passive
S + was/were + V –ing S + was/were + being + V3
He was writing a letter. A letter was being written by him.
6 Past perfect Past perfect passive
S + had + V3 S + had + been + V3
He had written a letter. A letter had been written by him.
7 Future tense Future tense passive
S + will/shall + V1 S + will/shall + be + V3
A letter will be written. A letter will be written by him.
8 Present conditional Present conditional
S + would /should + V1 S + would/should + be + V1
He would write a letter. A letter would be written by him.

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AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

CHANGING AN IMPERATIVE SENTENCE IN THE ACTIVE VOICE TO PASSIVE

PASSIVE VOICE FOR IMPERATIVE SENTENCES - RULES

A sentence that expresses a command or an advice or a request is called an imperative sentence.

Here are some examples:
 Learn your lessons. (An advice)
 Open the door. (A command)
 Help the poor. (An Advice)
 Please, make a cup of tea. (A request)
Changing imperative sentences into Passive voice:
 An imperative sentence does not have a known-subject.
 It reflects a message conveyed to the listener in the form of an advice, a request or a
command.
 The listener of the sentence is assumed to the subject, who is not directly mentioned in the
sentence. Hence, imperative sentences in Passive Voices also do not have a mentioned-
subject in the sentence.
There are three rules for converting an imperative sentence from Active
Voice into Passive Voice.

1. The imperative sentence in Passive Voice begins with word “Let”.

2. The word ‘Be’ is used is used as an auxiliary verb in Passive Voice of imperative sentences.

3. Base form (or 1st form of verb, e.g. write etc) is converted into Past Participle (or 3rd form of
verb e.g. written etc) for making passive voice of imperative sentence.

An imperative sentence in the passive voice has the following form:

Let + object + be + past participle.

 Active: Carry it home.

o Passive: Let it be carried home.

 Active: Do it at once.

o Passive: Let it be done at once.

 Active: Open the door.

o Passive: Let the door be opened.

 Active: Throw the ball.

o Passive: Let the ball be thrown.

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AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

When the active voice is in the negative, the passive voice takes the form:

Let + object + not + be + past participle.

 Active: Do not beat the dog.

o Passive: Let the dog not be beaten.

Note that do is not used in the passive form.

We can begin the passive sentence with you if we want to put emphasis on the person addressed to.

Compare:

 Active: Help me.

o Passive: Let me be helped.

o Passive: You are requested to help me.

 Active: Learn the poem.

o Passive: Let the poem be learned.

o Passive: You are asked to learn the poem.

 Active: Don’t touch it.

o Passive: Let it not be touched.

o Passive: You are warned not to touch it.

Note that the passive form has to begin with you when the object of the active verb is not
mentioned.

 Active: Work hard.

Here the active verb does not have an object. Therefore the passive form should begin with you.

 Passive: You are advised to work hard.

 Active: Get out.

o Passive: You are ordered to get out.

Read the following examples for better understanding:

Passive Voice for Imperative Sentences

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AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

Active Voice Passive Voice

 Respect the elders. Let the elders be respected.

 Finish the task. Let the task be finished.
 Do not waste the time. Let the time not be wasted.
 Close the door. Let the door be closed.
 Wash the shirts. Let the shirts be washed.
 Repair your camera. Let your camera be repaired.
 Open the window. Let the window be opened.
 Help the children. Let the children be helped.
 Throw the ball. Let the ball be thrown.
 Collect nice books. Let nice books be collected.
VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS
If the active sentences have two objects (direct or indirect), it can be changed to passive by taking
any object as a subject.
 Active: He told me a story.
o Passive: A story is told to me.
 I was told a story.
 Active: He buys her a pen.
o Passive: A pen is bought to her.
 She is bought a pen.
1. The waiter handed me a menu.
2. Addis Ababa University has awarded him a scholarship.
3. They will send you a letter.
4. She gave me a book.
5. He bought her an expensive gift.
QUESTION IN PASSIVE
There are three stages to change active question in to passive:
 Stage 1: Turn the questions in to statements.
 Stage 2: Make the statement passive.
 Stage 3: Now turn the passive sentence back to the question.
Example:
1. Did he do it?
Stage 1: He did it.
Stage 2: It was done by him.
Stage 3: Was it done by him?
2. Will he learn English?
a. Stage 1: He will learn English.
b. Stage 2: English will be learnt.
c. Stage 3: Will English be learnt?
3. Why did he take the pen?
a. Stage 1: Why he took the pen.
b. Stage 2: Why the pen was taken.
c. Stage 3: Why was the pen taken?

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AWEDAY SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVE & PASSIVE [G-12] CHALA OLKEBA

Self-test activities on active and passive voice

Choose the best answer from the given alternatives
1. The room _____________.
A/cleans B/ has been cleaned C/cleaned
2. We _________ a gift by Arjun.
A/ were given B/brought C/bring D/given
3. The car has been repaired by the technician. The underlined part is:
A/ verbs B/adjectives c/noun
4. The woman boils the milk. This sentence is: A/active B/passive
5. All the dishes were------------ by the woman. A/washed B/washing C/wash
6. The teacher gave an advice for his students. The subject is ________.
A/students B/ an advice C/ the teacher
7. When we change sentence 6 above, to passive voice:
A/ the students are gave an advice by the teacher
B/ The students have given an advice by the teacher.
C/ the students were given an advice by the teacher.
8. The nurse has given a good treatment for the patients. The passive form is:
A/ the patients has been given a good treatment by the nurse. B/ the patients have been
given a good treatment by the nurse. C/ the patients have give a good
treatment by the nurse.
9. The old man is digging the field. The object of this sentence is:
A/ the field B/the old man C/ the old
10. The window is _________ by the boy when he plays football.
A/breaks B/break C/broken
11. All the rooms are cleaned by the woman. The active form is:
A/ The woman cleans all the rooms. B/the woman cleaned all the rooms.
C/the woman cleaning all the rooms.