Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action. You may have learned that the passive voice is weak and incorrect, but it isn’t that simple. When used correctly and in moderation, the passive voice is fine. In English grammar, verbs have five properties: voice, mood, tense, person, and number; here, we are concerned with voice. The two grammatical voices are active and passive.
Affirmative Sentence
Object+Was/Were+Being+Verb{3rd form of the verb}+By+Subject.
Examples-
- He was calling my brother.[Active voice.]
- My brother was being called by him.[Passive voice.]
While transferring a sentence into passive voice from active voice –
- We exchange Subject and Object from each other .
- We use Was/Were + Being as a helping verb in the past continuous tense and third form of verb.
- We use preposition By before Subject.[Subject of Active Voice]
Negative Sentence
Object+Was/Were+Not+Being+Verb{3rd form of the verb}+By+Subject
- He was not calling my brother.[Active voice.]
- My brother was not being called by him.[Passive voice.]
Interrogative Sentence
Was/Were+Object+Not+Being+Verb{3rd form of the verb}+By+Subject
- Was he not calling my brother?[Active voice.]
- Was my brother not being called by him?[Passive voice.]
Main Interrogative Sentence
Question Word+Was/Were+Object+Not+Being+Verb{3rd form of the verb}+By+Subject.
- Why was he not calling my brother?[Active voice.]
- Why was my brother not being called by him?[Passive voice.]
- If there is Who as a question word then-
By+Whom+Was/Were+Object+Not+Being+Verb{3rd form of the verb}
- Who was calling my brother?[Active voice]
- By whom was my brother being called?[Passive voice]
Transform the following sentences into Passive Voice.
- He was opening his shop yesterday untimely.
- Neha was cooking food with her mother.
- The children were playing with the dog.
- The man was reading a newspaper in the hotel.
- They were displeasing their parents.
- He was not helping his sister.
- The people were not following the traffic rules.
- The blind man was not begging for food.
- You were not presenting your project properly.
- We were not losing the match yesterday.
- Were they not driving their car very fast?
- Was Mohan not selling clothes here?
- Were the boys not playing hockey?
- Was she not giving her old clothes to the beggar?
- Was I not knowing all of you?
- When was the boy calling his father?
- Where were they playing the tournament?
- Who was praising her?
- How was she reading Hindi?
- Which book was he buying?
From passive voice to active voice.
We can transform a sentence from passive voice to active voice by just applying the below rules-
- We exchange Subject and Object from each other .
- If there is Was/Were + Being as a helping verb we use the verb according to the past continuous tense.
- We remove preposition By before Subject.
Examples-
Affirmative-
- Physics was being taught by the teacher.[Passive Voice]
- The teacher was teaching physics.[Active Voice]
Negative-
- Physics was not being taught by the teacher.[Passive Voice]
- The teacher was not teaching physics.[Active Voice]
Interrogative-
- Was physics being taught by the teacher?[Passive Voice]
- Was the teacher teaching physics?[Active Voice]
Main Interrogative-
- Why was physics not being taught by the teacher?[Passive Voice]
- Why was the teacher not teaching physics?[Active Voice]
Change the following sentences into Active Voice.
- The fruit was being sold by them in the market.
- The deer was being caught by the hunter.
- A joke was being told by the joker.
- The dog was being killed by the boys.
- The balloon was being sold by the balloon seller.
- The leaf was not being eaten by the goat.
- The fish was not being caught in the net by the children.
- She was not being taught chemistry by his brother.
- I was not being helped by them.
- Hot milk was not being drunk by the child.
- Was the pen not given to him by you?
- Were the thieves not being beaten by the police?
- Were the children not being given chocolate by you?
- Was independence day not being celebrated by the students of this institute?
- Were the apples not being divided among the children by the mother?
- Why was the cat not being fed by her?
- By whom were you given this book?
- What was being cooked by the mother?
- Which fruit was being liked by her?
- Where was he writing a letter?
Content Writer– Mohammad Anas.….. Edited by– Shadab Akhtar.