In grammar, the relationship between the action/state of the verb and the subject is expressed in two forms of voice: Active voice and Passive voice.
Active form: In active sentences, the subject is doing the action, and the object is receiving it.
{Thing doing it i.e. subject} + {verb} + {thing on which it is done i.e. object.}
E.g. The professor teaches the students.
Passive form: In the passive form, the action is done by the object.
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
E.g. The students are taught by the professor.
Types of Active & Passive Voice
- Simple Present: ‘clean/is cleaned’
Active voice: Once a week, Rina cleans the house.
Passive voice: Once a week, the house is cleaned by Rina. - Present Continuous: ‘is reading/is being read’
Active voice: Right now, Ram is reading the letter.
Passive voice: Right now, the letter is being read by ram.. - Simple Past: ‘broke/was broken’
Active voice: Sam broke the vase
Passive voice: The vase was broken by Sam. - Past Continuous: ‘was helping/being helped’
Active voice: The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.
Passive voice: The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. - Present Perfect: ‘have visited’
Active voice: Many tourists have visited that castle.
Passive voice: That castle has been visited by many tourists. - Present Perfect Continuous: ‘has been doing’
Active voice: Recently, John has been doing the work.
Passive voice: Recently, the work has been being done by John. - Past Perfect: ‘had repaired’
Active voice: George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic’s license.
Passive voice: Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic’s license. - Past Perfect Continuous: ‘had been preparing’
Active voice: Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant’s fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to London.
Passive voice: The restaurant’s fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to London. - Simple Future: ‘will’
Active voice: Someone will finish the work by 8:00 PM.
Passive voice: The work will be finished by 8:00 PM. - Simple Future: ‘is going to’
Active voice: Rally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.
Passive voice: A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Rally tonight.
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- Future Continuous: ‘will be
Active voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.
Passive voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John. - Future Continuous: ‘going to be’
Active voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, Tina is going to be washing the dishes.
Passive voice: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by Tina. - Future Perfect: ‘will have’
Active voice: They will have completed the project before the deadline.
Passive voice: The project will have been completed before the deadline. - Future Perfect: ‘going to have completed/been completed’
Active voice: They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.
Passive voice: The project is going to have been completed before the deadline. - Future Perfect Continuous: ‘will have been’
Active voice: The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.
Passive voice: The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished. - Future Perfect Continuous: ‘going to have been’
Active voice: The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.
Passive voice: The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished. - Future in the Past: ‘would’
Active voice: I knew John would not finish the work by 5:00 PM.
Passive voice: I knew the work would not be finished by 5:00 PM. - Future in the Past: ‘was going to’
Active voice: I thought Rally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.
Passive voice: I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Rally tonight.
- Future Continuous: ‘will be