Active and Passive Voice Mastery
Active–Passive Voice: Zero‑Doubt Masterclass
20–40 min lesson Concept → Practice → Mastery Saves progress locallyWhat is Voice?
Voice shows whether the subject is the doer (Active) or the receiver (Passive) of the action.
Active: Subject + Verb + Object → Doer focused
Passive: Object + be + V3 (+ by Subject) → Result focused
Active → Riya paints the wall.
Passive → The wall is painted (by Riya).
When to use Passive
- Doer is unknown or unimportant: The window was broken.
- Emphasize result/rule: Helmets are required.
- Formal/scientific tone: Data were analyzed.
Warning: Verbs that do not form a passive
Intransitive verbs (no object) cannot become passive: sleep, arrive, happen, occur, appear. You need a direct object to promote to subject.
12‑Tense Map (Active → Passive)
| Tense | Active Pattern | Passive Pattern | Example (Active → Passive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | S + V1/V1s + O | O + am/is/are + V3 (+ by S) | They make cars → Cars are made (by them). |
| Present Continuous | S + am/is/are + V‑ing + O | O + am/is/are + being + V3 | She is reading a book → A book is being read (by her). |
| Present Perfect | S + has/have + V3 + O | O + has/have + been + V3 | We have finished work → Work has been finished. |
| Simple Past | S + V2 + O | O + was/were + V3 | He wrote a letter → A letter was written (by him). |
| Past Continuous | S + was/were + V‑ing + O | O + was/were + being + V3 | They were building a house → A house was being built. |
| Past Perfect | S + had + V3 + O | O + had + been + V3 | She had solved the case → The case had been solved. |
| Simple Future | S + will + V1 + O | O + will + be + V3 | I will submit the form → The form will be submitted. |
| “Going to” Future | S + am/is/are + going to + V1 + O | O + am/is/are + going to + be + V3 | They are going to announce results → Results are going to be announced. |
| Future Perfect | S + will have + V3 + O | O + will have + been + V3 | She will have completed it → It will have been completed. |
| Modals | S + can/may/must + V1 + O | O + can/may/must + be + V3 | We must follow rules → Rules must be followed. |
| Modal Perfect | S + should/could + have + V3 + O | O + should/could + have + been + V3 | He could have done it → It could have been done. |
| Imperatives | V1 + O | Let + O + be + V3 | Open the door → Let the door be opened. |
Not used in passive: Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous — because “being been” forms are avoided.
Signal Words & Tricky Cases
- By‑phrase optional: Use only if the doer matters: The thief was caught by the police.
- Indirect objects: Two passives possible — She gave me a gift → I was given a gift / A gift was given to me.
- Get‑passive: Informal alternative to be: He got promoted.
- Prepositional verbs: Keep the preposition: They laughed at him → He was laughed at.
- Question forms: Place the auxiliary first: Did he write the novel? → Was the novel written by him?
- Negatives: Put not after the first auxiliary: is not being done, was not done.
Guided Passive Builder
Build a passive sentence step by step. Great for beginners.
Your passive sentence will appear here…
Note: This tool uses smart defaults (regular plural agreement, common auxiliaries). Irregular verbs still require knowing V3.
Interactive Drills
Accuracy: 0%Completed: 0Streak: 0
Common Mistakes (and Fixes)
- ❌ Missing object: He slept the bed → No passive possible.
- ❌ Wrong auxiliary: Cars is made → Cars are made.
- ❌ V2 instead of V3: was wrote → was written.
- ❌ Unnecessary by‑agent: Taxes were increased by the government can be just Taxes were increased.
Mini Irregular V3 List
write → wrote → written
break → broke → broken
make → made → made
build → built → built
see → saw → seen
eat → ate → eaten
take → took → taken
give → gave → given
choose → chose → chosen
speak → spoke → spoken
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