Active and Passive Voice

Do you know about active and passive voices before? What are they? Can you give
examples?
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Concepts of active and passive voices
 Active Voice: When the subject of the sentence performs the action in the sentence.
 Passive Voice: When the object of the sentence has an action done to it by someone or
something else.

General formula for active and passive voices

1. Simple present active voice →simple present passive voice

Subject +Base verb(V1)→ S+ is/am /are + past participle of base verb by
E.g. Rahel writes a letter to her mother( Active voice)
A letter to her mother is written by Rahel.
2. Simple present continuous tense active →simple present continuous passive
S+ is /am/are +V-ing→S+ is / am/ are +being + V3 + by
E.g. They are constructing two new houses. Active
Two new houses are being constructed by them. passive
3. Simple past tense active →simple past tense passive
S+V2→S+was / were + V3 + by
E.g. America bombarded Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
In 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombarded by America
4. Simple past continuous active →simple past continuous passive
S+ was / were + V-ing → S+ was / were + being +V3 + by
E.g. My father was helping his friend in the shop(active )
His friend in a shop was being helped by my father ( passive )
5. Present perfect tense active →Present perfect tense passive
S+ has / have +V3 → S+ has / have + been + V3 + by

Example:
1. Nesibu scanned the headlines.
(Subject) (Verb) (Direct object)
2. The headlines were scanned by Nesibu.
(Subject) (Verb) (Prepositional phrase)
Notice that the subject in the active voice sentence (Nesibu) is the object of the preposition "by"
in the passive sentence. And the word "headlines" is the direct object in the active voice is now
the subject
Rules for changing voice:
A. Only sentences containing transitive verbs can be changed from the active voice to the
passive voice.
B. The "Be" form must be used according to the tense of the verb.
C. Past participle of the verb must be used.
D. Preposition "by" can be added when the agent of the sentence is important.
Examples:
 For the simple present tense use am, is or are with a past participle to form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
The caretaker locks the door. The doors are locked by the caretaker.
 For the present continuous tense use am, is or are with being followed by a past
participle to form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
The singer is singing a song beautifully. The song is being sung beautifully by the singer.
 For the simple past tense use was or were with a past participle to form the passive
voice.
Active voice Passive voice
Dad taught us English. We were taught English by Dad / English were taught to us by Dad.
 For the past continuous tense use was or were with being followed by a past participle to
form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
She was reading a book. The book was being read by her.
 For the future tense use shall or will with be followed by a past participle to form the
passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
We will celebrate her birthday. Her birthday will be celebrated by us.
 For the present perfect tense use have or has with been followed by a past participle to
form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
Ali has scored two goals. Two goals have been scored by Ali.
 For the past perfect tense use had with been followed by a past participle to form the
passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
Ruth had given a gift to Abiy. A gift had been given to Abiy by Ruth.
 For imperatives use let with be followed by a part participle to form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
Give up smoking. Let smoking be given up.
 For infinitives use Subject + verb + Object + to be followed by a part participle to form
the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
I want to write the letter. I want the letter to be written.
  For subordinate clause use a subject and a conjugated verb + normal passive pattern
according to the tense used to form the passive voice.
Active voice Passive voice
I thought that Mary had kissed John. I thought that John had been kissed by Mary.
NOTE: it is impossible for us to change present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous,
future continuous, and future perfect continuous in to passive voice.
In the passive voice, the same action is referred to indirectly; that is, the original “receiver” of
the action is the grammatical subject, and the original “doer” of the action is the grammatical
object of the preposition by:
Example:
 New road is being built by government.
 These drugs are not taken by you.
 English is spoken all over the world.
 Coffee is grown in Ethiopia.
To change an active clause into a passive clause:
A. Make the object of the active clause the subject of the passive clause
B. Use verb to be of the active clause tense and add the past participle of the main verb
C. Make the subject of the active clause the agent (“doer”) of the passive clause. Introduce
the agent (if required) using the preposition by
Example:
 Chinua Achebe wrote Things Fall Apart (Active)
In this sentence the doer of the action is Chinua Achebe and Things Fall Apart is object. Its
passive would be
 Things Fall Apart was written by Chinua Achebe. (Passive)
Here Things Fall Apart is the subject of the sentence whereas, Chinua Achebe is the object of
preposition by.

Uses of passive voice

The passive voice is used in English:
Active voice sentence focuses on the person or thing that do the action in a sentence while the
passive voice-focus on the action done than the doer of the action.
A. When attention is to be drawn especially to the “receiver” of the action, i.e. if we want to
point out the object more than the subject:
 The one Child policy of Chine has been changed.
 Ethiopians had been seen as the first people to exist on earth.
 My dog was hit by a car.
 The window has been broken.
B. When the “doer” of the action is unimportant or unknown. Such use occurs frequently in
textbooks, in scientific, technical and business reports, and in newspaper stories, making it
possible to maintain an impersonal tone.
 The report was confirmed yesterday.
  It was supposed that the company is planning a new advertising campaign.
 I have been robbed!
C. When the subject is obvious we use passive voice rather than active voice.
Example:
 English is spoken all over the world. (Who speak English all over the world? It is obvious
‘People ‘
 Coffee is grown in Ethiopian. (Who grow coffee in Ethiopia? It is also obvious Farmers
grow coffee.)
 America is known all over the world.
D. when it is not necessary to mention the “doer” of the action:
 He was killed in the war.
 This book was printed in Aster Nega Printing press.
E. The use of “by” + agent after passive. An agent is a doer of the action. The person or thing
that performs the action in directed by the verb by + agent in passive construction tells who
or what does or did something.
 The window was broken by a stone.
 He was killed by falling stone.
 Eleven new Universities were opened by the Ministry of Education.
F. Have something done in the passive. We use ‘have something done’ to say that we arrange
for somebody else to do something for us.
 Ali repaired the roof. ( he repaired it himself)
 Ali had the roof repaired. (=he arranged for somebody else to repairs it)
Form: Have + object + past participle (v3)
 Challa had the room decorated. (He arranged for a decorator to do it.)
 I do not like having my photograph taken.
 How often do you have your car serviced?
 You have had your hair cut.
G. The introductory: it is another vague passive subject. Active sentences of the type “People
say / think / consider / know/report/ etc. that he is …..”have two possible passive forms:
Active: People say that figs are better for us than bananas.
Passive: It is said that figs are better for us than bananas.
Figs are said to be better for us than bananas.
It was reported that the president suffered a heart attack.
NOTE: The vague active subject, such as no one or nobody is not mentioned in the passive
sentence. Therefore, the verb in the passive sentence will become negative:
Active: Nobody invited him to dinner.
Passive: He was not invited to dinner
 Activity 1
Dear learners read and change the following active sentences into the passive form. The
first one is done for you.
Example: She has written the letter. (Active sentence)
The letter has been written. (Passive sentence.)
1. He bought a post-card to his friend.
_________________________________
2. Workitu was writing a letter to her boyfriend.
_____________________________________
3. The mechanic is repairing the radio
_________________________________________
4. He may bring the dictionary with him.
___________________________________________
5. At Bole Air Port, the police arrested a 40 years old business man from Khartum.
______________________________________________________

 Activity 2

Dear students label the following sentences as active and passive from (1-10)

1. The classroom in the university is being cleaned by the workers every day.
2. The teacher is teaching the new course in the class to the students.
3. By the coming semester, I will have been a senior student.
4. The ministry of education was informed to add ten other new universities.
5. The population number of Ethiopia is very few as compared to the land coverage it has.
Notes on Future tense
1) Simple Future Tense

Functions of the simple future tense

The simple future refers to a time later than now, and expresses facts or certainty. In this case
there is no 'attitude'. The simple future is used:
 To predict a future event:
It will rain tomorrow.
 With I or We, to express a spontaneous decision:
I'll pay for the tickets by credit card.
 To express willingness:
I'll do the washing-up.
He'll carry your bag for you.
 In the negative form, to express unwillingness:
The baby won't eat his soup.
 I won't leave until I've seen the manager!
 With I in the interrogative form using "shall", to make an offer:
Shall I open the window?
 With we in the interrogative form using "shall", to make a suggestion:
Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
 With I in the interrogative form using "shall", to ask for advice or instructions:
What shall I tell the boss about this money?
 With you, to give orders:
You will do exactly as I say.
 With you in the interrogative form, to give an invitation:
Will you come to the dance with me?
Will you marry me?
NOTE: In modern English will is preferred to shall. Shall is mainly used with I and we to make
an offer or suggestion, or to ask for advice (see examples above). With the other persons (you,
he, she, they) shall is only used in literary or poetic situations,
E.g. "With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes, She shall have music wherever she goes."
Contractions in the future tense
 I will = I'll
 We will = we'll
 You will = you'll
 He will = he'll
 She will = she'll
 They will = they'll
 Will not = won't
2) The Future Continuous Tense
The future continuous tense, sometimes also referred to as the future progressive tense, is a verb
tense that indicates that something will occur in the future and continue for an expected length of
time. It is formed using the construction will + be + the present participle (the root verb + -ing).

The simple future tense is a verb tense that is used when an action is expected to occur in the
future and be completed.

For example, let’s suppose you have a meeting tomorrow at five o’clock.
I will arrive at five o’clock.

I will arrive is the simple future tense of the verb to arrive. You arrive once; beyond that, you
can’t keep on arriving. However, once you get there, you may be doing something that goes on
continuously, at least for a certain period of time.
Example: At five o’clock, I will be meeting with the management about my raise.

Will be meeting is the future continuous tense of the verb to meet. The construction will + be +
the present participle meeting indicates that the meeting isn’t going to happen in an instant, all at
once. It will have a duration. The will + be + present participle construction always indicates the
future continuous tense.
Example: Michael will be running a marathon this Saturday.
Eric will be competing against Michael in the race.
It is important to note that the future continuous tense is only used with action verbs, because it
is possible to do them for a duration. (Action verbs describe activities like running, thinking, and
seeing. Stative verbs describe states of existence, like being, seeming, and knowing.) To use the
will + be + present participle construction with a stative verb would sound very odd indeed.
Example: I will be being stressed tomorrow during my science test.
I will be stressed tomorrow during my science test.
After I study, I will be knowing all the answers for the test.
After I study, I will know all the answers for the test.
3) Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense is for talking about an action that will be completed between now and
some point in the future
Example: The parade will have ended by the time Chester gets out of bed.
At eight o’clock I will have left.
The Future Perfect Formula
The formula for the future perfect tense is pretty simple: will have/shall have + [past participle].
It doesn’t matter if the subject of your sentence is singular or plural. The formula doesn’t change.
When to Use the Future Perfect Tense
Sometimes, you can use the future perfect tense and the simple future tense interchangeably. In
these two sentences, there is no real difference in meaning because the word before makes the
sequences of events clear:
Example: Minda will leave before you get there.
Minda will have left before you get there.
But without prepositions such as before or by the time that make the sequence of events clear,
you need to use the future perfect to show what happened first.
At eight o’clock Minda will leave. (This means that Minda will wait until 8 o’clock to
leave.)
At eight o’clock Minda will have left. (This means Minda will leave before 8 o’clock.)
When Not to Use the Future Perfect Tense
The future perfect tense is only for actions that will be complete before a specified point in the
future. In other words, the action you’re talking about must have a deadline. If you don’t mention
a deadline, use the simple future tense instead of the future perfect tense.
Minda will leave.
Minda will have left.
The deadline can be very specific (eight o’clock) or it can be vague (next week). It can even
depend on when something else happens (after the parade ends). It just has to be some time in
the future.
How to make the Future Perfect Negative
Making a negative future perfect construction is easy! Just insert not between will and have.
Example: We will not have eaten breakfast before we get to the airport tomorrow morning.
They will not have finished decorating the float before the parade.
How to Ask a Question
The formula for asking a question in the future perfect tense is will + [subject] + have + [past
participle]:
Example: Will you have eaten lunch already when we arrive?
Will they have finished decorating the float before the parade?
Prepositional Phrases that Often Go With the Future Perfect
 By this time next week, Linda will have left for her trip.
 Three days from now, we will have finished our project.
 At midnight, the party will have ended.
 Will you have eaten already?
Common Regular Verbs in the Future Perfect Tense

4) Future Perfect Continuous Tense

The future perfect progressive tense, also known as the future perfect continuous tense, is used to
indicate a continuous action in the future.
 The general formula is will + have been + verb (ending in -ing).
Example: Shannon will have been gardening for three years by then. (Not only are we speaking
about the future, and Shannon's gardening, but it seems to be a continuous affair. Let's take a
closer look at this perfect, ongoing affair.)

REPORTED OR INDIRECT SPEECH

Indirect Speech (also referred to as 'reported speech') refers to a sentence reporting what
someone has said. It is almost always used in spoken English.
Direct speech: He said: “I am very angry”
Indirect speech: He said that he was very angry.
In direct speech the words of the speaker are incorporated (in writing by quotation marks) within
the reporting sentence retaining the status of independent clause.
Indirect speech subordinates the words of the speaker in a that-clause within the reporting
sentence; sometimes that as subordinator may be ellipted.
He said he was very angry.
Using the Reported Speech:
If the reporting verb (i.e. said) is in the past, the reported clause will be in a past form. This form
is usually one step back into the past from the original.
For example:
He said (that) the test was difficult.
She said (that) she watched TV every day.
 If simple present, present perfect or the future is used in the reporting verb (i.e. says) the
tense is retained.
For example:
He says the test is difficult.
She has said that she watches TV every day.
 Jack will say that he comes to school every day.
If reporting a general truth the present tense will be retained.
For example: The teacher said that phrasal verbs are very important.
Changing Pronouns and Time Signifiers
When changing from direct speech to indirect speech, it is often necessary to change the pronouns
to match the subject of the sentence.
For example:
She said, "I want to bring my children." BECOMES She said she wanted to bring her children.
Jack said, "My wife went with me to the show." BECOMES Jack said his wife had gone with him
to the show.
 It is also important to change time words (signifiers) when referring to present, past or
future time to match the moment of speaking.
For example:
 She said, "I want to bring my children tomorrow." BECOMES She said
she wanted to bring her children the next day.
  Jack said, "My wife went with me to the show yesterday." BECOMES Jack
said his wife had gone with him to the show the day before.
Indirect Questions
when reporting questions, it is especially important to pay attention to sentence order.
 When reporting yes/ no questions connect the reported question using 'if'.
 She asked, "Do you want to come with me?" BECOMES She asked me if I wanted to come
with her.
 When reporting questions using question words (why, where, when, etc.) use the question
word.
 Dave asked, "Where did you go last weekend?" BECOMES Dave asked me where I had
gone the previous weekend.
 He asked, "Why are you studying English?" BECOMES She asked me why I was studying
English

DIRECT (QUOTED) SPEECH INDIRECT (REPORTED) SPEECH

Speech from the original source Reporting what someone has already said
_____________________________________________________________________
Simple past (progressive) >>>> >>>> Past Perfect (progressive)
I watched TV. He said (that) he had watched TV
I was watching TV He said (that) he had been watching TV
Present Perfect (progressive) >>>>>>>> Past Perfect (progressive)
I’ve watched TV He said (that) he had watched TV
I’ve been watching TV He said (that) he had been watching TV
Past Perfect (progressive) >>>>>>>> Past Perfect (progressive)
I’d watched TV He said (that) he had watched TV
I’d been watching TV He said (that) he had been watching TV
______________________________________________________________________
Simple Present (progressive) >>>>>>>> Simple Past (progressive)
I watch TV He said (that) he watched TV
I’m watching TV He said (that) he was watching TV
___________________________________________________________________
Future (progressive) >>>>>>>> Present Conditional (progressive)
I will watch TV He said (that) he would watch TV
I will be watching TV He said (that) he would be watching TV
I’m going to watch TV He said (that) he was going to watch TV

Modals in Reported Speech

Direct Speech: “I will go to Caracas”

Indirect Speech: He said (that) he would go to Caracas
Although He would go is not the past of He will go, it is the back shifted form in reported speech.
So too with the other modal auxiliaries:
“I can swim faster than you”
 He said (that) he could swim faster than me.
“I may buy a new car”
He said (that) he might buy a new car.
"I must give Ken a call."
He said (that) he had to give Ken a call.
"I have to give Ken a call."
He said (that) he had to give Ken a call.
If a modal auxiliary in direct speech has no past tense equivalent (including auxiliaries which are
already past like could or might) then the same form remains in indirect speech
"I might go to Denver."
He said (that) he might go to Denver.
"I should see a doctor"
He said (that) he should see a doctor.

Relative Clause
A clause is a part of a sentence. A relative clause tells us which person or thing (or what kind of
person or thing) the speaker means:
 The man who lives next door ... (who lives next door tells us which man)
 People who live in Paris ... (who live in Paris tells us what kind ofpeople)
Like the other subordinating conjunctions relative pronouns are used to join subordinate clauses
with independent sentences. They also introduce relative clauses.
Example: The boat that was owned by Mr. Mitchell sank in the harbor.
(The italicized part is a subordinate clause.)
What makes the subordinate clause in relative clauses different from the other type of subordinate
clauses is, the subordinate clause in a relative clause is an adjective clause.
In relative clauses, the adjective clauses which are dependent clauses that modify a noun or a
pronoun in the main clause, usually begin with relative pronoun: who, whom , whose, which, or
that.
Note: In relative clauses:
 The adjective clauses answer the question Which one? Or What kind of?
 Adjective clauses are always placed after the noun or the pronoun they modify.
 The relative pronoun that introduces an adjective clause can function as a subject,
as an object, or as a possessive marker.
 Relative Pronoun Use
who, which Subjective case
whom, which Objective case
whose Possessive case
Note: The relative pronoun “that” can be used in place of who, which or whom, but not in place of
whose.
Restrictive and non-restrictive adjective clauses
Adjective clauses may be restrictive (also called essential) or nonrestrictive (non-essential).
 A restrictive adjective clause is necessary to make the meaning of the sentence complete. For
example, in the sentence the movie that I saw yesterday won a Grammy Award, the information
in the adjective clause that I saw yesterday is essential to the meaning of the sentence. Without
it, it is difficult to the reader to identify which special movie the writer is discussing about.
 A nonrestrictive adjective clause merely adds information to a sentence the full meaning of
which is already clear.
Example: New York, which is America’s populous city, is one of the world's leading
commercial, financial, and cultural centers.
Note: You can see in this example that the noun ‘New York’ is defined by itself. So, the relative
clause does not define it. In other words, it is non-defining or non-restrictive. A non-restrictive
adjective clause is separated from the main clause by commas.
Activity 4.8
Join the following sentences using the most appropriate relative pronouns. Rewrite the
sentences in the space provided, revising the sentences as necessary.

who whom which whose

1. The woman has been arrested. Her child was accused of theft.
___________________________________________________________
2. The police were looking for the thief. The thief has been caught.
_____________________________________________________________
3. Professor Wong came in 1960 to study chemistry at Yale University. He was born in San
Francisco's Chinatown in 1943.
_____________________________________________________________
4. Roberto is sure to win an art scholarship. Roberto is a talented portrait artist.
_______________________________________________________________
5. The medicine is very expensive. Helen needs the medicine.
________________________________________________________________