Active and Passive Voices
Active Voice: the subject is the doer of the
action.
Ex. 1. Gizelle sings a song.
2. James finished the homework.
3. The puppy chewed the shoe
Passive Voice: the subject is the receiver of
the action. The verb is formed by adding the
past participle of the verb to the appropriate
form of to be.
The be verb carries the tense of the main
verb.
Ex. 1. A song is sung by Gizelle.
2. The homework was finished by James.
3. The shoe was chewed by the puppy.
Write X if the statement is in active voice and Y
if it is passive voice.
___1. He has been teaching English for ten
years.
___2. A cake was made by my mother.
___3. A lot of crops were damaged by the
heavy
rain in Davao City.
___4. She has written a novel.
___5. You should do your homework.
___6. Have you finished the report?
___7. This experience will never be forgotten by
me.
___8. I am being helped by Alex to solve the
active and passive voice quiz.
___9. “Sungka” was being played yesterday by
me.
___10. A poem will have been written by me by
the time you call me.
General rules of converting active voice to
passive voice:
The active voice focuses on the person who
does the action that means the subject
performs the action.
1. In active voice, the doer of the action or
subject becomes the receiver which is now part
of the predicate in the passive voice.
2. Use is/ am/ are/ was/ were/ been/ being +
past participle according to the tense.
3. Put ‘by’ before the direct object in the
passive voice.
Ex. Hernan cooked the rice.
1. Place the receiver of the action, rice, as a
subject.
2. Place the doer of the action, Hernan, as the
predicate of the sentence in passive voice and
use the preposition “by”.
3. The passive verb is formed with “be verb”
(auxiliary) plus the main verb.
General rules of converting from passive
voice to active voice:
The passive voice focuses on the receiver or
the result of the action; thus, the subject
receives the action.
1. In active voice, the receiver in the passive
voice becomes the doer of the action or part of
the subject.
2. Remove the preposition ‘by’. To change a
passive voice sentence into an active voice
sentence.
Ex. The rice was cooked by Hernan.
1. The subject (rice) in passive voice becomes
the object in active voice
2. Change the auxiliary verb be and replace it
with the main verb to emphasize the doer of
the action.
3. Place the receiver of the sentence into the
doer slot.
Each sentence given below is in the active
voice. Change it into passive voice.
1.They sell banana cue in the canteen.
2. The boy played the spider.
3. I will finish the job by the end of this week.
4. They have informed him of his mother’s
death.
5. They took all the necessary precautions.
Rewrite the following sentences into active
voice.
6. A song is being sung by the artist as he
paints.
7. The piano has been pounded by the little girl
when mad.
8. New dentures would be wanted by the man
with no teeth.
9. The internet is surfed by many of my friends
during class.
10. Storms to be forecasted by the
weatherman
tomorrow.
