Active Voice & Passive Voice
in
Simple Present Tense
and
Simple Past Tense
PASSIVE VOICE
How to form Passive Voice?
Verb to be (Tense) + Past Participle
“… I was only hired a week ago.”
Why do we use Passive Voice?
• When the agent is unknown, unimportant or
obvious from the context
• To make more polite or formal statements
• When the action is more important than the
agent, as in processes, instructions, events,
reports, headlines, news items, and
advertisements
• To put emphasis on the agent
Active Verbs & Passive Verbs
Active =
Doer + Active verb + Receiver
Passive =
Receiver + Passive verb + Doer
Active Voice
Subject Active Object
(doer) Verb (receiver)
Mrs Chan washes the dishes.
Passive Voice
Object Active Subject
(receiver) Verb (doer)
The dishes are washed by Mrs Chan
Active Voice
Subject Active Object (receiver)
(doer) Verb
Our class won the first prize.
Passive Voice
Subject Passive Object (doer)
(receiver) Verb
The first prize was won by our class.
Exercise 1: Choose Active or Passive
Put “A” for Active, “P” for Passive:
1. The boy banged on the table. [ ]
2. A girl was bitten by a dog. [ ]
3. Mrs Wong washes her car every Sunday. [ ]
4. The library was broken into last night. [ ]
5. I lost my dictionary. [ ]
6. The floor is swept by the maid. [ ]
Choose Active or Passive (Answers)
Put “A” for Active, “P” for Passive:
1. The boy banged on the table. [ ] A
2. A girl was bitten by a dog. P[ ]
3. The floor is swept by the maid. [ P]
4. The library was broken into last night. [P ]
5. I lost my dictionary. [A]
6. Mrs Wong washes her car every Sunday. [A]
Active Voice & Passive Voice
in
Simple Present &
Simple Past Tenses
Simple Present Tense
Verb to be + Past Participle
is / am / are + Past Participle
e.g. The boys are punished by the Headmistress.
The cat is fed by Lily.
I am taught by Miss Tam.
Compare active and passive sentences
in Present Tense
Active: Someone locks the office every
evening.
Passive: The office is locked every evening.
Exercise 2: Multiple Choice
is put
1. The fire ___________ out by the firemen.
A. puts
B. is put
C. put
make
2. The girls ______________ a sandwich.
A. make
B. are made
C. is made
3. A present ____________
was given to me.
A. gave
B. was given
c. given
Exercise 3: Fill in the blanks
There is a dog which 1)_______(call)
is called
Bubbles”. It 2) ___________
is owned (own)
by Michael Johnson. It 3)_________
is kept
(keep) in his home. It 4)___________
is fed
(feed) every day by Michael Johnson
himself. It 5) __________(dress)
is dressed in
funny clothes. It 6)_________(say)
is said
that “Bubbles” is Johnson’s only
friend.
Exercise 4: Change active to passive
1) The policemen catch the thief.
Ans: The thief is caught by the policemen.
2) The girl puts on a beautiful dress.
Ans: A beautiful dress is put on by the girl.
Exercise 5: Change passive to active
1) The dishes are washed by Amy.
Ans: Amy washes the dishes.
2) The car is repaired by John and Peter.
Ans: John and Peter repair the car.
Simple Past Tense
Verb to be + Past Participle
was / were + Past Participle
e.g. The man was knocked down by the car.
Some oranges were eaten by the child.
Compare active and passive sentences
in Past Tense
Active: Someone locked the office last
evening.
Passive: The office was locked last evening.
Exercise 6: Multiple Choice
1. A song ____________
was sung by Leon Lai.
A) sang
B) was sung
C) sung
2. These houses _________
were built by the workmen.
A) built
B) was built
C) were built
3. Diana __________
died in 1997.
A) die
B) died
C) was died
Exercise 7: Fill in the blanks
Two men were seen breaking into a
house in my street last night. The police
1) __________
were called (call) and they arrived very
quickly. One man 2) ___________
was caught (catch)
immediately. The other escaped, but he
3) was
_________
found (find) very soon. Both men
4) __________
were taken (take) to the police station
and 5) _____________
were questioned(question)separate-
ly by a police officer. The two men 6)
___________ (charge) with burglary.
were charged
Exercise 8: Change active to passive
1) I drew a picture yesterday.
Ans: A picture was drawn by me yesterday.
2) Sally bought some books two days ago.
Ans: Some books were bought by Sally two
days ago.
Exercise 9: Change passive to active
1) The problems were solved by Jack.
Ans: Jack solved the problems.
2) The house was painted by Mr Ng.
Ans: Mr Ng painted the house.
Revision Exercises
Revision Exercise A: Multiple Choice
wrote
1. His secretary _____________ that report la
st Friday.
A) writes
B) is written
C) wrote
D) was written
2. My diamond watch _________
was stolen by a thief y
esterday.
A) steals
B) is stolen
C) stole
D) was stolen
3. Mary always _________
takes care of her baby
sister.
A) takes
B) is taken
C) took
D) was taken
4. The furniture _________
is dusted by my mother ev
ery day.
A) dusts
B) is dusted
C) dusted
D) was dusted
Revision Exercise B: Fill in the blanks
Fred owns (own) a fast food shop in Central.
Food, drinks and snacks ___________________
are prepared
(prepare) by his workers early every morning.
This morning, when Fred ______(enter) the kitchen of his fast
food shop, he saw that everybody was very busy. It seemed that two jobs
entered
____________ (do)
at the same time by every worker in the kitchen.
were done
He _____ (be) very happy. Sandwiches _____________ (toast) while tea
_____________ (make). Potato chips ________ (fry) while apple pies
__________ (bake).
was were toasted
Many people _______ (like) to buy fish and
were made
chips at Fred’s fast food shop. Besides, more
were fried were baked
than 300 chicken wings _________ (sell) every day.
like
were sold
The End
