Voice Change Rule A to Z [Active and Passive]

 

Voice Change Rule  Active and Passive Voice in details 

Voice Change Rule helps us to change both active and passive voice. In this post I have discussed all the rules so that the students and learners can learn voice change easily. They will not have to search the rules one by one in search engine. Besides these I have given examples of every rule. 

What is Voice Change?

When we change the active voice into passive voice or passive voice into active voice without changing the meaning is called voice change.

What you should know before learning voice change.

Subject

Verb

Object

Verb3 (Past Participle)

The students have to understand after watching an English weather subject is in the sentence or not.

They should identify the verb and make past participle form.

They should also identify the object from a sentence.

To Read Voice Change A to Z in Bengali Click Here…………

Kind of Voice

There are three kinds of voice in English grammar.

  1. Active Voice
  2. Passive Voice
  3. Quasi-passive Voice

Active voice: A verb in the active voice when its form shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject does something; or, in other words, is the doer of the action.

Example:

I have got a new job.

Passive voice: A verb is in the passive voice when its form shows that something is done to the person or thing denoted by the subject.

Example:

A new job has been got by me.

Quasi-passive voice: A sentence that does not mention a doer, the action term itself acts like a doer, is called an official word.

Example

The cow is milking.

Voice Change

Active: I take a cup of tea daily.

Passive: A cup of tea is taken by me daily.

Voice Change Rule
Voice_Change_Rule
Shortcut Method of Voice Change [Affirmative]

 

Active Voice

Passive Voice

01.

Eat/eats

Am/is/are + eaten

02.

Am/is/are + eating

Am/ is/are + being eaten

03.

Have/has +eaten

Have/has + been+ eaten

04.

Ate

Was/were

05.

Was/were + eating

Was/ were + being + eaten

06.

Had + eaten

Had + been +eaten

07.

Shall/will + eat

Shall/will +be + eaten

08.

Shall/will + have + eaten

Shall/will + have + been + eaten

09.

Can/ could/ may/ might/ should/ would/ must/ ought to / used to/ + eat

Can/ could/ may/ might/ should/ would/ must/ ought to / used to/+be + eaten

Example of affirmative sentences:

Active: I eat two mangoes.

Passive: Two mangoes are eaten by me.

Active: Rahul takes a cup of tea daily.

Passive: A cup of tea is taken daily by Rahul.

Active: I am writing a letter.

Passive: A letter is being written by me.

Active: You have bought a camera.

Passive: A camera has been bought by you.

Active: The cat killed a rat.

Passive: A rat was killed by the cat.

Active: They were cooking meat.

Passive: Meat was being cooked by them.

Active: She had washed the cloths.

Passive: The cloths had been washed by her.

Active:  We shall sell the old house.

Passive: The old house will be sold by us.

Active: Mina will have seen the Tajmahal.

Passive: The Tajmahal will have been seen by Mina.

 Active: You can sing a song.

Passive: A song can be sung by you.

Active: We should plant trees.

Passive: Trees should be planted by us.

Change of Subject And Object Voice Change Rule

Active Voice

Passive Voice

I

Me

We

Us

You

You

He

Him

She

Her

They

Them

It

It

Ram

Ram

 

Shortcut Method of Voice Change [Negative]

 

Active Voice

Passive Voice

01.

Do/Does not + eat

Am/is/are + not + eaten

02.

Am/is/are + not + eating

Am/ is/are + not + being eaten

03.

Have/has + not + eaten

Have/has + not + been+ eaten

04.

Did + not + eat

Was/were + not + eaten

05.

Was/were + not + eating

Was/ were + not + being + eaten

06.

Had + not + eaten

Had + not + been +eaten

07.

Shall/will + not + eat

Shall/will + not + be + eaten

08.

Shall/will + not + have+ eaten

Shall/will + not + have + been + eaten

09.

Can/ could/ may/ might/ should/ would/ must/ ought to / use to/ + not + eat

Can/ could/ may/ might/ should/ would/ must/ ought to / use to/+ not + be + eaten

 

Examples:

Active: I do not like coffee.

Passive: Coffee is not liked by me.

Active: He does not play cricket.

Passive: Cricket is not played by him.

Active: We are not learning English now.

Passive: English is not learning by us now.

Active: You have not taught me Sanskrit.

Passive: I have not been taught Sanskrit by you.

Active: Gopal did not eat rice yesterday.

Passive: Rice was not eaten by Gopal yesterday.

Active: They were not driving the cars.

Passive: The cars were not being driven by them.

Active: My brother had not broken the cup.

Passive: The cup had not been broken by my brother.

Active: Tony will not read the book.

Passive: The book will not be read by Tony.

Active: You should not call me.

Passive: I should not be called by you.

Voice Change of Interrogative Sentences

An interrogative sentence is of two kinds 1. With wh-words interrogative sentence  2. Without wh-words interrogative sentence

To know about interrogative sentences in detail, click here…….

01. Without wh-words Interrogative Sentences

These types of interrogative sentences always give the answer “Yes/No”.

Examples:

Active: Do you like coffee?

Passive: Is coffee liked by you?

Active: Does he play football?

Passive: Is football played by him?

Active: Can you cross the road?

Passive: Can the road be crossed by you?

 

02. With wh-words Interrogative Sentences

We can not give the answer to these types of interrogative sentences with “Yes/No”. The answer to those kinds of questions is narrative.

Examples:

Active: What do you say?

Passive: What are said by you?

Active: Which book will you buy?

Passive: Which book will be bought by you?

Active: Whose cycle are you using now?

Passive: Whose cycle is being used by you now?

Active: When did you sell the house?

Passive: When was the house sold by you?

Active: Where have they lost the key?

Passive: Where has the key been lost by them?

Active: Why did you insult the girl?

Passive: Why was the girl insulted by you?

Active: How did he solve it?

Passive: How was it solved by him?

Active: How much water will Ramen take?

Passive: How much water will be taken by ramen?

Who and Whom

If we notice the sentence begins with “Who” in the active voice, the term “Who” will turn into “By whom” in the passive voice.

Again if we find the sentence starts with “Whom” in active voice, the word “Whom” will turn into “Who”.

Example:

Active: Who broke the glass?

Passive: By whom was the glass broken?

Active: Whom have the police arrested?

Passive: Who have been arrested by the police?

Voice Change of Imperative Sentence

Imperative sentences are of three types like order, request and advice.

If you want to know more about imperative sentences in detail, click here……..

Transitive verb: This type of verb has an object.

Intransitive verb: This type of verb has no object.

01/2. Order/Advise

If the verb is transitive, this rule is suitable.

Aff: Let + Object + be + V-3.

Neg: Let + not + Object + be + V-3.

Active: Change the voice.

Passive: Let the voice be changed.

Active: Don’t open the door.

Passive: Let not the door be opened.

If the verb is intransitive, the rule is applicable.

For Affirmative Sentences

Voice Change Rule

You are told to …………..

You are ordered to ……………

You are advised to …………..

Active: Come in.

Example:

Passive: You are told to come in.

Active: Go to bed.

Passive: You are ordered to go to bed.

Active:  Follow me.

Passive: You are ordered to follow me.

For Negative Sentences

Voice Change Rule

You are told not to …………..

You are ordered not to ……………

You are advised not to …………..

Example:

Active: Don’t talk.

Passive: You are told not to talk.

Active: Don’t play here.

Passive: You are ordered not to play here.

Active: Don’t misbehave.

Passive: You are advised not to misbehave.

 

03. Request

If the imperative sentences express request [Please/Kindly], this rule is follow.

Voice Change Rule

Affirmative: You are requested to …………….

Negative: You are requested not to …………….

Example:

Active: Please help me.

Passive: You are requested to help me.

Active: Please don’t smoke here.

Passive: You are requested not to smoke here.

 

Voice Change [Sentence with “Let”]

If the active voice begins with “Let”, the following rule is used.

Voice Change Rule : Let + Object(Nonliving) + V-3 + by + Object (Living).

Active:  Let me do the work now.

Passive: Le the work be done by me now.

Active: Let us forget the matter.

Passive: Let the matter be forgotten by us.

 

Voice Change Sentence [With Infinitive]

If we find infinitive in active voice, we have to use “Be” after ‘To’ and turn the infinite verb into past participle at the time of changing from active voice to passive voice.

For example:

Active: You have to do this sum.

Passive: This sum has to be done by you.

Active: They wanted to win the match.

Passive: They wanted to be won the match.

Voice Change of Verbal Noun Sentences

If we find the verbal noun in active voice, we have to use “Being” after the object and then the past participle form of the verbal noun.

Active: I saw the feeding of the monkeys.

Passive: I saw the monkeys being fed.

Active: They heard the opening of the coaching centre.

Passive: They heard the coaching centre being opened.

We can not change the voice if the sentences are with below verb and verbal noun.

The verbs die, appear, disappear, belong, despair, wonder, result, indulge, seem, happen, allude, occur, ensure, comprise, perish, issue and etc are intransitive verbs. So the sentences with these verbs are not changed into passive voice.

Voice Change of Complex Sentence

There are two ways to do voice change of complex sentence. I have showed the ways. If you read the example, you can understand the process.

Example:

Active: I know that she will sing a song.

Passive: That a song will be sung by her is known to me.

Or

It is known to me that a song will be sung by her.

Active: They consider that he is honest.

Passive: It is considered by them that he is honest.

 

Passive to Active [Without Subject]

Many times we notice that who has completed the work is not mentioned in passive voice. When we change the passive voice into the active voice, we have to mention the subject. But there is no particular rule to select the subject. We can use one, someone, people, they, circumstance and so on as a subject depending on the situation.

Example:

Active: Traffic rules should be obeyed.

Passive: People should obey traffic rules.

Active: They were misguided.

Passive: Someone misguided them.

Voice Change Without “By” Preposition

At the time of voice change we normally use “By” before the subject of the active voice in passive voice. But we do not use “By” preposition in case of some verbs. I have given the verbs below. Read the examples carefully.

Examples:

Active: I know the man.

Passive: The man is known to me.

Active: The dust covers the table.

Passive: The table is covered with the dust.

Active: The matter interested the girl.

Passive: The girl was interested in the matter.

List the verbs:

Marry, know – to

Alarm, surprise, annoy, shock,- at

Interest, pleased, change, offend, disgust, contain – with

 

Quasi-passive Voice Change Rule

Normally the sentences of quasi-passive voice are formed with the verbs like taste, feel, read, read, smell, cost, sound and so on. When we change those quasi-passive, we are taken the help of “When”. If you read the examples and try to understand the process. I hope it will be clear.

Examples:

Active: Honey tastes sweet.

Passive: Honey is sweet when it is tasted.

Active: The bed feels soft.

Passive: The bed is soft when it is felt.

Quasi-passive Voice Without Complement

There are such sentences that have no complement in quasi-passive. And we use “Being” after helping verb and then past participle form of verb at the time of voice change of those sentences.

Example:

Active: The book is printing.

Passive: The book is being printed.

Active: The cows are milking.

Passive: The cows are being milked.

Active Sentence With Two Objects [Voice Change]

We get sometimes two objects in a sentence of active voice. But most of the students get nervous and they can not understand which object they will write first in passive voice. I hope you will easily understand the matter if you read the examples.

Examples:

Active: He gave me a book.

Passive: A book was given me by him. / I was given a book by him.

Active: Biplab teaches us English.

Passive: English is taught us by Biplab./ We are taught English by Biplab.

 

Active Voice With Phrasal Verb [Voice Change]

If we notice phrasal verb in active voice, the prepositions that are with the phrasal verb are written. Even though we get more than one prepositions, we can not reject them.

Read the examples and then you can understand it.

Active: We should not look down upon the poor.

Passive: The poor should not be looked down upon by us.

Active: The boy laughed at the bagger.

Passive: The bagger was laughed at by the boy.

Active Voice With Reflexive Objects [Voice Change]

Read the below passage. There Voice change Rule of this type of active voice are mentioned.

If we find reflexive object in active voice, we should not use the reflexive object as a subject in passive voice. In this case we have to put a “Be verb” according to tense and use “By” before reflexive object. You can follow the examples.

Example:

Active: He killed himself.

Passive: He was killed by himself.

Active: They punish themselves.

Passive: They are punished by themselves.

Optative Sentence [Voice Change]

There is a voice change rule of optative sentence. Read and follow the rule and match with the examples.

Learn more about optative sentence clicking here……..

Voice Change Rule: May + Object +be + V-3 + by + Subject.

Active: May God bless you.

Passive: May you be blessed by God.

Active: May they win the match.

Passive: May the match be won by them.

Read More: 

Guys, I hope you have understood “Voice Change Rule” from this post.

 

 

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