Active and Passive Voice

Now in this lesson we can see how the auxiliaries are used to form passive forms.

We have studied that the auxiliaries help to form tenses, passive forms, negatives and questions. We have seen how auxiliaries are used to form different tenses and tense forms in Lesson 11 and 12.

A. Simple Present Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I buy a book.	A book is bought by me.
2	Tom paints a picture.	A Picture is painted by Tom.
3	We water the plants.	The plants are watered by us.
4	You teach grammar.	Grammar is taught by you.
5	She sings a song.	A song is sung by her.

B. Present Continuous Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I am buying a book.	A book is being bought by me.
2	Tom is painting a Picture.	A Picture is being painted by Tom.
3	We are watering the plants.	The plants are being watered by us.
4	You are teaching grammar.	Grammar is being taught by you.
5	She is singing a song.	A song is being sung by her.

C. Present Perfect Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I have bought a book.	A book has been bought by me.
2	Tom has painted a picture.	A picture has been painted by Tom.
3	We have watered the plants.	The plants have been watered by us.
4	You have taught Grammar.	Grammar has been taught by you.
5	She has sung a song.	A song has been sung by her.

D. Simple Past Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I bought a book.	A book was bought by me.
2	Tom painted a picture.	A picture was painted by Tom.
3	We watered the plants.	The plants were watered by us.
4	You taught Grammar.	Grammar was taught by you.
5	She sang a song.	A song was sung by her.

E. Past Continuous Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I was buying a book.	A book was being bought by me.
2	Tom was painting a picture.	A picture was being painted by Tom.
3	We were watering the plants.	The plants were being watered by us.
4	You were teaching grammar.	Grammar was being taught by you.
5	She was singing a song.	A song was being sung by her.

F. Past Perfect Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I had bought a book.	A book had been bought by me.
2	Tom had painted a picture.	A picture had been painted by Tom.
3	We had watered the plants.	The plants had been watered by us.
4	You had taught Grammar.	Grammar had been taught by you.
5	She had sung a song.	A song had been sung by her.

G. Simple Future Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I will buy a book.	A book will be bought by me.
2	Tom will paint a picture.	A picture will be painted by Tom.
3	We will water the plants.	The plants will be watered by us.
4	You will teach grammar.	Grammar will be taught by you.
5	She will sing a song.	A song will be sung by her.

H. Future Perfect Tense

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
1	I will have bought a book.	A book will have been bought by me.
2	Tom will have painted a picture.	A picture will have been painted by Tom.
3	We will have watered the plants.	The plants will have been watered by us.
4	You will have taught grammar.	Grammar will have been taught by you.
5	She will have sung a song.	A song will have been sung by her.

Present Perfect Continuous Tense, Past Perfect Continuous Tense, Future Continuous Tense and Future Perfect Continuous Tense have no Passive forms.

Can / could / may / might / must etc	(Auxiliary verb + be + past  participle)
I can sing a song.	A song can be sung by me.
Tom could paint a picture.	A picture could be painted by Tom.
You may teach grammar.	Grammar may be taught by you.

Exercises

Convert the following as directed:

1. They have written a test. (into passive voice)
2. She has submitted the note books. (into passive)
3. Nelson is playing cricket. (Passive)
4. The house was painted by the owner. (Active)
5. The picture will be drawn by her. (Active)
6. They revise the lessons for the exam. (Passive)
7. She was washing the clothes. ( Passive)
8. The project will have been completed by them. (Active)
9. A car has been bought by me. ( Active)
10. Plants were being planted by the students. (Active)

Answers

1. A test has been written by them.
2. The note books have been submitted by her.
3. Cricket is being played by Nelson.
4. The owner painted the house.
5. She will draw the picture.
6. The lessons for the exam are revised by them.
7. The clothes were being washed by her.
8. They will have completed the project.
9. I have bought a car.
10. The students were planting plants.