ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
Active voice
When the subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that the sentence is in the active voice. Sentences in the active voice have a strong, direct, and clear tone. Here are some short and straightforward examples of active voice.
Active voice examples
The cashier counted the money.
The dog chased the squirrel.
All three sentences have a basic active voice construction: subject, verb, and object. The subject monkey performs the action described by adore. The subject the cashier performs the action described by counted. The subject the dog performs the action described by chased. The subjects are doing, doing, doing—they take action in their sentences. The active voice reminds us of the popular Nike slogan, “Just Do It.”
Passive voice
A sentence is in the passive voice, on the other hand, when the subject is acted on by the verb. The passive voice is always constructed with a conjugated form of to be plus the verb’s past participle. Doing this usually generates a preposition as well. That sounds much more complicated than it is—passive voice is actually quite easy to detect. For these examples of passive voice, we will transform the three active sentences above to illustrate the difference.
Passive voice examples
The money was counted by the cashier.
The squirrel was chased by the dog.
Examples of Passive 
| Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | Active: | Rita | writes | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | is written | by Rita. | |
| Simple Past | Active: | Rita | wrote | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | was written | by Rita. | |
| Present Perfect | Active: | Rita | has written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | has been written | by Rita. | |
| Future I | Active: | Rita | will write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | will be written | by Rita. | |
| Hilfsverben | Active: | Rita | can write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | can be written | by Rita. | |
Examples of Passive 
| Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Progressive | Active: | Rita | is writing | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | is being written | by Rita. | |
| Past Progressive | Active: | Rita | was writing | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | was being written | by Rita. | |
| Past Perfect | Active: | Rita | had written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | had been written | by Rita. | |
| Future II | Active: | Rita | will have written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | will have been written | by Rita. | |
| Conditional I | Active: | Rita | would write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | would be written | by Rita. | |
| Conditional II | Active: | Rita | would have written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | would have been written | by Rita. | |
Passive Sentences with Two Objects 
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
| Subject | Verb | Object 1 | Object 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active: | Rita | wrote | a letter | to me. |
| Passive: | A letter | was written | to me | by Rita. |
| Passive: | I | was written | a letter | by Rita. |
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Personal and Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.
Passive voice to active voice
Sentences written in the active voice are easier to understand than sentences written in the passive voice. Switching the passive voice into the active voice is straightforward, but it requires a bit of practice. In the equivalency table below, notice that the tense of the verb to be in the passive voice is always the same as the tense of the main verb in the active voice. In order to use the active voice, you will have to make the subject of the action explicit.
To keep, active and passive voice
| Tense | Active voice | Passive voice | Active sentence | Passive equivalent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple present | keep | is kept | I keep the butter in the fridge. | The butter is kept in the fridge. |
| Present continuous | is keeping | is being kept | John is keeping my house tidy. | My house is being kept tidy. |
| Simple past | kept | was kept | Mary kept her schedule meticulously. | Mary's schedule was kept meticulously. |
| Past continuous | was keeping | was being kept | The theater was keeping a seat for you. | A seat was being kept for you. |
| Present perfect | have kept | have been kept | I have kept all your old letters. | All your old letters have been kept. |
| Past perfect | had kept | had been kept | He had kept up his training regimen for a month. | His training regimen had been kept up for a month. |
| Simple Future | will keep | will be kept | Mark will keep the ficus. | The ficus will be kept. |
| Conditional Present | would keep | would be kept | If you told me, I would keep your secret. | If you told me, your secret would be kept. |
| Conditional Past | would have kept | would have been kept | I would have kept your bicycle here if you had left it with me. | Your bicycle would have been kept here if you had left it with me. |
| Present Infinitive | to keep | to be kept | She wants to keep the book. | The book wants to be kept. |
| Perfect Infinitive | to have kept | to have been kept | Judy was happy to have kept the puppy. | The puppy was happy to have been kept. |
| Present Participle & Gerund | keeping | being kept | I have a feeling that you may be keeping a secret. | I have a feeling that a secret may be being kept. |
| Perfect Participle | having kept | having been kept | Having kept the bird in a cage for so long, Jade wasn't sure it could survive in the wild. | The bird, having been kept in a cage for so long, might not survive in the wild. |
Exercises
Exercises on Passive (Form)
- Exercise on Passive with Simple Present
- Exercise on Passive with Simple Past
- Exercise on Passive with Present Perfect
- Exercise on Passive with Future I
Exercises on Passive (Active → Passive)
- Exercise on Passive with Simple Present
- Exercise on Passive with Simple Past
- Exercise on Passive with Present Perfect
- Exercise on Passive with Future I
- Exercise on Passive with Auxiliary Verbs
- Mixed Exercise on Passive with Passive
- Sentences with 2 Objects (Indirect Object, Personal Passive) (neu)
- Sentences with 2 Objects (Direct Object) (neu)
- Personal Passive (verbs of perception) (neu)
- Exercise on Passive with Present Progressive
- Exercise on Passive with Past Progressive
- Exercise on Passive with Past Perfect
- Exercise on Passive with Future II
- Exercise on Passive with Conditional I
- Exercise on Passive with Conditional II
Exercises on Passive (Active or Passive)
- Exercise on Simple Present
- Exercise on Simple Past
- Exercise on Present Perfect
- Exercise on Future I with will
- Exercise – The Statue of Liberty (neu)
- Exercise – Portal Dolmen (neu)
- Summary – The Fellowship of the Ring, part 2, part 3
Grammar in Texts
- Show Passive Voice in „The Canterville Ghost“
- Grammar Exercise on „Washington, DC“
- Show Passive Voice in „History of Snowboarding“
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