PASSIVIZATION

1. The active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the
verb. It follows a clear subject + verb+ object pattern. Sentences that are constructed in active
voice add impact to writing.

2. With passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. There are many ways to change the
passive to active voice in the sentences. The chart below presents the ways to convert active o
passive in different tense and aspect system.

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES CHART

SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST

The active object becomes the passive subject.
am/is/are +  past participle
was/were + past participle

Active: Simple Present Passive: Simple Present

The movie fascinates me. I am fascinated by the movie.
The movie bores Jack. Jack is bored by the movie.
The movie surprises them. They are surprised by the movie.

Active: Simple Past Passive: Simple Past

The movie bored me. I was bored by the movie.
The movie fascinated Jack. Jack was fascinated by the movie.
The movie surprised them. They were surprisedby the movie.

PRESENT and PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE)

Passive form: 
am/is/are + being + past participle
was/were + being + past participle

Active: Present Continuous  Passive: Present Continuous

I am helping Shannon. Shannon is being helped by me.
June is helping Su and Ling. Su and Ling are being helped by June.

Active: Past Continuous

Passive: Past Continuous
I was cleaning the bathroom.
The bathroom was being cleaned by me.
They were cleaning the bedroom.
The bedroom  was being cleaned by them.
Susan was cleaning the kitchen and
The kitchen and patio were being cleaned by Susan.
patio.
 PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT
Passive form: 
have/has been + past participle
had been + past participle

Active: Present Perfect Passive: Present Perfect

I have mailed the gift. The gift has been mailed by me.
Jack has mailed the gifts. The gifts have been mailed by Jack.

Active: Past Perfect

Steven Spielberg had directed the Passive: Past Perfect
movie. The movie had been directed by Steven Spielberg.
Penny Marshall had directed those The movies had been directed by Penny Marshall.
movies.

Active: Future Perfect

John will have finished the project next Passive: Future Perfect
month. The project will have been finished by next month.
They will have finished the projects The projects will have been finished before then.
before then.

FUTURE TENSES
Passive forms: will + be + past participle
is/are going to be + past participle

Active: Future with WILL Passive: Future with WILL

I will mail the gift. The gift will be mailed by me.
Jack will mail the gifts. The gifts will be mailed by Jack.

Active: Future with GOING TO Passive: Future with GOING TO

I am going to make the cake. The cake is going to be made by me.
Sue is going to make two cakes. Two cakes are going to be made by Sue.

3. In passive voice, the subject is no longer the action of the verb. Rather it is being acted upon
by the verb.

4. Consider the sentence below.

Active: The movie fascinates me.
Passive: I am fascinated by the movie.
5. The subject in the active voice (the movie) is the doer of the action. But this was moved to
the passive object in the passive voice and introduced by the preposition “by.”

6. Meanwhile, the object (me) in the active voice became the passive subject in the passive
voice. Since the “me” was moved in the subject position, the pronoun “I” was used instead of
me. Remember “I” is subjective and “me” is objective case.

7. Question: How is the transformation being done?

8. In the picture above explains how the movement of the subject and object in the active voice
happen in the passive voice. The preposition “by” is optional in sentence construction for
brevity purposes. The fact that the subject in the active voice became passive object loses its
importance. The subject passive is now given more emphasis in the passive voice sentence.

9. The picture below presents the process of changing the sentence from active to passive.
10. Questions: What happened to the verb? How would you know the verb to use in the passive
voice?

Take a look this example:

He painted a picture. (he+ past + paint) the verb tense is past (simple aspect)

A picture was painted.

To decide on the verb, remember to keep the tense (past) and based on the chart,
SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST
The active object becomes the passive subject.
am/is/are (be-verb) +  past participle
was/were (be-verb) + past participle

the past participle form of verb is used instead.

be-verb (past) + past participle

= was/were + painted

A picture (singular) was painted.

11. Another example in the perfect tense.

Rule:
PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT
Passive form: 
have/has been + past participle
had been + past participle
Again, keep the tense of the active to passive.
Active: Jack has mailed the gifts. (tense – present)
Passive: The gifts has been mailed by Jack. (tense – present; be-verb in the perfect tense
(been)

 I am not going to present here the transformation as that is not easy to explain here.
We can at least review on how sentences are transformed based on the chart
provided in this handout.
 A downloadable pdf file is also included to present the use of passive voice.