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Active & Passive Voice

1. We make passive voice of transitive verbs.
2. We interchange subject with objective.
Active: Subject + finite verb
Passive: Object + finite verb
Key to identify passive voice (be + V IIIrd)
(is/ am/are/was/were/be/being/been + V IIIrd)
John composes poetry (A)
Poetry is composed by John (P)
ACTIVE PASSIVE ACTIVE PASSIVE
Do/does + V Ist Can Can
OR Is Could Could
Verb Ist Am + V IIIrd May May
OR Are Might + V I Might +be + VIII
Verb +s/es Would Would
Did + V Ist Was Should Should
OR + V IIIrd Must Must
V IInd Were
[Will/ Shall] +V Ist Will Would Would
Be + V IIIrd Should Should
shall Could have+ V III Could have +
[Is /Am/Are] + V is Might Might been + VIII
ing am +being+V III
are
[Was/Were] + V Was Is Is
ing +being+V III Am + to + V I Am to + be +V III
were Are Are

[Has/Have] + V Has Was Was

IIIrd +been+ VIII + to + V I to+be+V III
Have Were Were

Had + V IIIrd Had + been + VIII Has Has

+ to + V I to + be +VIII
Have Have
Will have Will Had + to + V I Had + to + be + V
+V IIIrd Have+been III
Shall have Shall + V III
To + V I To + be + V III

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Assertive:
E.g. They have not cleaned all the rooms (A)
All the room have not been cleaned by them (P)

Interrogative sentences:
E.g. Does one of them compose songs? (A)
Are songs composed by one of them? (P)

E.g. Where have they opened the new store in the city? (A)
Where has the new store been opened by them in the city? (P)
Use of “who”
E.g. Who teaches you English? (A)
By whom is English taught to you? (P)
By whom are you taught English (P)
Imperative sentences:
Rule 1: To make passive voice
You are requested/ ordered/ allowed/ advised/ asked/ prohibited/
forbidden/ urged/ obliged + to + Sentence
E.g. Please sit in the garden. (A)
You are requested to sit in the garden (P)
E.g. Come here and play with us (A)
You are asked to come here and play with us.
For negative sentences.
E.g. Don’t pluck flowers. (A)
You are ordered not to pluck flowers. (P)
Don’t disturb me (A)
You are forbidden to disturb me (P)
Sentences with “Let”
Rule [ Let + obj + be + Verb IIIrd]
E.g. Let her sing a melodious song. (A)
Let a melodious song be sung by her. (P)
e.g. let them clean the garden before teacher’s arrival (A)
Let the garden be cleaned by them before teacher’s arrival. (P)

Usages of Modals
Eg. All the soldiers cannot open the steel doors of the fort. (A)
The steel doors of the fort cannot be opened by all the soldiers (P)

E.g. They might not have attended any seminar on personality development.
(A)
Any seminar or personality development might not have been attended by
them. (P)

E.g. He is to wash clothes. (A)

Clothes are to be washed by him. (P)

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 Farmers have to use excreta. (A)
Excreta have to be used by farmers. (P)
Use of infinitive:

E.g. It is high time to decorate the shops (A)

It is high time for the shops to be decorated. (P)
Use of complex sentences.

E.g. They say that the war is imminent (A)

It is said by them that the war is imminent (P)

Special usages
E.g. Grapes are sweet (A)
Grapes are sweet when they are tasted (P)

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