What is a Passive Voice?
Verbs make Passives. A verb is in active voice when its subject does something to its object and in the passive when it is affected by the agent.
For example:
“The teacher punished the boy“
The teacher is the subject, and it is influencing the boy, which is its object.
In, “The student was punished by the teacher.“
The student is the subject, and it is being affected by the teacher, which is its agent. Thus, the subject of the active voice becomes the agent in the passive.
NeoTip
In passive voice, a prepositional verb such as ‘wait for’, ‘listen to’ and ‘object to’ must take prepositions and prepositions are used at the end of the sentence.
In the above example, A is the right option.
Passage with Different Passives
Read the passage below and check the passive sentences.
One summer, about 1995, a camp was rented by my friend on Lake Saif-ul-Malooq in Balakot, and we were taken there for the month of August. We were given antibiotics and even a special suit was being prepared for us. The time came, and a horse was set to climb the mountains on the glaciers. The face of the vacation was thought to be a success and from then on it was being thought that there was no place
like that Lake in the world. So the place had been frequently visited.
Since then, the place has been totally changed. A new resort is being built nearby and a few cottages, too have been prepared for the visitors. The new visitors are a healthy sign, but the threat is that the whole area has been polluted by the new visitors. I had a strong emotion associated with the lake, as it had been visited by me in my childhood, too.
I cannot help but feel that the charm of the place will be destroyed by the pollutants. The local people and the government should heed to it, or I am afraid, the lake of my imagination will have been changed into another lake in the world; no more special!
Passive Voice Table
Look at the chart below for all types of passives.
| Tenses | Passive Voice Examples |
| Present simple Present progressive. Present Perfect Present Perfect Progressive | Urdu is spoken here. Tea is being prepared. The house has been painted by us. He has been being promoted. |
| Past simple Past progressive Past Perfect Past Perfect Progressive | The door was painted yesterday. The patients were being taken to the hospital. The task had been accomplished. The machine had been being repaired. |
| Future Simple Future Progressive Future Perfect Future Perfect Progressive | The criminal will be punished today. The roads will be being repaired tomorrow. The book will have been written by him. I will have been being hurt for years by them. |
| Negatives & Questions | He was not given the opportunity. Are you taught English daily? What were you disturbed by? Why have the boys been taken to the hospital? |
| Infinitives | I don’t want you to be killed. It is to be accepted that he is true. The officials are to be framed in the next move. |
| Prepositions | He was operated on/waited for/ yesterday. |
| Imperatives | Let the door be shut (by you). Have the door painted? Let the child be comforted. |
| Modals | The TV can be repaired. He should be advised properly. Something must be done now. They should have been financed. I want him to be killed. He has to be promoted to a new position. |
Exercises
1. Change the voice of the sentences below!
1. She was watering the plants.
2. We are watching TV.
3. You will be doing the job.
4. They were writing a book.
5. The boy will be composing the book.
6. You have informed them.
7. We had closed the shop.
8. They will have whitewashed the house.
9. You had killed our friends.
10. We have been helping the poor.
11. She had been inviting you.
12. We will have been making progress.
13. He has been disturbing you.
14. We don’t insult our elders.
15. She didn’t beat the dog?
16. I didn’t touch your wallet?
17. Where are they holding the procession?
18. We should think about these matters.
19. She did not respect us.
20. Please open your mind.
21. I want you to teach me English.
22. See that they can cause heavy damages to you.
2. Turn actives into the passives.
1. He plays cricket.
2. We are waiting for our friend.
3. She has invited all of us.
4. They have been disturbing us.
5. You insulted him yesterday.
6. I was teaching him.
7. They had planned a holiday.
8. You had been dreaming of Pakistan for years.
9. I will hit you.
10. When was the lecture being attended by her?
11. How long will you await me?
12. We will be writing a letter to him.
13. He will have told me everything.
14. He will have been watering the plants since 7.
15. Open the door.
16. Don’t disturb him.
17. We must complete the job today.
18. How did you do that?
19. He broke that window?
20. This can take years in its completion.
3. Change the passives into active.
1. Piano is played by him.
2. The door will be painted by me.
3. You are being insulted.
4. The decision has been made.
5. We have been being informed of their actions.
6. The poor were being helped by the rich.
7. The book had been written by him.
8. He has been told to go home.
9. The request had been being made for years.
10. We will be advised to stay home.
11. She will be being told not to go out alone.
12. The preparations will have been being made.
13. I can be trusted.
14. You are going to be tested in English.
15. This problem must be left unsolved.
16. Let him not be punished by me.
17. Why was he fined by the teacher?
18. English will not be learnt by him so easily.
4. Change the voice.
1. They make shoes in that factory.
2. People must not leave bicycles in the street.
3. We were told to wait here.
4. They built that skyscraper in 1934.
5. They are repairing the streets this month.
6. $400,00 in profit has been reported this year.
7. They make these tools of plastic.
8. They have finished the new product design.
9. They were cooking dinner when I arrived.
10. He painted his picture in 2001.
11. Did the plan interest you?
12. You should take care when working in the lab.
13. They are going to perform music next Sunday.
14. Lectures are recorded and posted online.
15. Urdu has always been spoken in this village.
16. Someone will speak English at the meeting.
17. Karen is going to prepare the refreshments.
18. Students are required to wear uniforms.
19. The instructions have been changed.
20. This car was manufactured in Japan by Chang.
21. Why aren’t the exercises being finished now?
22. Casual clothes must not be worn.
23. The test will be given at five o’clock today.
24. The students will finish the course by July.
25. Lunch was being served when we arrived.
