Voice

Voice shows whether the subject of a sentence performs the action or receives the action.

There are two voices in English:

1. Active Voice
2. Passive Voice

Understanding voice is essential because it directly affects:

• Sentence correction
• Error detection
• Fill in the blanks
• Transformation of sentences

In exams, voice questions are rarely direct. They are hidden inside tense, agreement, and structure questions.

Active Voice

A sentence is in the active voice when the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.

Examples:

• The soldier fired the gun.
• She wrote a letter.

Here, the subject is active and clearly does the work.

Active voice is usually direct, clear, and preferred, unless emphasis on the object is required.

Structure of Active Voice

Subject + Verb + Object

Example:

• The teacher (subject) explained (verb) the lesson (object).

Passive Voice

A sentence is in the passive voice when the subject receives the action of the verb.

Examples:

• The gun was fired by the soldier.
• A letter was written by her.

Passive voice is used when:

• The doer is unknown
• The doer is unimportant
• The action or result is more important than the doer

Structure of Passive Voice

Object of active sentence → Subject of passive sentence
Form:
Subject + appropriate form of be + V3 (+ by + agent)

Example:

• The lesson was explained by the teacher.

Rules for Changing Active Voice to Passive Voice

Step 1: Identify Subject, Verb, Object

Only sentences with objects can be converted.

Step 2: Make Object the New Subject

Step 3: Use Correct Form of “Be”

The form of “be” depends on:

• Tense
• Number of the new subject

Step 4: Use V3 Form of Verb

Step 5: Add “by” + agent if necessary

Passive Voice Across Tenses

Understanding tense structure is critical here. Most exam traps are created by mixing tense with voice.

Simple Present

Active:

• He writes a letter.

Passive:

• A letter is written by him.

Rule:
is/am/are + V3

Present Continuous

Active:

• She is cooking food.

Passive:

• Food is being cooked by her.

Rule:
is/am/are + being + V3

Present Perfect

Active:

• They have completed the work.

Passive:

• The work has been completed by them.

Rule:
has/have + been + V3

Simple Past

Active:

• He wrote a letter.

Passive:

• A letter was written by him.

Rule:
was/were + V3

Past Continuous

Active:

• She was reading a book.

Passive:

• A book was being read by her.

Rule:
was/were + being + V3

Past Perfect

Active:

• They had finished the work.

Passive:

• The work had been finished by them.

Rule:
had + been + V3

Simple Future

Active:

• He will complete the task.

Passive:

• The task will be completed by him.

Rule:
will be + V3

Future Perfect

Active:

• She will have completed the work.

Passive:

• The work will have been completed by her.

Rule:
will have been + V3

When “By” Is Omitted in Passive Voice

The agent (doer) is often omitted when:

• It is unknown
• It is obvious
• It is unimportant

Examples:

• The thief was arrested.
• The road has been repaired.

This is very common in exam sentences.

Passive Voice of Imperative Sentences

Imperative sentences give commands.

Active:

• Open the door.

Passive:

• Let the door be opened.

Passive Voice of Interrogative Sentences

Active:

• Did he write the letter?

Passive:

• Was the letter written by him?

Rule:

• Keep the question form
• Change auxiliary correctly

Sentences That Cannot Be Changed into Passive

Some sentences cannot be changed into passive voice.

Examples:

• Intransitive verbs: sleep, arrive, die, come
• Verbs of possession: have (in sense of ownership)
• Stative verbs in certain uses

Example:

• He has a car. → no passive form

Voice and Meaning Change

Sometimes, changing the voice changes emphasis, not meaning.

Active:

• The police arrested the thief.

Passive:

• The thief was arrested by the police.

Both are correct, but focus shifts.

Exams usually test grammatical correctness, not stylistic preference.

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VOICE – FAQs