The Ultimate Guide to Passive Voice in English

Passive voice in English is a sentence structure that focuses on the object of the sentence rather than the subject. This may sound complicated but trust me, it is very simple.

In this article, we will cover:

• What is Passive Voice in English?
• How do you form sentences in Passive voice?
• Rules for conversion

What is Passive Voice in English?

In English, sentences can be written in two forms — passive and active.

In active sentences, the person/thing who is doing the action is considered the subject of the sentence and the person/thing who is receiving the action is considered the object of the sentence.

For example: The singer is singing a beautiful song.

In the above sentence,

Subject: singer

Object: song

Verb: singing

In passive sentences, the person/thing who is receiving the action, which is ideally the object of the sentence is placed at the beginning, and the person/thing who is doing the action, which is ideally the subject in the sentence is placed at the end of the sentence.

For example: The song is being sung by the singer.

In the above sentence,

Subject: The song

Object: is being sung

Verb: the singer

Let’s look at another example,

• Rakhi kicked the ball. — active voice

Subject: Rakhi

Verb: kicked

Object: the ball

• The ball was kicked by Rakhi. — passive voice

Subject: the ball

Verb: was kicked

Object: Rakhi

How do you form sentences in Passive Voice?

To form the passive voice of a sentence, we use passive verbs. Passive verbs are formed by using the verb ‘be’ and the past participle.

If you would like to see a complete list of such verbs, click here.

Rules for Conversion

While converting a sentence which is in its active form to its passive form, you should use the following rules:

• The subject and the object will be interchanged: In passive sentences, the subject and the object in passive voice are interchanged. The object (in active sentences) becomes the subject in passive sentences, and the subject (in an active sentence) becomes the object in active sentences.

Example: Sudha reads a book. — active voice

The book is being read by Sudha. — passive voice

• The preposition by is used before the object: The object in a passive sentence will always be preceded by the preposition ‘by’. This is because the object in such sentences explains that the action is being performed by somebody.

Example: Gauri is making pasta. — active voice

The pasta is being made by Gauri. — passive voice

• Use the verb in the past participle form: The sentences in the passive voice witness a change in their tenses. As a rule, all the passive sentences are framed in the past tense. The verbs in these sentences are thus conjugated in the past participle tense.

Example: Vibha is meeting her right now. — active voice

She is being met by Vibha right now. — passive voice

We hope this article helped you!