Active and passive

Active and passive. By Faisal khan.

In English grammar, active and passive voice often create a confusion among the students. A proper use and function is very important to know the. Active And passive In spoken English, we almost use active voice. It is the natural choice, more precise and generally shorter.generally a reader or speaker mostly use Active voice rather than passive voice as it is usually easier and more interesting for the reader. But in some cases passive voice plays an important role specially when the the decision has to do with the "doer" (agent) or the "receiver" of the action.

Active voice. WheN subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that the sentence is in the active voice When the subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that the sentence is in the active voice Subject +helping verb +verb+object. Examples: he bought a book Marry will sing a song. The subject he performs the action described by bought The subject the Marry performs the action described by Sing.

Passive voice. Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action A sentence is in the passive voice, when the subject is acted on by the verb. The passive voice is always constructed with a conjugated form of to be plus the verb’s past participle. IN passive voice usually generates a preposition as wel.

rewriting active sentences in passive voice,. the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle) the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped) Object (subject) +helping verb +past. Participle +by or preposition +subject (object)..

active: the subject does the action passive: the subject receives the action Subject +helping verb +verb +object (active) Object (subject) +helping verb +past participle +by or preposition +subject (object) (passive).

Examples. He bought book. (Active) here subject =he , verb= bought , object =book If we make passive of this sentence, we will first use. Object (book) in place of subject and subject (he) use in place of object Book was bought by him (passive) The passive sentence consists of book (object) + was bought (a form of to be plus the past participle bought ) + by (preposition) + him(subject). Making the sentence passive.

Active Simple present: subject +verb is (s.) Do/does Simple past: subject +verb 2nd from did Simple Future: will/shall.

Examples. Active Marry writes a leeter She does not play chess He played football John did not Help me I will sing a song.

Active Present Continuous: is/are/am+presnt participle Past continous : was/were+present participle He is doing his work They were Not watching t.v.

Present perfect: has/have+past participle Past perfect: had+past participle Future perfect: will have+participle He has made mistake She had not finished her work They will have seen movie..

Interrogative. Helping verb +subject +verb +object ? (Active) Helping verb +object (Subject) +past participle +by or preposition +subject (object) ? (Passive) Examples: do you help him? (Active) Is he helped by you ?( passive) did he call you? ( active) We’re you called by him ( passive).

Some more examples. Question word +Helping verb +subject +verb +object ? (Passive) Question word +helping verb +object (Subject) +past participle +by+subject (object)? (Passive) Where will you play football? (Active ) We’re will football be played by you ? (Passive) Why have you done it ? (Active) Why has it been done by you? (Passive) When Does John write a book ? (Active) When is a book written by John ? (Passive).

If sentence starts with who,we will use the following structure.

Impretive. We can make passive voice of impretive from the following structure Using let : let +object+past participle +be Using should be and must be Using you are ordered, requested, advised and forbade + to (according to the sentence).

Examples. Post the letter ( active) Let the letter be posted (Passive) Letter must be posted You are ordered to post the letter Don’t waste your time (active) Let your time not be wasted (Passive) Your time should not be wasted You are advised not to waste your time Please help me ( active) You are requested to help me ( Passive).

Use of the passive. we use the passive when : we want to emphasize the receiver of the action . we don't know who did the action (the agent) . My book has been stolen ( passive) Someone has stolen my book ( active) we think the agent is not important or interesting: The road is being repaired ( passive) Abc company is repairing the road ( active).

we use the passive when : the agent is obvious: He is deceived easily ( Passive) People deceive him easily ( active) . the agent is everyone Freedom fighters are admired (passive) People admire freedom fighters ( active) . we are writing formal or scientific texts: Potassium was added and mixed in. ( Passive) The technician added potassium and mixed it ( passive).

Passive Sentences with Two Objects. Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on Example : he gave me book ( active) . Book was given to me by him ( passive) I was given book by him ..

Long passive sentence. He will write a letter to his uncle tomorrow ( active) In this type of sentence we will focus on object and firstly make sentence according to Previous passive rules A letter will be written to his uncle by him tomorrow ( passive) After object rest of the part of the sentence ( to is uncle) use after past participle and before preposition.

Personal and Impersonal Passive. Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive. Example : we will celebrate the party ( active) the party will be celebrated ( Passive).

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive. Example: they say ( Active) it is said ( passive) Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know). People believe ( active) It is believed ( passive).

Some preposition used in passive voice instead of by.

Contained and interested = in Examples : ThIs book interests me ( active) I am interested in this book ( passive) Disappointed, surprised, astonished, laughed ,displeased = at Examples: his behavior astonished me ( active) I was astonished at his behavior ( passive) His miserable condition disappointed me ( active) I was disappointed at his miserable condition ( passive).

Do it yourself. 1. He will fly kite 2. The mason is building the wall.3. The peon opened the gate.4. Some boys were helping the wounded man 5 .He will finish the work in a week 6 . The cat killed the mouse. 7. The sudden noise frightened the horse. 8. Columbus discovered America. 9. My father will write a letter to your uncle.10 We expect good news. 11. He promised me a present. 1 2. You have fought a good fight. 13. The teacher punished the boy..

Do it yourself. 1. Will you help me? 2. Do you like mangoes? Does. 3.Does Mr. Shrma teach her grammar? 4. Will you run a race tomorrow? 5. Does your brother not do his work properly? 6. Have they finished the work?7. Where have you put my book? 8.why will he do this work? 9. Who broke this jug? 10. Who is reading book?.

Do it yourself. 1. Shut the door 2. Don’t waste your time. 3. Please help me .4. Walk to the left 5. Do not insult the poor .6. Please call the doctor. 7. Do not kill the animals 8.always speak the truth .9. Do not eat too much .10.Please follow the rules.

Do it yourself. 1. You should look into the matter. 2. One should not betray his friend 3. One should never hope to get good out of evil. 4. Chess has interested me. 5.I have to support my lazy sons..6.He has to obey the teacher.7. You will have to solve the question. 7. You should keep your promise. 8.He has to do this work 9. We ought to respect our teachers.