Grammar -Passive Voice -Introduction

Passive Voice 

Look at the following sentence


The teacher reads a book.

 This sentence is about The teacher 

Therefore the subject of this sentence is The teacher 

Here
the subject
‘The teacher’
does something therefore it is the
‘doer’
 of the action

‘reads’

and

the object

‘a book’

is the

‘receiver’

of the action

Very often


The subject is the ‘doer’ of the action

but sometimes

The subject becomes the ‘receiver' of the action

 

Look at the following sentence

 

A book is read by the teacher.

 This sentence is about A book 

Therefore the subject of this sentence is A book 

Here

 the subject

‘A book’
doesn’t do anything and it is the

‘receiver’

of the action

 

Remember!



When

the subject

of the sentence is the

‘doer’

of the action and  active doing an action

we say,

the sentence is in the

 

Active voice


When

the subject

of the  sentence  is the

‘receiver’

of the action and doesn’t do anything or passive

we say the verb is in the

 

Passive voice

 


Look at the following examples


 

The children play football.

Football is played by the children.

 

The puppets are singing a song.

A song is being sung by the puppets.

 

The teacher has taught math in the class.

Math has been taught by the teacher in the class.

 

He played cricket for his school.
 Cricket was played by him for his school

 

They were watching television then.
Television was being watched by them then.


 

She had served cookies that evening.
Cookies had been served by her that evening


 

Kurulu will collect seashells next Sunday.

Seashells will be collected by her next Sunday.

 

Why do we want Passive sentences?


We use
passive voice
 

when
 we do not know the doer of the action
or
 we are not interested about the  doer

and also
 the doer is not important
but
what is happening is important
or
to whom is it happening is important

 


Let’s learn how Passive Sentences are formed

 

The teacher teaches the students every day.

Look at the structure of this sentence

                           Subject   +    verb     +     object     +     adverbial

 

To change this sentence in to passive we need to make the receiver or the object of the sentence the subject.

When doing so the verb is also changed.

 The verb takes its past participle form and is also used with the verb be.

Therefore in passive vice sentence the verb has two parts.

They are

verb be and main verb

The verb be is decided according to the time the action happens or the tense.


If the verb is in the simple present tense: am/ is   /are

If the verb is in the present continuous tense: am /is / are + being

If the verb is in the present perfect tense: has/ have + been

  If the verb is in the simple past tense: was /were

If the verb is in the past continuous tense: was/ were + being

If the verb is in the past perfect tense: had + been

If the verb is in the simple future tense: will/shall + be

 

Remember!

The verb be is decided by the number of the subject

Whether the subject singular or plural or I or we

 Main Verb is in the past participle form


Let’s change the sentence in to passive

The teacher teaches the students every day.

                           Subject   +    verb     +     object     +     adverbial

 

Look at the structure of a passive sentence

 

                           Subject   + verb be + verb past participle +   adverbial

                    The students    are              taught                  every day.

If we want to mention who has done the action we can mention it using a

by phrase

and then it is called the

agent

Example

 The students     are       taught       by the teacher    every day.

            Subject + verb be   + verb past participle + agent + adverbial

                                                          

 

More examples

 

Passive Voice - Simple Present


The boy kicks the ball every day.
The ball is kicked every day.

The ball is kicked by the boy every day.

 

The girl plucks flowers every day.
Flowers are plucked every day.

Flowers are plucked by the girl every day.

 

 

Active   :    (does)/ (do)

Passive:   is/are + (done)

 

Somebody cleans the room every day.

The room is cleaned every day.

The rooms are cleaned everyday

 

 

Do the following activity


 Turn the following sentences in to Passive Voice

  1. Kurulu does homework every day.
  2. Pavan draws pictures.
  3. We play hopscotch.
  4. The sports captins light the sports torch.
  5. The athletes give the oath.
  6. The teacher marks the papers at the end of the term.

 

Passive Voice - Simple Past

 

The boy kicked the ball yesterday.
The ball was kicked yesterday

The ball was kicked by the boy yesterday.

 

The girl plucked flowers every day.
Flowers were plucked every day.

Flowers were plucked by the girl every day.

 

 

Active   :    did

Passive:   was/were + done

 

Somebody cleaned the room yesterday.

The room was cleaned yesterday.

The rooms were cleaned yesterday.

 

Do the following activity


 Turn the following sentences in to Passive Voice

  1. Ancient kings built huge ponds in the past.
  2. President Obama delivered a speech at the earth summit last year.
  3. They elected him the president last year.
  4. The students cleaned the environment during the last school vacation.
  5. The teacher marked the papers last night. 

Passive voice - Present Continuous

 

          The boy is kicking the ball now.
The ball is being kicked now.

The ball is being kicked by the boy now.

 

The girl is plucking flowers now.
Flowers are being plucked now.

Flowers are being plucked by the girl now.

 

Active   :   am /is/ are + (do) ing

Passive:   am /is/are + being (done)

 

Somebody is cleaning the room now.

The room is being cleaned now.

The rooms are being cleaned now.

 

Do the following activity

Turn the following sentences in to Passive Voice   

  1. Samanali is eating a snack.
  2. Pavan is watering the plants.
  3. They are playing football.
  4. Pavan and Pahan are riding bicycles
  5. Sandaras  is painting a picture

 

                                             Passive Voice - Past Continuous

 

          The boy was kicking the ball now.
The ball was being kicked now.

The ball was being kicked by the boy now.

 

The girl was plucking flowers then.
Flowers were being plucked then.

Flowers were being plucked by the girl then.

 

Active   :   was /were + (do)ing

Passive:   was/were + being (done)

 

Somebody was cleaning the room yesterday.

The room was being cleaned yesterday.

 The room were being cleaned yesterday

 

Passive Voice - Present Perfect

The boy has kicked the ball.
The ball has been kicked.

The ball has been kicked by the boy.

 

The girl has plucked flowers.
Flowers have been plucked.

Flowers have been plucked by the girl.

 

 

Active   :    has /have/ (done)

Passive:   has/have been + (done)

 

Somebody has cleaned the room.

The room has been cleaned.

The rooms have been cleaned.

 

Do the following activity

 

Turn the following sentences in to Passive Voice   

  1. Samanali has eaten an ice-cream.
  2. Pavan has watered the plants.
  3. They have played football.
  4. Pavan and Pahan have ridden bicycles.
  5. Sandaras has painted a beautiful picture.

 

 

Passive Voice - Past Perfect

 

The boy had kicked the ball.
The ball had been kicked.

The ball had been kicked by the boy.

 

The girl had plucked flowers.
Flowers had been plucked.

Flowers had been plucked by the girl.

 

 

Active   :    had + (done)

Passive:   had been + (done)

 

Somebody cleans the room.

The room had been cleaned.

The rooms had been cleaned.

 

Do the following activity

 

Turn the following sentences in to Passive Voice   

  1. Samanali had eaten laddu before.
  2. Pavan had watered the plants before his mother’s return.
  3. They had plucked berries when they were at their grandmother’s village.
  4. Pavan and Pahan had ridden bicycles during last holidays.
  5. Sandaras had painted a beautiful picture when I went there.

 

Passive Voice - Simple Future

The boy will play football tomorrow.
Football will be played tomorrow.

Football will be played by the boy tomorrow.

 

The girl will pluck flowers tomorrow.
Flowers will be plucked tomorrow.

Flowers will be plucked by the girl tomorrow.

 

 

Active   :    will/shall (do)

Passive:   will be + (done)

 

Somebody will clean the room tomorrow.

The room will be cleaned tomorrow.

The rooms will be cleaned tomorrow.

 

 

Do the following activity

 

Turn the following sentences in to Passive Voice

  1. Kumudu will do homework every day.
  2. Vihanga will draw pictures.
  3. Thechildre will play hopscotch.
  4. The sport captains will light the sports torch.
  5. The athletes will give the oath.
  6. The teacher will mark the papers at the end of the term.


More activities to practice



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