ACTIVE PASSIVE VOICE

 

PARK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

HS 8251 TECHNICAL ENGLISH

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

1.1. Present and past

	ACTIVE	PASSIVE
Present simple	We make butter from milk Somebody cleans these rooms every day People never invite me to parties How do they make butter?	Butter is made from milk. These rooms are cleaned every day. I am never invited to parties. How is butter made
Past simple	Somebody stole my car last week. Someone stole my keys yesterday. They did not invite me to the party. When did they build these houses?	My car was stolen last week. My keys were stolen yesterday. I wasn’t invited to the party. When were these houses built?
Present continuous	They are building a new airport at the moment.(=it is not finished) They are building some new houses near the river	A new airport is being built at the moment. Some new houses are being built near the river.
Past continuous	When I was here a few years ago they were building a new airport.(= it wasn’t finished at that time	When I was here a few years ago, a new airport was being built.
Present perfect	Look! They have painted the door. These shirts are clean. Somebody has washed them. Somebody has stolen my car.	Look! The door has been painted. These shirts are clean. They have been washed. My car has been stolen.
Past perfect	Arun said that somebody had stolen his car.	Arun said that his car had been stolen.

 

1.2 Will/can/ must/ have to/ etc

ACTIVE	PASSIVE
Somebody will clean the office tomorrow. Somebody must clean the office I think they will invite you to the party They can’t repair my watch. You should wash this sweater by hand. They are going to build a new airport. Somebody has to wash these clothes. They had to take the injured man to hospital	The office will be cleaned tomorrow. The office must be cleaned. I think you will be invited to the party. My watch can’t be repaired. This sweater should be washed by hand. A new airport is going to be built. These clothes have to be washed. The injured man had to be taken to hospital.

 

1.3. Different passives

Tense	Active	Passive
Simple present	Mr. Cgy teaches grammar	Grammar is taught by Mr.Cgy
Simple past	Mr.Cgy taught grammar last year.	Grammar was taught by Mr.Cgy.
future	Mr.Cgy will teach grammar again next year	Grammar will be taught by Mr. Cgy again next year.
Present progressive	Mr.Cgy is teaching grammar now.	Grammar is being taught byMr.Cgy now.
Past progressive	Mr.Cgy was teaching grammar	Grammar was being taught by Mr.Cgy
Present perfect	Mr.Cgy has taught grammar for a year	Grammar has been taught by Mr. Cgy for a year
Past perfect	Mr. Cgy had taught grammar earlier.	Grammar had been taught earlier by Mr.Cgy.
Passive infinitive	Mr.Cgy is to clarify our doubts in grammar.	Our doubts are to be clarified by Mr.Cgy.

 

1.4. Just for practice

Active	Passive
Raj writes a letter	A letter is written by Raj.
Raj writes some letters	Some letters are written by Raj
Raj wrote a letter	A letter was written by Raj.
Raj wrote some letters	Some letters were written by Raj
Raj is writing a letter	A letter is being written by Raj
Raj is writing some letters	Some letters are being written by raj
Raj has written a letter	A letter has been written byRaj
Raj has written some letters	Some letters have been written by Raj
Raj had written a letter	A letter had been written by Raj
Raj had written some letters	Some letters have been written by Raj
Raj will write a letter	A letter will be written by Raj
Raj will write some letters	Some letters will be written by Raj

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.5 Two objects

If there are two objects in the active voice, one can use either of them as the subject in the passive voice

Examples:

Active	Passive
Ravi gave Ram a writing pad	Ram was given a writing pad (0r) A writing pad was given to Ram
My uncle presented me a new wrist watch	I was presented a new wrist watch by my uncle (or) A new wrist watch was presented to me by my uncle.
Someone gave her a bulldog	She was given a bulldog (or) A bulldog was given to her.

 

 

1.6 Active tenses and their passive equivalents:           

Tense/Verb form	Active voice	Passive voice
Simple present	Keep(s)	Am/is/are kept
Present continuous	Is/are keeping	Is/are being kept
Simple past	kept	Was/were kept
Past continuous	Was/were keeping	Was/were being kept
Present perfect	Has/have kept	Has/have been  kept
Past perfect	Had kept	Had been kept
Future	Will keep	Will be kept
Conditional	Would keep	Would be kept
Perfect conditional	Would have kept	Would have been kept
Present infinitive	To keep	To be kept
Perfect infinitive	To have kept	To have been kept
Present participle/gerund	keeping	Being kept
Perfect participle	Having kept	Having been kept

 

 

1.7. More examples on active-passive:

 

Active	Passive
They built this house in 1985	This house was  built in 1985
Children play games	Games are played by children
I know you	You are known to me
The police caught the thief	The thief was caught
She can drive a car	A car can be driven by her
They may buy that house	That house may be bought by them
Do this work	Let this work be done
Shut the window	Let the window be shut.
She is singing songs	Songs are being sung by her
He was writing letters	Letters were being written by them
He has bought a new house	A new house has been bought by him
She had written a letter	A letter had been written by her.
Who wrote this letter?	By whom was this letter written?
Who told you?	By whom were you told?
How can you do this?	How can it be done by you?
Why did you change the plug?	Why was the plug changed?
They let us go	We were let go
He made us work.	We were made to work.
He looked after the children well	The children were well looked after
We must write to him	He must be written to

 

1.8 Uses of passive construction:

Use	Example
1.When the agent is unknown or irrelevant	The minister was murdered My car has been moved
2. When the agent is too obvious from the context	The thief was caught The streets are swept every day
3. When the process is more important than the agent	Water is added to so sodium chloride The mixture is boiled
4.When the agent does not want to reveal his/ her identity	An error is/ has been made( Instead of I made an error)
5. When the speaker wants to hide the source of some confidential information	I was informed that the grammar lessons were boring ( instead of Arun informed me…..)
6. To avoid responsibility	The account was mishandled ( instead of you mishandled  the account

 

 

1.9. Final exercise:

Change the following into passive:

1. We must not allow water to come into contact with sodium.

2. We ought to place the metal on a dry surface.

3. We can see several particles of iron and silver.

4. They should have submitted the project report.

5. Friction reduces the efficiency of machines.

6. A computer performs fast and accurate calculations.

7. They called of the meeting.

8. I would have kept your car here if you had left it with me.

 

Check your answers now:

1. Water must not be allowed to come into contact with sodium

2. The metal ought to be placed on a dry surface.

3. Several particles of iron and silver can be seen.

4. The project report should have been submitted.

5. The efficiency of machines is reduced by friction.

6. Fast and accurate calculations are performed by a computer.

7. The meeting was called off.

8. Your car would have been kept here by me if it had been left with me by me.

 

1.10. Impersonal passive.

 

Personal passive

Every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

            They build houses (active)

            Houses are built.( passive)

Impersonal 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 voice.

If one wants to use an intransitive in a passive voice, they need an impersonal construction. Therefore this passive is called impersonal passive.

In English impersonal passive is only possible with verbs of perception ( eg. Say, think, know)

            Examples:

            1. They say that women live longer than men.( active)

            It is said that women live longer than men.( impersonal passive)       (or)

            Women are said to live longer than men (impersonal passive)

            2. People say that the children are afraid of ghosts (active)

            It is said that children are afraid of ghosts.( impersonal passive)       (or)

            Children are said to be afraid of ghosts

            3. They say she works hard (active)

            It is said that she works hard,( impersonal passive)]

            She is said to work hard.

 

           

            We often prefer to use the passive voice when:

1. We do not know who the agent is:

• 'I don’t know who did it, but my pet rabbit has been let out.'
• 'I had the feeling that I was being followed

·         instead of:

• 'I don’t know who did it, but someone has let out my pet rabbit.'
• 'I had the feeling that somebody was following me.'

2. When it is obvious to the listener or reader who the agent is:

• 'I had been instructed to remove all the ash trays.'
• 'She discovered that she was being paid less than her male colleagues.'

instead of:

• 'My boss had instructed me to remove all the ash trays.'
• 'She discovered that the firm was paying her less than her male colleagues.'

 

3. When it is not important to know who the agent is:

• 'Do you want a lift?' 'No thanks, I’m being collected.'

instead of:

• 'Do you want a lift?' 'No thanks, someone is collecting me.'

4. When the agent has already been mentioned:

• 'In the next session of parliament, new laws will be introduced aimed at stopping domestic violence.'

instead of:

• 'In the next session of parliament, the government will introduce new laws aimed at stopping domestic violence.'

5. When people in general are the agents:

• 'All the Beatles records can be borrowed from the central library.

instead of:

'You can borrow all the Beatles records from the central library

 

 

 

When do I use passive voice?

In some sentences, passive voice can be perfectly acceptable. You might use it in the following cases:

1. The actor is unknown:
   
   

The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don’t know who made them.]

2. The actor is irrelevant:
   
   

An experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. [We are not interested in who is building it.]

3. You want to be vague about who is responsible:
   
   

Mistakes were made. [Common in bureaucratic writing!]

4. You are talking about a general truth:
   
   

Rules are made to be broken. [By whomever, whenever.]

5. You want to emphasize the person or thing acted on. For example, it may be your main topic:
   
   

Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto. It is still the only treatment available for diabetes.

6. You are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice. Passive voice is often preferred in lab reports and scientific research papers, most notably in the Materials and Methods section:
   
   

The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid.

In these sentences you can count on your reader to know that you are the one who did the dissolving and the titrating. The passive voice places the emphasis on your experiment rather than on you.

Note: Over the past several years, there has been a movement within many science disciplines away from passive voice. Scientists often now prefer active voice in most parts of their published reports, even occasionally using the subject “we” in the Materials and Methods section. Check with your instructor or TA whether you can use the first person “I” or “we” in your lab reports to help avoid the passive.

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