Passive Voice
🔤 Understanding Passive Voice in English Grammar
In English grammar, mastering the Passive Voice is essential for writing formal, objective, and polite content. This detailed article covers the definition, usage, structure, conversion rules, and provides practical examples along with MCQs to test your knowledge.
📌 What is Passive Voice?
A sentence is in the passive voice when the subject receives the action instead of performing it.
Structure:Object + Form of “to be” + Past Participle + (by + Subject)
🔹 Example:
✅ Passive Voice: The letter was written by Sam.
(Here, the action is being received by “the letter.”)
(Here, the action is being received by “the letter.”)
💡 Why Use Passive Voice?
- ✅ To emphasize the action rather than the doer
- ✅ When the doer is unknown or unimportant
- ✅ For formal or scientific writing
- ✅ To maintain a neutral or polite tone
📘 Examples of Passive Voice
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|
| She paints a picture. | A picture is painted by her. |
| The chef cooked the meal. | The meal was cooked by the chef. |
| They will complete the project. | The project will be completed by them. |
| He is cleaning the house. | The house is being cleaned by him. |
| The child broke the window. | The window was broken by the child. |
🔄 How to Convert Active Voice to Passive Voice
- Identify the subject, verb, and object
- Move the object to the subject position
- Use the correct form of “to be” based on the tense
- Change the verb to the past participle
- Add “by + original subject” (optional)
🔹 Example:
- Active: The manager approved the request.
- Passive: The request was approved by the manager.
🕓 Tense-wise Structure of Passive Voice
| Tense | Passive Voice Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | is/am/are + past participle | The book is read by her. |
| Past Simple | was/were + past participle | The cake was baked by Sam. |
| Future Simple | will be + past participle | The task will be done by us. |
| Present Continuous | is/am/are being + past participle | The room is being cleaned. |
| Past Continuous | was/were being + past participle | The house was being painted. |
| Present Perfect | has/have been + past participle | The job has been finished. |
| Past Perfect | had been + past participle | The message had been sent. |
| Future Perfect | will have been + past participle | The work will have been completed. |
🧠 5 Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs)
1. Which sentence is in passive voice?
A) She wrote the letter.
B) He is watching TV.
C) The song was sung by Lata.
D) They painted the wall.
✅ Answer: C) The song was sung by Lata.
2. Choose the correct passive form:
Active: “They will clean the room.”
A) The room will cleaned.
B) The room is cleaned.
C) The room will be cleaned.
D) The room has been cleaned.
✅ Answer: C) The room will be cleaned.
3. Identify the passive sentence:
A) I eat an apple.
B) The apple was eaten by me.
C) She eats cake every day.
D) He writes a poem.
✅ Answer: B) The apple was eaten by me.
4. What is the passive voice of: “He is fixing the bike”?
A) The bike was fixed.
B) The bike is being fixed.
C) The bike is fixed.
D) The bike was being fixed.
✅ Answer: B) The bike is being fixed.
5. Which sentence is NOT in passive voice?
A) The story is being written.
B) The teacher teaches English.
C) English is taught by the teacher.
D) The job will be completed.
✅ Answer: B) The teacher teaches English.
📝 Conclusion
Using the passive voice correctly allows you to write in a more formal and objective tone. It is especially useful in scientific, business, and academic writing where focus is more on what happened rather than who did it. Practice transforming sentences between active and passive to gain confidence and fluency.
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