Active and Passive Voice

 

Voice

Table of Contents

Definition

Voice is a grammatical category that expresses the semantic functions attributed to referents of a clause.

• It indicates whether the subject is an.
• The term “Voice” as a linguistic category indicates the relationship between the subject of a sentence and its verb.

Types of Voice

There are two types of voices in English grammar which are the following:

1. Active Voice
2. Passive Voice
3. Active Voice

Definition

Active Voice is a voice that indicates a subject is a semantic function of the actor.

Example

• A passer-by nudged the man.

Here in this example, the Subject performs the action.

2. Passive Voice

Definition

Passive Voice is a voice that indicates that the subject is the patient or recipient of the action denoted by the verb.

Example

• The man was nudged by a passerby.

 Here in this example, the Subject does not perform the action.

How Active converts to Passive:

Conversion of active to passive deals mainly with subject, object, verb and the preposition i.e.

1. The subject turns to the object.
2. The object turns to the subject.
3. Always use the third form of the main verb.
4. The preposition ‘by’ before the object.

Pronoun changes occurring in Voices

The pronoun I change to ‘me’, We to ‘us’, He to ‘ him’, She to ‘her’, They to ‘them’, while ‘it’ and ‘you’ remains the same.

Change of voice according to Tense:

1. Present Indefinite Tense
2. Present Continuous Tense
3. Present Perfect Tense
4. Past Indefinite Tense
5. Past Continuous Tense
6. Past Perfect Tense
7. Future Indefinite Tense
8. Future Perfect Tense

1. Present Indefinite Tense:

In the present indefinite tense, the main difference is to take the helping verbs of the following tense (present continuous tense).

For Example:

    1. Alina sings a song. (Active Voice)

 A song is sung by Alina. (Passive Voice)

    2. Khansa cooks the food. (Active Voice)  

The food is cooked by Khansa. (Passive Voice)

    2. Present Continuous Tense:

In present continuous tense, ‘is being’, ‘am being’ and ‘are being’ are used before the third form of the main verb in the passive voice while the other rules are the same for this.

For Example:

    1. Ahsan is playing cricket. (Active Voice)

Cricket is being played by Ahsan. (Passive Voice)

    2. Ali is driving a car. (Active Voice)

A car is being driven by Ali. (Passive Voice)

    3. Present Perfect Tense:

In the present perfect tense ‘has been’, ‘have been’ and ‘had been’ are used before the third form of the main verb in the passive voice and all other rules are the same for this.

For Example:

    1. The girls have plucked the flowers.(Active Voice)

The flowers have been plucked by girls. (Passive Voice)

    2. I have finished the job. (Active Voice)

The job has been finished by me. (Passive Voice)

No passive voice is present in Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

4. Past Indefinite Tense:

• While converting past indefinite sentences into passive voice “was and were” are used as helping verbs and the other rules are the same.

For Example:

    1. You wrote a letter. (Active Voice)

A letter was written by you. (Passive Voice)

    2. He did not read the book. (Active Voice)

The book was not read by him. (Passive Voice

    5. Past Continuous Tense:

In past continuous tense “was being and were being” are used as helping verbs before the main verb in passive voice sentences.

 

For Example:

    1. They were saying their prayers. (Active Voice)

Their prayers were being said by them. (Passive Voice)

    2. Why were you cheating me? (Active Voice)

Why was I being cheated on by you? (Passive Voice)

    6. Past Perfect Tense:

In past perfect tense the helping verb used before the main verb is ‘had been’ which is used both in the case of singular and plural and the other rules remain the same.

For example:

    1. Had she invited them? (Active Voice)

Had they been invited by her? (Passive Voice)

    2. I had never experienced such difficulty (Active Voice)

The such difficulty had never been experienced by me (Passive Voice)

• Past perfect continuous tense cannot be changed into passive voice.

     7. Future Indefinite Tense:

The helping verbs “shall be and will be” are used before the main verb in passive sentences and the other rules remain the same.

For Example:

    1. She will help me. (Active Voice)

I will be helped by her. (Passive Voice)

    2. We shall not betray our country. (Active Voice)

Our country shall not be betrayed by us. (Passive Voice)

    8. Future Perfect Tense:

The helping verbs ‘will have been’ and ‘shall have been’ are used before the main verb in the passive voice and the remaining rules will be the same.

 

For Example:

    1. Will they have caught the train? (Active Voice)

Will the train have been caught by them? (Passive Voice)

    2. She will have finished her work (Active Voice)

Her work will have been finished by her. (Passive Voice)

• Active sentences in the future continuous and future perfect continuous tenses cannot be changed to passive.

Uses Of Voices:

Voices can be used in the following cases:

    1. When the actor is unknown.

E.g. The cape paintings of America were made in the upper old stone age.

Here we don’t know who is a painter and there is no subject.

    2. When you want to be vague (unclear) about who is responsible for that action.

This expression is mostly used in   Beaurocratic writings and here we are unclear about the subject.

    3. When you talk about a general truth.

E.g. Rules are made to be broken.

We do not know and are ambiguous about this thing.

    4. When you want to emphasize the person or thing acted on.

E.g. 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.

    5. When you are writing in a scientific genre that traditionally relies on passive voice. 

Passive voice is often preferred in the lab reports and scientific research papers most notably in the material and method sections.

E.g. sodium hydroxide is dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid.

Here we did not mention ourselves but just talk indirectly about the experiment. 

Advantages Of Active Voice:

• Active sentences are shorter.
• Active sentences are direct. This ensures the subject takes responsibility for the action.
• Active sentences are more engaging for the readers.
• Active sentences are often less confusing and less ambiguous.
• Active sentences allow you to express an authoritative tone.

Advantages of Passive Voice:

• Passive sentences allow the subject to avoid responsibility for the action.
• Passive sentences can show a neutral or objective tone.
• Passive sentences are used when the subject is unimportant or unknown.
• Passive sentences allow you to shift the focus of the subject.

 

Disadvantages of Voices:

• Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action.
• Academic writing often focuses on differences between the idea of different researchers or between your own ideas and those of the researchers you are discussing. Too many passive sentences can create confusion.
• Some students used passive sentences to hide holes (weaknesses) in their research works.
• Finally, passive sentences often sound indirect. They can make the readers work unnecessarily hard. And since they are usually longer than active sentences.
• It is also long and indirect.

Conclusion:

Here we discussed the voices in different tenses except for the past continuous, future continuous and future perfect continuous tense because these tenses cannot be changed into passive voice.

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