Meanings of active and passive voice

Active voice means a subject acts upon its

verb while passive voice means a subject is
the recipient of a verb's action.

In English grammar, verbs have five

properties: voice; mood; tense; person and
number. Here we are concerned with voice.
The two grammatical voices are active and
passive.

Active voice this is when a subject of a

sentence performs the verb's action. And
passive voice is when the subject receives
the verb's action.

CHANGING active voice to passive voice

involves the three things only namely
subject; verb and object. If named things are
less than three it is difficult whether to
change it to active or passive voice.

Things to look at when changing active voice

to passive voice

1. Subject 2. Verb 3. Object these are the

only three things which you always use
when changing active voice to passive voice
or vice versa. Whether the sentence is long
just spot out subject; verb and object only.
These things are at the beginning of that
sentence.

WHENEVER YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE

ACTIVE VOICES TO PASSIVE VOICES do the
following:

1. Look at subject; verb and object only 2.

The subject you have identified is your
object in the passive voice 3. The object you
have identified is your subject in the passive
voice

This means that a subject becomes object in

the passive voice and the object becomes
subject in the passive voice

WHENEVER YOU WANT TO CHANGE THE

PASSIVE VOICE TO ACTIVE VOICE do the
following:

1. Look at subject; verb and object only 2.

The subject you have identified is your
object in the active voice 3. The object you
have identified is your subject in the active
voice

This means that a subject becomes object in

the active voice and the object becomes
subject in the active voice
Do not forget that when a subject becomes
an object the verb used is also changed and
when the object becomes the subject the
verb is also changed. Now we will look at
changes of verbs when the subject becomes
the object or the object becomes the subject.

We will look at two things only and these are:

1. Changing from active voice to passive

voice.

2. Changing from passive voice to active

voice

Let's now discuss number 1.

Changing from active voice to passive voice

Before changing the active voice to passive

voice understand the tenses of your verbs.

The tenses which are involved in this part

are

1. Present tense 2. Present continuous

tense 3. Present perfect tense 4. Past
tense 5. Past continuous tense
6. Future tense
7. Future perfect tense

These are the only tenses we look at. If you

have any you can add.

1. Present tense: this means that the

sentence which you want to change to
passive voice its verb is in the present tense.
This verb always changes to perfect tense.

NB: 1. Any sentence that is changing to

passive voice from active voice uses perfect
tense only. If not then you have failed.

NB: 2. Do not change the tense of the

sentence. This means that if the question is
in present tense you should answer in
present tense too and if is in past tense
answer in past tense too.

The following are the examples and let's look

at them attentively

1. John cooks nsima. Assume it is a

question for you to change it to passive
voice. Why this one is not passive voice it is
because the subject performs the verb's
action.

Do the following things step by step

1. Identify the three parts of a sentence. In

John cooks nsima the three parts are (i) a
subject (ii) a verb (iii) an object. John is the
subject; cooks is the verb and nsima is the
object.

2. Subject will be object. When this subject

becomes object it will be used together with
a preposition by. Thus becomes by John. By
John means John is the subject and has
been used as object. Without by it will mean
the subject is not used as object. Therefore
when the subject is to be used as object
don't forget by and it's a must. This means
John will be at the very end of a sentence
preceded by by.

3. The object will be the subject. This means

nsima will start a sentence

4. Write as points 2 & 3 say Nsima

____________ by John.

5. You have managed to make Nsima as a

subject and John as an object. Using by is a
must. Because using by shows that subject
has become an object. That is why it is a
must.

6. Look at a verb in John cooks nsima. The

verb here is 'cooks'. In which tense is this
verb?. It is in present tense. Since the verb is
in present tense we need to answer in
present tense too.
7. Do you know the secret of all present
tense verbs? If no let me show you and if yes
that's ok. Whenever you have been asked to
change active voice to passive voice and
whose verb is in present tense introduce one
of the following three types of auxiliary
verbs depending on the subject (i) is; (ii) are;
(iii) am to keep the status of the sentence.

8. When one of these auxiliary verbs is

introduced just because the verb in a
question is in present tense, the verb which
is in present tense will change to perfect
tense. And you can't run away from point
number (8).

9. Remember that any sentence which is

changing from active voice to passive voice
its verb will always change to perfect tense.
And if you don't fulfil point number (9) you
fail.

10. You have noticed that 'cooks', in John

cooks nsima is a present tense verb which
will be changed to perfect tense by rule, to
become passive voice.

11. 'cooks' from present tense to perfect

tense becomes 'cooked'. Do this with all the
verbs you may be given. Only changing them
from present tense to their perfect tense
12. Because we have a verb 'cooks' in a
present tense let us introduce one of those
three auxiliary verbs depending on the
subject. The subject in our passive voice
sentence is 'Nsima'. 'Nsima' is uncountable
noun thus we regard it as one. The right
auxiliary verbs among the three is 'is'.

13. Remember that you had verb 'coooks'

which changed to 'cooked' and this plus 'is'
an auxiliary verb will be 'is cooked'.

14. The full passive voice sentence is 'Nsima

is cooked by John'.

2. They eat sweet potatoes. Read number 1

to 5 above.

6. The verb 'eat' is in present tense therefore

let us introduce either is; are or am
depending on the subject. When we
introduce that 'eat' will be changed to perfect
tense which is 'eaten'.

7. The full passive voice sentence is 'The

sweet potatoes are eaten by them. 'are' will be
introduced because the subject is for many
things.

3. Memory writes letters. (i) you will start

with letters and with article the which
becomes 'The letters'. (ii) 'writes' will change
to 'written' after introducing 'are' and so it
becomes 'are written'. (iii) 'are' has been
introduced because (a) the verb is in
present tense and so 'are' (b) letters are
more than one so 'are' is appropriate. (iv) (i)
+ (ii) make 'The letters are written'. (v) we
will finish with Memory which will be
preceded by 'by' and becomes by Memory.
(vi) 'The letters are written by Memory'.

4. He cuts down trees. (i) start with trees

including the article the and it becomes 'The
trees. (ii) introduce 'are' because there are
many trees and the verb 'cuts' is un present
tense. (iii) after introducing 'are' change the
verb 'cuts' to perfect tense that it becomes
'cut'. (iv) 'The trees are cut down and finish
with by him.

5. My children play hopscotch. (i) start with

hopscotch here no need to use articles my
opinion. (ii) introduce 'is' because hopscotch
is one thing and 'is' is introduced because
play is in present tense. (iii) 'is' which has
been introduced will make the verb 'play'
change to become 'played'. (iv) finish with by
my children. This is 'Hopscotch is played by
my children.

7. Lazy learners watch movies. (i) start with

'The movies and introduce 'are' which will
change 'watch' to 'watched' and finish with
by lazy learners. This is 'The movies are
watched by lazy learners'.

NB: Remember that 'is; are and am' are

introduced when our verb is always in
present tense.

'is' is used for all subjects which is for one

thing only. Dzina kapena mlowamalo amene
akumaimila chimodzi

'are' is used for all plural subjects only Dzina

kapena mlowamalo woimila zambiri.

'am' is used with none but 'I' only.

8. The dogs chase me. (i) here you cannot

start with 'me' because 'me' is in an
accusative case and you need to find its
nominative case. As per this knowledge start
with 'I' because of 'I' will introduce 'am' which
will also change the verb 'chase' to 'chased'
and finish with by the dogs. 'I am chased by
the dogs'.

9. The guard closes the door. Here we start

with 'The door' and we introduce 'is' and
change verb 'close' to be 'closed' and finish
with 'by the guad'. 'The door is closed by the
guard'.

10. Cattle drink water. Start with 'The water'

and introduce 'is' then change 'drink' to
'drunk' lastly finish with 'by cattle'. 'The wais
drunk by cattle'.

11. He wears blue clothes. Start with 'blue

clothes' because 'blue' is an adjective so
cannot be left out since it always qualifies
nouns. Next, introduce 'are' because 'blue
clothes' are many and then change 'wears' to
become 'worn' and finish with 'by him'. 'The
blue clothes are worn by him'.

12. She washes plates. Start with 'plates' and

introduce 'are' and change 'wahes' to
'washed' and finish with 'by her'. 'The plates
are washed by her'.

Now you can see how 'are; is and am are

used. You choose one of these if the subject
of the sentence is whether singular or plural.
If the name or pronoun which is starting the
sentence and you want to to use one of
these auxiliary verbs you use 'is' if the name
or pronoun is for one and 'are' is for more
than one. 'am' is always used with 'I'. The
name or pronoun starting the sentence is
calld subject and the name or pronoun that
finishes or found inside the sentence is an
object.

13. Artists weave baskets. Start with 'The

baskets' and introduce 'are' then change
'weave' to 'woven' and finish with 'by artists'.
'The baskets are woven by the artists'.

Find more examples and continue doing this.

2. Present continuous tense in this section,

the active voice sentences have one of these
; is; are; and am. These three auxiliary verbs
are not taken out when changing them to
passive voice but you just add (being). For
example

1. John is cooking okra. Here start with 'okra'

'okra' is uncountable noun so it is one here.
'is' will not change or be removed because
changing active voice to passive voice
doesn't deal with removing auxiliary verbs
but adding being only. 'Okra is being cooked
by John.

NB: Remember that changing active voice to

passive voice we use perfect tenses only
that is why 'cooking' has been changed to
'cooked'. And without doing this we have
failed.

2. John is writing letters. Start with 'The

letters' remember don't remove auxiliary
verbs. Are 'The letters' one or more? They
are more therefore you remove 'is' and
replace it with 'are' because auxiliary verbs
are not removed. 'are' will agree with 'The
letters' while 'is' not. This is 'The letters are
being written by John'.

NB: You have seen that if any sentence has

one of is; are and am you just add being to it.
You only need to be mindful of singular and
plural subjects. If the subject takes 'is', it
means you are talking about one thing and if
the subject takes 'are' you are talking about
greater than one.

For example look at number 2. The subjects

take their agreeing auxiliary verbs.

3. Present perfect tense this means that all

the active voice sentences have modal verb
have or has. When you see these just add
'been' for example

1. Memory has cooked mangoes. Start with

'mangoes' remember 'has' for one and 'have'
for more. Since 'mangoes' are many then you
remove 'has' and replace it with 'have' and so
it becomes 'The mangoes have been cooked
by Memory.
2. Memory has cooked rice. Start with 'rice'
since 'rice' is uncountable we use 'has' and
we just add 'been'. The rice has been cooked
by Memory.

3. The learners have cooked rice. Start with

'rice' and since 'rice' is uncountable we
remove 'have' and replace it with 'has' and
add 'been' and so it becomes 'The rice has
been cooked by learners'.

Find more examples and continue doing this.

POINTS TO KNOW

1. Always change any verb from present

tense and past tense to perfect tense only.
This means always any verb will change in
the active voice to perfect tense in the
passive voice.

2. If your active voice sentence has a

present tense verb remember to introduce
one of the three auxiliary verbs depending
on the subject. these auxiliary verbs in
present tense are (i) is , (ii) are and (iii) am.

3. When you use a subject as an object

precede it with by. This mainly happens in
passive voice and it means the subject has
been used as object. Without by the object is
not used as subject in the active voice.

4. If the active voice has one of (i) is, (ii) are

or (iii) am do not remove it but just
interchange them according to the subjects
if necessary.

4. Past tense: this means that all active

voice sentences have past tense verbs. You
have heard of past tense, as buy rule, verbs
which are in either present tense or past
tense will always change to perfect tense in
the passive voice.

For example look at the verbs which are in

past tense only.

1. John ate nsima. Look at 'ate' it is in past

tense and the rule says any verb should be
in perfect tense only in the passive voice.
The perfect tense of 'ate' is 'eaten'.

NB: Any verb which is in past tense in the

active voice forces you to introduce one of
these 'was' and 'were' in the passive voice.

Now 'ate' in the passive voice will be in

perfect tense 'eaten'. And the same 'ate'
forces us to introduce 'was' or 'were'
depending on the subject. So it will be
Nsima was eaten by John.

'Was' for singular subjects only while 'were'

for plural subjects only

That is why 'Nsima' is singular form of

subject thus 'was' introduced.

2. Memory cooked sweet potatoes. 'cooked'

is in past tense and that it will change to
perfect tense in the passive voice that it
becomes 'cooked' for more see the irregular
verb list. Since 'cooked' is in past tense it
forces us to introduce 'was' or 'were'
according to the subject. And so it becomes
'The sweet potatoes were cooked by
Memory'.

3. Chimwemwe dug the mice. 'Mice' is plural,

and 'dug' is in past tense so it will be in
perfect tense in the passive voice. Since
'dug' is in past tense it forces us to introduce
'was' or 'were' according to the subject. 'The
mice were dug by Chimwemwe.

4. The lions chased after the antelope.

'chased' is in past tense therefore introduce
'was' or 'were' according to the subject and
don't forget that 'changed' in passive voice
will be in perfect tense. So 'The antelope was
chased by the lions'.
So you have seen that past tenses in the
active voices attract 'was' or 'were' in the
passive voices and changing those past
tenses to perfect tenses always.

5. Past continuous tense: this means all

active voice sentences will have 'was'or
'were' only. And these 'was' or 'were' makes
you to add (being).

Example here

1. My mother was buying sugar. Will start

with sugar and remember 'sugar' is
uncountable noun therefore it is a form of
singular subject and mostly all uncountable
nouns are manytimes singular subjects.
Because of 'was' we are forced to add being.
So it will be 'Sugar was being bought by my
mother'. 'buying' has changed to perfect
tense as the rule says that passive voices
need verbs from perfect tense column.

2. The chickens were hunting grasshoppers.

Because of 'were' it just forces us to add
'being' so it will be 'The grasshoppers were
being hunted by the chickens'. 'were' has
come because 'grasshoppers are many. If
there would be one grasshopper it would be
'The grasshopper was being hunted by the
chickens'. Thisbis done according to the
subject.

So you have see that 'was' or 'were' in the

active voice makes you add 'being' only in
the passive voice and remember not to
remove any auxiliary verb as has been the
case since the start.

6. Future tense: this means that active voice

sentences will have the modal verbs 'will' or
'shall'. These 'will' or 'shall' makes us just to
add 'be'. so in passive voices these becomes
'will be' or 'shall be' and the verbs which
follow are always perfect tenses. Here are
examples

1. The bird will eat maize. Because of 'will' in

this sentence we need just to add 'be' and
remember to change 'eat' to perfect tense
that it is 'eaten'. So this is 'The maize will be
eaten by the bird'.

2. The elephants will vomit the food. The

task here is to add 'be' that's all. This
becomes 'The food will be vomited by the
elephants'.

Now you can see that 'will' or 'shall' in the

active voices makes you to do one thing of
adding 'be' only. That is the only thing you do
with modal verbs 'will' or 'shall' to the
passive voices.

7. Future perfect tense: this means that all

active voice sentences have 'will have' or
'shall have' and in the passive voice
sentences these make you add 'been' and
they become 'will have been' or 'shall have
been' in the passive voice.

Examples

1. Chineke will have cooked nsima. Because

of 'will have' in this sentence it forces us to
do one thing only that is to add 'been' that's
all. So it is 'Nsima will have been cooked by
Chineke'.

S U M M A R I Z A T I O N

1. When the verb is in present tense in the

active voice, The passive voice sentence will
have 'is' or 'are' or 'am'. For example 'brush'
in active voice becomes 'is brushed' or 'are
brushed' or 'am brushed' in the passive
voices only, 'put' in active voice becomes 'is
put' or 'are put' or 'am put' in the passive
voices only, 'washes' in the active voice
because 'is washed' or 'are washed' or 'am
washed' only in passive voices. Do the same
with such verbs.
2. When the active voice shows the
continuous action of the verb don't tarry
there is need for you to just add 'being'. For
example from active voice 'is brushing' or
'was brushing' or 'are brushing' or 'were
brushing' will become 'is being brushed' or
'was being brushed' or 'are being brushed' or
'were being brushed' in the passive voice
only. Do the same with such verbs.

3. When a verb is in past tense in the active

voice, the passive voice sentence will have
'was' or 'were'. For example 'brushed' in the
active voice sentence becomes 'was
brushed' or 'were brushed' in the passive
voice only. 'put' in the active voice becomes
'was put' or 'are put' in the passive voice
only, 'washed' in the active voice becomes
'was washed' or 'were washed' in the passive
voice only. Do the same with such verbs.

4. When a verb is in perfect tense in the

active voice, the passive voice will have 'has
been' or 'have been'.for example 'has
brushed' in the active voice becomes 'has
been brushed' or have been brushed' in the
passive voice only, 'has eaten' in the active
voice becomes 'has been eaten' or 'have
been eaten' in the passive voice only, 'have
cooked' in the active voice becomes 'has
been cooked' or 'have been cooked' in the
passive voice only. Do the same with such
verbs.

5. When a verb is future tense in the active

voice, the passive voice has 'will be' or 'shall
be'. For example 'will cook' in the active
voice becomes 'will be cooked' in the
passive voice only, 'will watch' in the active
voice becomes 'will be watched' in the
passive voice.

6. When a verb is future perfect tense in the

active voice, the passive voice has only 'will
have been'. For example 'will have cooked' in
the active voice becomes 'will have been
cooked' in the passive voice. Do the same
with such verbs.

NB: words before subject are taken together

and words before object are also taken
together. If you may leave words before
subject or object your passive voice
sentence will be totally wrong. And the
length of the sentence should not confuse
you just find subject and the word before it
be taken together then verb and lastly object
and those words before object be taken
together. If you miss this very important note
you will find troubles in this exercise.

2. Changing passive voice to active voice

This is now not new because we have seen
that changing active voice sentences to
passive voice sentences involves
interchanging subjects and objects. And we
also change the verb as explained above.
This section will use the same things but in a
reverse way. You need to know the same
three important things namely subject, verb
and object. In this chapter the the objects
are the subjects in the active voices. Thiese
objects are denoted by 'by' meaning that the
objects are subjects in the active voices.
Without 'by' will mean the objects are not
subjects in the active voices. Look at this

1. Nsima is cooked by John. Remember

subject and object are interchanged to
change the voice. The first thing to do is to
identify the parts of a sentence. In number 1
'Nsima' is the 'subject', 'is cooked' is the verb
and 'John' is the object. Because of 'by' on
'John' it shows us that 'John' can also be
used as subject. When changing 'Nsima is
cooked by John' from passive voice to active
voice we will remove 'by' because in the
active voice we will start with John the
subject. And in active voices we don't have
this preposition 'by'. Look at 'is cooked' since
you are taking it to active voice you need to
again remove 'is' so you only remain with
'cooked'. Here again you change the verb
'cooked' to the tense which 'is' you have
removed belongs. 'is' is in present tense so
since 'is' is in present tense, change 'cooked'
to present tense and that is 'cook'. Now
construct the sentence according to the
rules. 'John cooks nsima.

2. The sweet potatoes were eaten by

monkeys. Here you remove 'by' and start
with 'The monkeys'. In this sentence the verb
'were eaten' will change by removing 'were'.
And 'eaten' will also change to the tense
which 'were' belongs. 'were' is in past tense
so change 'eaten' to past tense and then
construct 'The monkeys ate sweet potatoes'.

3. The rice is being cooked by my mother.

Here you first remove 'by' and start with 'My
mother'. Look at 'is being cooked' this verb
will change because you have removed 'by'.
And remember once you remove 'by' change
the verb. What is the main verb in 'is being
cooked' it is 'cooked. Now since 'being'
shows continuous action we need to remove
it too and take only '-ing' from the word you
have removed and add it to the main verb
after changing it to present tense. 'My
mother is cooking rice'.

4. The roofs have been blown away by

whirlwind. Here we just remove 'been' that's
it. 'The whirlwind has blown away roofs'.

5. The antelope will be killed by lions. Here

again we just remove 'be' that is all. 'The
lions will kill the antelope'.

So you can see that it is simple it happens in

reversal.

S U M M A R I Z A T I O N

1. In passive voices remove 'by' and the

auxiliary verb 'is' or 'are' or 'am' and change
the main verb to present tense. Once you do
this then start with the object of that passive
voice sentence to make it active voice.

2. In passive voice remove 'by' and the

auxiliary verb 'was' or 'were' and change the
main verb to past tense. Once you do this
then start with the object to make it active
voice.

3. If your passive voice sentence has a word

'being' inside, remove both 'by' and that
'being' and change the main verb to
continuous tense. Once you do this then
start with the object to make it active voice.

4. If your passive voice sentence has a word

'be' in only sentences which have 'will' or
'shall' remove both 'by' and that 'be' and
change the main verb to present tense. Once
you do this then start with the object.

5. If your passive voice sentence has a word

'been' inside just remove the word 'been'. No
change of main verb. Once you do this then
start with the object.

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