Change of Voice (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 3 Mar, 2026

The forms of verbs that show the "**subject doing an action" or " **an action done on the subject" are called voice. Change of voice means converting a sentence from the **Active to the **Passive Voice or vice versa, without changing the original meaning.

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Types of Voice

There are two voices in the English language, and they are as follows:

**1. Active Voice: In active voice, the verb expresses the subject's action upon the object.

**General Formula: subject + verb + object

**Example: The chef cooks the meal.

**2. Passive Voice: In passive voice, the verb expresses the object being acted upon.

**General Formula: object + helping verb(according to tense) + V3 + by + subject

**Example: T_he meal is cooked by the chef.

**Change of voice means changing an active sentence into passive, or a passive sentence into active. Let's discuss them in detail below:

1. Changing Active Voice to Passive Voice

**Step 1: Identify the **object of the active sentence; it becomes the **subject in the passive sentence.

Step 2: Use the appropriate form of the verb “to be” (is, am, are, was, were, will be, etc.),** according to the tense of the active verb.

**Step 3: Use the **past participle of the main verb.

**Step 4: Optionally add the original subject preceded by **“by.”

**Step 5: Adjust the sentence for proper grammar and meaning.

**Example:

Active: The boy kicks the ball.

**Passive: The ball is kicked by the boy.

**2. Changing Passive Voice to Active Voice

**Step 1: Identify the **doer (agent) in the passive sentence, usually after **“by.” It becomes the subject in the active sentence.

**Step 2: Use the correct verb tense in active form.

**Step 3: Remove the form of **“to be” used in passive voice.

**Step 4: Rearrange the sentence for clarity.

**Example:

**Passive: The cake was baked by her.

**Active: She baked the cake.

**Converting Rules

Given below are a few basic rules to follow while converting from active to passive voice and vice versa:

Tense	**Active Structure + Example	**Passive Structure + Example
Present Simple	Subject + V1 (s/es) + Object__She writes a report._	Object + is/am/are + V3 + by + Subject _A report is written by her.
Past Simple	Subject + V2 + Object _We built a house.	Object + was/were + V3 + by + Subject _A house was built by us.
Future Simple	Subject + shall/will + V1 + Object _She will write the letter.	Object + shall/will + be + V3 + by + Subject _The letter will be written by her.
Present Continuous	Subject + is/am/are + V1 + ing + Object__They are painting the wall._	Object + is/am/are + being + V3 + by + Subject__The wall is being painted by them._
Past Continuous	Subject + was/were + V1 + ing + Object__She was reading a book._	Object + was/were + being + V3 + by + Subject__The book was being read by her._
Future Continuous	Subject + shall/will + be + V1 + ing + Object__They will be painting the room_	Object + will + be + being + V3 + by + Subject (Rarely used) _The room will be being painted by them.
Present Perfect	Subject + has/have + V3 + Object__He has completed the task._	Object + has/have + been + V3 + by + Subject__The task has been completed by him._
Past Perfect	Subject + had + V3 + Object__They had finished the work._	Object + had + been + V3 + by + Subject__The work had been finished by them._
Future Perfect	Subject + shall/will + have + V3 + Object__He will have completed the job._	Object + shall/will + have + been + V3 + by + Subject__The job will have been completed by him._
Present Perfect Continuous	Subject + has/have + been + V1 + ing + Object__She has been writing a report._	Object + has/have + been + being + V3 + by + Subject (Rarely used)_A report has been being written by her.
Past Perfect Continuous	Subject + had + been + V1 + ing + Object__They had been cleaning the hall._	Object + had + been + being + V3 + by + Subject (Rarely used)_The hall had been being cleaned by them.
Future Perfect Continuous	Subject + will + have + been + V1 + ing + Object__We will have been delivering goods_.	Object + will + have + been + being + V3 + by + Subject (Rarely used)_Goods will have been being delivered by us.

Active to Passive Voice

Below are some conversions from active to passive voice:

**Active Voice: She reads a book.
**Passive Voice: A book is read by her.
**Active Voice: They built the house.
**Passive Voice: The house was built by them.
**Active Voice: He will complete the report.
**Passive Voice: The report will be completed by him.
**Active Voice: The chef is cooking the meal.
**Passive Voice: The meal is being cooked by the chef.
**Active Voice: The students have finished the assignment.
**Passive Voice: The assignment has been finished by the students.

Passive to Active Voice

Below are some conversions from passive to active voice:

**Passive Voice: The proposal is approved by the manager.
**Active Voice: The manager approves the proposal.
**Passive Voice: The plants are watered by the gardener.
**Active Voice: The gardener waters the plants.
**Passive Voice: A new product will be launched by the company.
**Active Voice: The company will launch a new product.
**Passive Voice: A beautiful poem was written by her.
**Active Voice: She wrote a beautiful poem.
**Passive Voice: The road is being repaired by them.
**Active Voice: They are repairing the road.

Tips and Tricks

Find the **object first — it becomes the new subject in passive.
Use the correct **“to be” form **past participle in passive.
Include **“by” + doer only if necessary.
**Intransitive verbs (no object) can’t be passive.
Keep the **tense same when changing voice.
The passive form of perfect continuous tenses always uses **“being” before the past participle.
These passive forms are **rarely used in everyday English because they sound complicated.

Also Check:

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