GRAMMAR Voice

Voice is a grammatical form that indicates whether the subject of a sentence performs an action or receives the action. In English grammar, there are two main types of voice: Active Voice and Passive Voice. Active Voice focuses on the person or thing performing the action, whereas Passive Voice focuses on the person or thing receiving the action. Understanding voice helps improve sentence construction, writing skills, communication, and grammatical accuracy.

Meaning of Voice

Voice refers to the relationship between the subject and the action expressed by the verb in a sentence. It indicates whether the subject acts or is acted upon.

Examples:

• Active Voice: The teacher teaches English.

• Passive Voice: English is taught by the teacher.

Both sentences communicate the same basic information, but their structures are different.

Types of Voice

A. Active Voice

Meaning: Active Voice is a grammatical construction in which the subject performs the action expressed by the verb. It generally follows the structure of Subject + Verb + Object (SVO).

Examples:

1. Ram writes a letter.

2. She cooks food.

3. The students completed the assignment.

4. The manager approved the proposal.

5. They are watching a movie.

Characteristics:

• The subject performs the action.

• Sentences are generally direct and clear.

• It emphasises the person or thing performing the action.

• It is commonly used in everyday conversations and writing.

• It usually makes sentences shorter and more engaging.

B. Passive Voice

Meaning: Passive Voice is a grammatical construction in which the subject receives the action expressed by the verb. It generally follows the structure of Subject + Helping Verb + Past Participle (V3) + by + Agent.

Examples:

1. A letter is written by Ram.

2. Food is cooked by her.

3. The assignment was completed by the students.

4. The proposal was approved by the manager.

5. A movie is being watched by them.

Characteristics:

• The subject receives the action.

• It emphasises the action or its receiver.

• The doer may be mentioned or omitted.

• It is commonly used in formal, academic, and official writing.

• It is useful when the doer is unknown or unimportant.

Difference Between Active Voice and Passive Voice

Rules for Changing Active Voice into Passive Voice

1. Identify the Subject, Verb, and Object: Find the subject performing the action, the verb expressing the action, and the object receiving it.

2. Make the Object the New Subject: The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

3. Use the Appropriate Helping Verb: Select the correct form of be according to the tense and number of the new subject.

4. Change the Main Verb into Past Participle: The main verb must be changed into its third form (V3).

5. Add the Agent if Necessary: Use by before the original subject when mentioning the doer is important.

6. Maintain the Original Tense: The tense of the sentence must remain unchanged during conversion.

Example:

Active: The boy kicks the ball.

• Subject: The boy

• Verb: Kicks

• Object: The ball

Passive: The ball is kicked by the boy.

Conversion of Active Voice into Passive Voice in Different Tenses

Important Note: Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous, and Future Perfect Continuous forms are generally not used in passive voice in standard English because their passive constructions are awkward or uncommon.

Changes in Pronouns While Converting Voice

When changing Active Voice into Passive Voice, pronouns may change according to their grammatical position.

Examples:

• Active: He helps me.

• Passive: I am helped by him.

• Active: They invited us.

• Passive: We were invited by them.

Sentences That Cannot Generally Be Changed into Passive Voice

Some sentences cannot be converted into Passive Voice because they do not have a direct object. Such verbs are called intransitive verbs.

Examples:

• The baby sleeps.

• Birds fly.

• The sun rises.

• He laughed.

• The children arrived.

These sentences do not have a direct object that can become the subject of a passive sentence.

Uses of Active and Passive Voice

1. Active Voice in Communication: It is used in everyday conversations because it makes statements direct, clear, and easy to understand.

2. Passive Voice in Formal Writing: It is commonly used in academic reports, scientific writing, official documents, and research papers.

3. Emphasising the Action: Passive Voice is useful when the action or result is more important than the person performing it.

4. Unknown Doer: It is used when the person responsible for an action is unknown. Example: “My wallet was stolen.”

5. Professional Communication: Passive Voice is frequently used in business reports and administrative communication to maintain an objective tone.

6. News Reporting: It helps journalists focus on important events and developments rather than the individuals involved.

7. Academic Writing: It is used when explaining processes, experiments, procedures, and research findings.

Common Mistakes in Using Voice

• Using the wrong helping verb while converting sentences.

• Forgetting to change the main verb into its third form (V3).

• Changing the original tense of the sentence.

• Using incorrect pronouns after the word by.

• Attempting to convert intransitive sentences into Passive Voice.

• Including the agent unnecessarily when it is already understood.

• Confusing Present Continuous Passive with Simple Present Passive.

Practice Exercise

A. Change the following sentences into Passive Voice:

1. The teacher explains the lesson.

2. She is preparing dinner.

3. They completed the project.

4. He has written a story.

5. The police arrested the thief.

6. The company will launch a new product.

7. My mother prepared a cake.

8. The students are reading books.

B. Change the following sentences into Active Voice:

1. The letter was written by Rahul.

2. The room is cleaned by the worker.

3. The match was won by our team.

4. The homework has been completed by the students.

5. The building will be constructed by the company.

Answers: