RULES OF ACTIVE PASSIVE VOICE

 

RULES OF ACTIVE PASSIVE VOICE

Rule	Example
1. Only transitive verbs (verbs with objects) can be made passive.	Active: She writes a letter. +
	Passive: A letter is written by
2. Intransitive verbs (without objects) cannot be changed into passive.	X He sleeps. (No passive form)
3. The object of active becomes the subject of passive.	Active: They help me. -5 Passive: I am helped by them.
4. The subject of active becomes the agent (by + noun/pronoun) in passive.	ActiVe: The teacher praises the oy. 'Passive: The boy is praised by the teacher.
5. If the doer is unimportant/unknown, omit the agent in passive.	Passive: The window was broken. (No need to say "by someone")
6. Pronouns change forms in passive (l�me, he�him, they�them, etc.).	Active: He teaches me. *
	Passive: I am taught by him.
7. The tense of the verb remains the same in passive.	Active: She will write a book. * Passive: A book will be written by her.
8. The voice change affects word order, not tense.	Active: They are watching the movie. * Passive: The movie is being watched by them.
9. In Simple Present, use am/is/are + past participle.	Active: She sings a song. Passive: A song is sung by her.
10. In Present Continuous, use am/is/are + being + past participle.	Active: He is repairing the car. Passive: The car is being repaired by him.
11. In Present Perfect, use has/have been + past participle.	Active: They have finished the work. * Passive: The work has been finished by them.
12. In Simple Past, use was/were + past participle.	Active: She painted the wall. * Passive: The wall was painted by her.
13. In Past Continuous, use was/were + being + past participle.	Active: They were playing cricket. + Passive: Cricket was being played by them.
14. In Past Perfect, use had been + past participle.	Active: He had written the letter. + Passive: The letter had been written by him.
15. In Simple Future, use will/shall + be + past participle.	Active: She will deliver the speech. + Passive: The speech will be delivered by her.
16. In Future Perfect, use will have been + past participle.	Active: They will have completed the project. + Passive: The project will have been completed by them.
17. In Future Continuous, passive is generally not used.	x He will be doing the work. (No passive form)
18. In Future Perfect	X She will have been teaching.
Continuous, passive is not possible.
19. For imperatives	Active: Close the door.
(orders/requests), use let + object + be + past participle.	Passive: Let the door be closed.
20. For negative imperatives, use let not + object + be past participle.	Active: Do not touch it. +
	Passive: Let it not be touched.
21. For questions starting with	Active: Who wrote this book? * Passive: By whom was this book written?
"who", change who * by whom.
22. For questions starting with "whom", object becomes subject.	Active: Whom do you trust? *
	Passive: Who is trusted by you?
23. For yes/no questions, place auxiliary before subject.	Active: Did she finish the work? + Passive: Was the work finished by her?
24. Modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, should, etc.) take be + past participle in passive.	Active: She can solve the problem. + Passive: The problem can be solved by her.
25. With modal perfects (must have, should have, etc.), use been.	Active: She must have completed the task. * Passive: The task must have been completed by her.
26. In passive infinitives, use to be + past participle.	Active: I want to meet him. * Passive: I want to be met by him.
27. In passive gerunds, use being + past participle.	Active: I like people praising me. + Passive: I like being praised.
28. Double object sentence can take either object as passive subject.	ActiVe: She gave me a gift. + Passive: I was given a gift by her.
	/ A gift was given to me by her.
29. If two objects are present, passive is more natural with indirect object.	Passive: I was offered a job. (Better than: A job was offered to me.)
30. In causative verbs (make/let/have), passive structure changes.	Active: She made me laugh. *
	Passive: I was made to laugh...
31. Passive with get is common in informal English.	Active: Someone stole my bag.
	* Passive: My bag got stolen.
32. Passive can be used to focus on action rather than doer.	Passive: English is spoken worldwide.
33. In scientific writing, passive voice is often preferred.	Passive: The experiment was conducted carefully.
34. Passive avoids blaming someone directly.	Active: You broke the glass. *
	Passive: The glass was broken.
35. Some verbs cannot logically form passives (e.g., fit, suit, resemble).	X He resembles his father. (No passive form)
36. Idiomatic expressions ay sound odd in passive.	Active: They kept an eye on him. + Passive: X An eye was kept onliim.
37. Stative verbs (know, belong, consist) rarely used in passive.	X The book is known by me. (Awkward)
38. Some verbs change meaning when made passive.	Active: People run the company. + Passive: The company is run by people.
39. Passive is used in formal notices and announcements.	Passive: Applications are invited for the post.
40. Passive often appears in legal language.	Passive: The contract shall be terminated if violated.
41. In news headlines, passive is frequent.	Passive: Man Arrested in Bank Robbery.
42. When subject is	Active: They say he is rich. *
"people/they/one/somebody", passive avoids vagueness.	Passive: He is said to be rich.
43. For verbs of reporting (say, think, believe), use passive w(ttm infinitive.	Active: People think she is honest. * Passive: She is thought to be honest.
44. Some passive forms use it passive + clause.	Passive: It is said that he is honest.
45. Passive can use there + be constructions.	Passive: There is believed to be a mistake.
46. Reflexive verbs are rarely used in passive.	Active: He killed himself. + x Himself was killed by him.
47. Verbs of possession (have, own, possess) don't usually take passive.	X A car is had by me.
48. Passive can emphasize result over action.	Passive: The task is finished.
49. In literature, passive may give detached or mysterious tone.	Passive: The door was left open.
50. Use passive for politeness.	Active: Someone has made a mistake. * Passive: A mistake has been made.
51. When changing pronouns, always use object case after "by".	Active: She invited us. *
	Passive: We were invited by her.
52. Some verbs take prepositions + object, and in passive the preposition stays.	ACtive: hey laughed at him.
	Passive: He was laughed at.
53. Phrasal verbs keep particles in passive.	Active: They looked after the child. * Passive: The child was looked after.
54. Some passives omit "by" if agent is obvious.	Passive: He was arrested. (By police is obvious)
55. With nobody/somebody/people, passive is preferred.	Active: Somebody stole my phone. + Passive: My phone was stolen.
56. Abstract subjects often sound better in passive.	Passive: A solution is expected soon.
57. Passive is common in official writing.	Passive: The meeting will be held tomorrow.
58. Avoid using passive where clarity demands the agent.	Active: The teacher punished him. (Better than: He was punished.)
59. Passive may be less natural in spoken English	Active: People use this app daily. + Passive: This app is used daily.
60. Sometimes passive is shorter and clearer.	Passive: He was born in 1990.
61. Passive can hide responsibility.	Passive: Mistakes were made.
62. Some verbs of measure/value resist passive.	x This pen costs me ten rupees.
63. In passive, auxiliary verbs may increase in length.	Active: She knows him. *
	Passive: He is known by her.
64. Passive with "need" uses to be + past participle or need + noun	Active: The house needs cleaning. * Passive: The house needs to be cleaned.
65. Some stative passives behave like adjectives.	Passive: I am interested in music.
66. Passive infinitive is often used after adjectives.	Passive: It is nice to be invited.
67. The short passive drops the agent.	Passive: The door was locked.
68. The long passive keeps the agent.	Passive: The door was locked by the guard.
69. In questions with passive, auxiliary precedes subject.	Passive: Was the work done?
70. Use passive to stress object rather than subject.	Active: The chef cooked the meal. * Passive: The meal was cooked by the chef.
71. In academic writing, passive avoids "l/we".	Passive: Data were collected from 500 students.
72. Passive can occur with verbs of perception (see, hear, notice).	Active: They saw him steal the bag. Passive: He was seen stealing the bag.
73. Passive is used in abstract impersonal expressions.	Passive: It is believed that he is guilty.
74. Some verbs (know, believe, say) allow two passive structures.	Active: People say she sings well. * Passive: She is said to sing well. / It is said that she sings well.
75. Passive can reduce wordiness.	Passive: The law was passed.
76. Passive may shift focus to receiver.	Passiv : The patient was given medicine.
77. Some verbs of giving/teaching/showing allow two passives.	Active: She taught us English.
	+ Passive: We were taught English. / English was taught to us.
78. In indirect speech, passive is common.	Passive: He was told that the class was over.
79. Certain expressions only exist in passive.	Passive: He is reputed to be honest.
80. Passive helps when doer is unknown.	Passive: The wallet was stolen.
81. Be careful with ambiguous passives.	Passive: The boy was seen by the man with a telescope.
82. "Get" passive often implies accidents or misfortune.	Passive: He got hurt in the game.
83. Some verbs take adverbial passives.	Passive: He is well respected.
84. Some verbs form impersonal passives.	Passive: It is thought that ric s will rise.
85. Passive may alter focus of a sentence.	ctive: The police caught the hief. * Passive: The thief was caught by the police.
86. Some passives use "to" where active uses double object.	Active: She explained the rule to me. + Passive: The rule was explained to me.
87. In past participle adjectives, passive meaning overlaps.	Passive: I am tired. (Result of being tired)
88. Be careful with false passives (adjective-like).	Passive: The shop is closed.
	(Not action, but state)
89. Not all passive verbs take "by"; some take "with".	Passive: The jar was filled with water.
90. Passive of "rise/raise" differs.	Active: They raised the flag. *
	Passive: The flag was raised.
	(X Rise has no passive)
91. Some passives sound archaic but exist in formal English.	Passive: Long live the king! (Bare)
92. Complex object clauses can be made passive.	ActiVe: They made him captain. * Passive: He was made captain.
93. Use passive to maintain cohesion in a text.	Passive: The data were analyzed. Then conclusions were drawn.
94. Passive may affect emphasis in discourse.	Passive: The bridge was built in 1890.
95. Avoid overusing passive� it may weaken writing.	Active is clearer: The manager approved the plan.
96. In exams, passive transformation tests tense knowledge.	Active: She was writing a letter. * Passive: A letter was being written by her.
97. Passive voice is used in official documents and certificates.	Passive: This is to certify that...
98. Some phrases remain fixed in passive.	Passive: You are cordially invited.
99. Passive can carry impersonal tone.	Passive: It has been decided to cancel the event.
100. Passive may be used stylistically in literature.	Passive: He was struck by a sudden thought.
101. Balance active and passive for effective writing.	Use active for clarity, passive for emphasis.

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