Active and Passive Voice Sentences can be active or passive. • When the subject of the sentence is doing something the verb is active. E.g. The man wore a grey hat. Subject – man verb – wore object – hat • When the object of the sentence is having something done to it, the verb is passive. E.g. The grey hat was worn by the man. Object – hat verb – worn subject – man Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and “ passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference. Active Form Subject [thing doing action] + Verb + Object [thing receiving action] Examples: John washes Subject verb doing action the dishes object receiving action Passive form Subject [from object of Active] + Verb to be + P.P + by + ‘Agent’ [doer of action] John subject washes Verb the dishes object The dishes are washed by John subject verb to be + P.P doer of action note : Subject of Passive is from object of Active. We change the tense of the verb according to the following table: Tense Present simple Past simple Present continuous Past continuous Present perfect Active form Passive form washes/wash is/am/are washed washed was/were washed is/am/are washing is/am/are being washed was/were washing was/were being washed has/have washed has/have been washed Tense Past perfect Future simple Active form Passive form had washed had been washed will/may/must wash Future perfect will have washed Future (going to) is/am/are going to wash will/may/must be washed will have been washed is/am/are going to be washed By + I He She They We me him her them us Quiz Change the following from active form to passive form: 1.She is cleaning the room. 2.They took him to the hospital. 3. His mum will punish him for his mistakes. 4. Millions of people have read her book. 5. He always cleans up the house. Good Luck