What is active voice and passive voice with 10 examples?

Because the subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.

Passive voice

One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive.

    Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.

Because the subject is being "acted upon" (or is passive), such sentences are said to be in the passive voice.

NOTE:   Colorful parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice because the sentence does not have a direct object.

To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following:

    1.  Move  the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject  slot

    2. Place the active sentence's subject into a  phrase beginning with the preposition by

    3.  Add a form of the auxiliary verb be to the main verb and change the  main verb's form

Because passive voice sentences necessarily add words and change the normal doer-action-receiver of action direction, they may make the reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.

As the examples below illustrate, a sentence in  active voice  flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in  passive voice.

It is generally preferable to use the ACTIVE voice.

To change a passive voice sentence into an active voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above.

Voice, mood, tense, person, and number are the five qualities of verbs in English grammar; we're only concerned with voice here. The active and passive voices are the two grammatical voices. Voice refers to the form of a verb that indicates when a subject acts or is the receiver of the action. When the subject performs the action it is active voice and when the subject receives the action it is passive voice. 

Examples of Active and Passive Voice

Active- He loves me. 

Passive- I am loved by him. 

The subject of the active voice example above is "he," the verb is "loves," and the object is "me." The subject of the passive voice phrase is "I," the verb is "am loved," and the object is "him." 

The active sentence's subject becomes the passive sentence's object. The components of both statements are the same, but the structure differs. Passive sentences describe what happens to the person or object that performs an action, whereas active sentences describe what happens to the person who does the activity. 

The active voice has a stronger, clearer tone than the passive voice, which is more subtle and weak. So, while passive voice sounds more elegant, it is better to use active voice if you want to get your point across effectively.

There are times when passive voice is useful and called for. For example, "The squirrel was chased by the dog". The sentence construction would be helpful if the squirrel were the focus of our writing and not the dog. 

Structure of Active and Passive Voice 

• Active voice describes a sentence where the subject is the doer of an   action. Its structure goes like this- 

                    Subject + Verb+ Object 

• Passive voice expresses an action that is carried out on the subject of the sentence. Its structure is- 

                    Object + verb +subject 

Some examples of Active and Passive Voice 

                          Active (A) 

                        Passive(B) 

They will do the work 

The work will be done by them. 

The mother is feeding the baby. 

The baby is being fed by the mother. 

You've probably noticed that when we transform from active to passive voice, the verb form changes. There are two types of verbs employed now: The main and auxiliary verbs. An auxiliary verb is usually used in conjunction with the main verb. The auxiliary verb, such as "be, do, or have", expresses the verb's tense or mood. 

One thing to note here is that the exact meaning of the sentence does not change even if the structure differs. 

Here are Certain Rules for Active and Passive Voice 

• The subject of the verb in the active voice(they) becomes the object in the Passive voice sentences.  

• It is a thumb rule that passive voice phrases, as a rule, always use the third form of the verb, also known as the past participle form of the verb (example- eat, ate, eaten- eaten is the third form of a verb).   

• Auxiliary verb ‘be’ (am, is are, was, were) is added before the past participle according to the tense of the verb. 

• Generally ‘by’ is used before the object of the passive voice sentences. 

• If the notion you're attempting to express is obvious, you may sometimes drop the subject entirely from the passive voice. You just have to make a judgement call for that. For example:  

Active- weight is measured in kilograms.  

Passive voice: Kilograms is a measurement unit for weight.  

• The certain verb takes fixed prepositions after them that replaces ‘by’. Some of these verbs are- known to, surprised by/at, vexed by, amazed by, contained in, annoyed with/at, tired of, filled with, decorated with, engulfed in. For example  

Active- The fire engulfed the building.  

Passive- The building was engulfed in the fire. 

To differentiate between active and passive voice, simply ask the following three questions: 

1. What/who is the subject of the statement? 

1. What is the action/verb in the sentence? 

1. Is the subject of the sentence performing the action/verb? 

If the answer to the last question comes out to be ‘yes', then the sentence is in active voice, and if the answer is ‘no’, then the passive voice is used. 

Changes in the auxiliary word's tense: When the main verb's verb form changes, the auxiliary word's tense changes as well. Let's look at a few examples to understand them more clearly: 

Voice and Tenses 

Present Tense- Use the simple present tense to make a generalisation, present a state of being, or indicate a habitual or repeated action. 

Active- I write a novel. 

Passive-  A novel is written by me. 

Structure- Subject + auxiliary verb + past participle of the main verb+ by + object. 

Present Continuous- Use the present progressive to describe an ongoing activity or a temporary action. 

Active- I am eating breakfast. 

Passive- The breakfast is being eaten by me. 

Structure-  Subject + auxiliary verb + being + by + object 

Present Perfect- Use the present perfect to describe an action occurring in the past but relevant to the present or extending to the present.   

Active- I have played the game. 

Passive- A game has been played by me. 

Structure- Subject + has/have been + past participle + by + object 

Past Tense- Use the simple past to indicate a general or habitual action occurring in the past or at a specific time in the past. 

Active- I invited you to the party. 

Passive- You were invited by me to the party. 

Structure- Subject+be+ past participle+by+ object 

Questions  

Active- Did you show me the dress? 

Passive- Was I shown the dress by you? 

Past Continuous- Use the past progressive to indicate an ongoing action in the past or an action continuing through a specific past time.   

Active- I was playing video games. 

Passive- The video games were being played by me. 

Structure-  Subject+auxiliary verb + being+ past participle + by +object 

Past Perfect- Use the past perfect to indicate an action completed before a particular time or before another action in the past. 

Active- You had done the work. 

Passive- The work had been done by you. 

Structure- Subject+had+been+past participle + by + object 

Future Tense- Use the future to indicate an action that is expected to take place at a future time. 

Active- He will play the match. 

Passive- The match will be played  

Structure- Subject+will+be+past participle +by+object 

Future perfect tense  

Active- you will have started the job.  

Passive- The job will have been started by you.  

Structure- subject shall/will have been past participle by subject.  

Note that Future continuous and perfect continuous tenses do not form passive voice. 

The more you practice the more you will understand the idea of changing active to passive and passive to active voice. 

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