English:Active and Passive Voice
Active and Passive Voice
Introduction
When you choose between active voice and passive voice, you choose what a sentence puts in the spotlight. In the active voice, the subject usually performs the action: The class planted the tree. In the passive voice, the subject receives or experiences the action: The tree was planted by the class.
You will learn how to recognize both voices, change sentences from one voice to the other, keep the original tense, decide when a by phrase is useful, and choose the voice that best fits your purpose. These skills help you write clearer stories, reports, explanations, news texts, and science descriptions.
The diagram above shows how parts of an English sentence fit together. You do not need to memorize every label. For this topic, focus on the subject, the verb, and the object.
Active Voice
In the active voice, the subject performs the action expressed by the verb.
| Part | Example | Job in the sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | The goalkeeper | performs the action |
| Verb | caught | expresses the action |
| Object | the ball | receives the action |
Active sentence: The goalkeeper caught the ball.
A useful pattern is subject + verb + object. Not every active sentence has an object, but a sentence normally needs an object if you want to turn it into a regular passive sentence. Verbs that can take objects are called transitive verbs.
Why Writers Often Use Active Voice
Active voice often makes it immediately clear who or what is responsible for an action. It can make instructions, stories, arguments, and everyday communication direct and energetic.
Compare these sentences:
| Active | Effect |
|---|---|
| Maya solved the puzzle. | The reader knows at once who solved it. |
| The storm damaged the roof. | The cause of the damage is clear. |
| Our team will present the project tomorrow. | The responsible group is emphasized. |
Passive Voice
In the passive voice, the subject receives or experiences the action. The basic passive form uses a form of be plus the past participle of the main verb.
Passive sentence: The ball was caught by the goalkeeper.
The object of the active sentence, the ball, becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The original subject, the goalkeeper, can appear after by. That person or thing is called the agent.
This Wikimedia diagram gives a more advanced view of passive sentence structure. At Grades 7–8, you do not need the technical tree labels; use it to notice that changing voice changes the structure of the sentence.
The Agent and the By-Phrase
The agent is the person, group, animal, force, or thing that performs the action. In a passive sentence, the agent can be included in a by-phrase.
With agent: The mural was painted by the art club.
Without agent: The mural was painted last week.
You often leave out the agent when it is unknown, unimportant, obvious, or not the focus.
Changing Active to Passive
Use this reasoning process when a sentence has a transitive verb and an object.
- Find the object: Identify what receives the action in the active sentence.
- Move the object: Make that object the subject of the passive sentence.
- Keep the tense: Change the verb be so that it carries the same tense as the active verb.
- Use the past participle: Put the main verb into its past participle form.
- Decide about the agent: Add by plus the original subject only when that information matters.
Example:
Active: The students cleaned the laboratory.
Step result: The laboratory + was + cleaned + by the students.
Passive: The laboratory was cleaned by the students.
Keep the Same Meaning and Tense
A good active-to-passive change should keep the core event and its time reference. The focus changes, but the main meaning should stay as close as possible.
| Active | Passive | Tense |
|---|---|---|
| The chef prepares the soup. | The soup is prepared by the chef. | Present simple |
| The chef prepared the soup. | The soup was prepared by the chef. | Past simple |
| The chef will prepare the soup. | The soup will be prepared by the chef. | Future with will |
| The chef has prepared the soup. | The soup has been prepared by the chef. | Present perfect |
Passive Forms in Common Tenses
In passive constructions, the form of be changes to show tense, while the main verb stays in the past participle.
| Tense | Passive pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | am, is, are + past participle | The rooms are checked every day. |
| Past simple | was, were + past participle | The rooms were checked yesterday. |
| Future with will | will be + past participle | The rooms will be checked tomorrow. |
| Present perfect | has been, have been + past participle | The rooms have been checked already. |
| Present continuous | am being, is being, are being + past participle | The rooms are being checked now. |
For Grades 7–8, make sure you can confidently use the present simple, past simple, and future passive. The perfect and continuous forms are useful extensions.
The tense chart above is a broader reference. You do not need to learn every tense at once. Use it to compare how English verb forms change over time.
When Passive Voice Is Useful
Passive voice is useful when the receiver, result, or process matters more than the person doing the action.
| Situation | Example | Why passive works |
|---|---|---|
| The agent is unknown | My bicycle was stolen. | The speaker does not know who stole it. |
| The agent is unimportant | The road was repaired last month. | The repair matters more than the workers. |
| The agent is obvious | The suspect was arrested. | The context may already make the agent clear. |
| A process is the focus | The solution was heated to 80 degrees Celsius. | Scientific writing often emphasizes procedure and result. |
| The receiver should come first | The winning design was selected after lunch. | The sentence begins with the information the writer wants to emphasize. |
Passive voice is not automatically more formal or better. Good writers choose the voice that makes the message clearest for the reader.
When Active Voice Is Better
Choose active voice when the performer matters, when responsibility should be clear, or when you want a direct and lively sentence.
Compare:
Passive: The window was broken during lunch.
Active: Jordan broke the window during lunch.
The passive sentence focuses on the window and does not name the person responsible. The active sentence clearly assigns responsibility. Neither structure is always correct or incorrect; the better choice depends on purpose, context, and what the reader needs to know.
Common Mistakes and How to Fix Them
| Mistake | Problem | Better version |
|---|---|---|
| The cake was bake by Leo. | The main verb is not a past participle. | The cake was baked by Leo. |
| The letters are sent yesterday. | The tense does not match the time word. | The letters were sent yesterday. |
| The match was won the Tigers. | The agent needs by. | The match was won by the Tigers. |
| The accident was happened at noon. | Happen does not normally take an object, so this passive form does not work. | The accident happened at noon. |
| By Ava the poster was designed. | The word order is unnatural for an ordinary passive sentence. | The poster was designed by Ava. |
A useful self-check is: Can I identify the receiver of the action, the correct form of be, and the past participle?
Voice and Writing Purpose
Grammar is not only about changing forms. It is also about making choices. In a science report, The mixture was heated for five minutes keeps attention on the procedure. In a personal story, I heated the mixture for five minutes may be more natural because the writer's actions matter.
News headlines, instructions, historical explanations, and formal reports may use passive voice for different reasons. When you read, ask: Who is placed in the subject position, who is named as the agent, and who is left out? This question helps you notice how grammar can shape focus and responsibility.
Interactive Tasks
Quiz: Test Your Knowledge
Which sentence is in the active voice? (The students built a model bridge) (!A model bridge was built by the students) (!The bridge was tested after class) (!The materials were collected yesterday)
Which sentence is in the passive voice? (The final goal was scored by Amira) (!Amira scored the final goal) (!The crowd cheered loudly) (!Our team celebrated after the match)
What is the basic passive pattern? (A form of be plus a past participle) (!A form of do plus an infinitive) (!A modal plus a present participle) (!A subject plus an adverb only)
Which passive sentence correctly matches Leo paints the signs? (The signs are painted by Leo) (!The signs were painted by Leo) (!Leo is painted by the signs) (!The signs painting by Leo)
Which passive sentence correctly matches The storm damaged the roof? (The roof was damaged by the storm) (!The roof is damaged by the storm) (!The storm was damaged by the roof) (!The roof damaged by the storm)
Why might a writer omit the agent in a passive sentence? (The agent is unknown or unimportant) (!The sentence must never name a person) (!Passive sentences cannot use by) (!Every passive verb has no subject)
Which sentence correctly uses the future passive? (The results will be announced tomorrow) (!The results will announced tomorrow) (!The results are announce tomorrow) (!The results will be announcing tomorrow)
Which form of clean correctly completes The windows were blank by the caretaker? (cleaned) (!clean) (!cleaning) (!cleans)
Which sentence is usually clearer when responsibility matters? (The captain changed the plan) (!The plan was changed) (!The plan had been changed somehow) (!A change was made to the plan)
Which verb usually cannot form a normal passive sentence because it does not take an object? (happen) (!build) (!write) (!repair)
Memory Game
| Active voice | The subject performs the action |
| Passive voice | The subject receives or experiences the action |
| Agent | The performer of the action |
| Past participle | The main verb form used after be in a passive construction |
| Transitive verb | A verb that can take an object |
| By-phrase | An optional phrase that names the agent |
Drag and Drop
| Match the correct terms. | Topic |
|---|---|
| is made | Present simple passive |
| was opened | Past simple passive |
| will be sent | Future passive |
| has been cleaned | Present perfect passive |
| is being repaired | Present continuous passive |
...
Crossword Puzzle
| Voice | What grammar feature shows whether the subject performs or receives an action? |
| Agent | What do we call the performer of the action in a passive sentence? |
| Object | What sentence part often becomes the subject when active changes to passive? |
| Subject | What sentence part comes first in many basic English clauses? |
| Participle | What verb form follows be in a standard passive construction? |
| Transitive | What kind of verb can take an object and normally allows a passive form? |
LearningApps
Cloze Text
Open-Ended Tasks
Easy
- Voice hunt: Find six sentences in a school text, website, or magazine and label each one active or passive; explain the clue that helped you decide.
- Sentence makeover: Rewrite four simple active sentences as passive sentences and underline the form of be and the past participle in each new sentence.
- Grammar comic: Draw a four-panel comic in which one event is described once in active voice and once in passive voice; add a short note about how the focus changes.
- Photo captions: Take or choose three suitable photos and write one active caption and one passive caption for each image.
Standard
- News comparison: Collect two short news reports about the same kind of event and identify how each report uses active and passive voice to place information first or hide an agent.
- Science procedure: Carry out a safe classroom process approved by your teacher and write five procedure sentences in passive voice, then explain why passive voice fits the text type.
- Grammar interview: Interview a classmate, teacher, or family member about when they use formal writing, then create a one-page summary containing at least three well-chosen passive sentences.
- Voice tutorial video: Produce a two-minute video that teaches younger learners how to change a past simple active sentence into the passive and includes at least three examples.
Advanced
- Responsibility analysis: Compare pairs such as The rule was broken and Alex broke the rule, then write a short analysis of how naming or omitting an agent changes responsibility.
- Museum language study: Visit a museum, gallery, memorial, science center, or its official virtual exhibition and collect examples of active and passive voice from explanatory labels; evaluate why each voice was chosen.
- Mini investigation report: Design a small class survey, summarize the results, and write a report that deliberately mixes active voice for researchers' actions with passive voice for methods and results.
- Editorial rewrite: Take a short paragraph from your own earlier writing, create an active-focused and a passive-focused version, and write a reflection explaining which version communicates the purpose better.
Learning Assessment
- Transformation accuracy: Change a set of active sentences into passive sentences while preserving tense, participants, and core meaning, then justify each form of be.
- Purposeful voice choice: Given a story, science report, news report, and instruction text, choose active or passive voice for key sentences and explain how your choice affects focus.
- Error diagnosis: Correct a paragraph containing mistakes with passive forms, then explain whether each error involves tense, past participle, word order, or an unsuitable verb.
- Agent decision: Decide whether a by-phrase should be included in several passive sentences and defend each choice using the ideas of importance, clarity, responsibility, and known information.
- Text comparison: Compare active and passive versions of the same paragraph and explain how the subject position changes what the reader notices first.
- Transfer writing: Write a short real-world text of your choice in which you use both voices accurately and annotate two places where switching voice would weaken the intended effect.
Evidence of Learning
| Area | Evidence you can show |
|---|---|
| Knowledge | You can explain the difference between active and passive voice, identify subjects, objects, agents, forms of be, and past participles, and describe common reasons for using the passive. |
| Skills | You can recognize voice, transform suitable sentences accurately, preserve tense, decide whether to include a by-phrase, and edit incorrect passive constructions. |
| Products | You can produce revised sentences, captions, a grammar comic, a science procedure, a comparison, a video tutorial, or another text that uses voice deliberately. |
| Reasoning | You can explain how active and passive choices change focus, clarity, responsibility, and the order of information. |
| Transfer | You can choose an effective voice in new contexts such as stories, reports, experiments, presentations, news writing, and everyday communication. |
OERs on the Topic
The following resources can help you review the topic and practise with further examples.
British Council LearnEnglish: Active and passive voice
British Council LearnEnglish: Passives
Linked Learning Areas
Active and passive voice connects sentence structure, verb forms, writing purpose, and reading analysis. To master the topic, you need to understand who performs an action, who receives it, how tense is formed, and why a writer may choose one voice rather than the other.