Quick summary
In the active voice the doer of the action comes first: "Ravi wrote a letter." In the passive voice the thing that receives the action comes first: "A letter was written by Ravi." Only sentences with an object can be changed into passive.
Hindi help: Active Voice = कर्तृवाच्य, Passive Voice = कर्मवाच्य. Marathi help: कर्तरी प्रयोग / कर्मणी प्रयोग (वाक्यरचना बदल).
Steps to change active into passive
- Make the object of the active sentence the subject.
- Use the correct form of "be" according to the tense and the new subject.
- Always use V3 (past participle) of the main verb.
- Put "by" + the old subject at the end (you may drop it if the doer is not important, like "people", "someone").
Tense-wise rules
| Tense | Active | Passive (be form + V3) |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | She cleans the room. | The room is cleaned by her. |
| Present Continuous | She is cleaning the room. | The room is being cleaned by her. |
| Present Perfect | She has cleaned the room. | The room has been cleaned by her. |
| Simple Past | She cleaned the room. | The room was cleaned by her. |
| Past Continuous | She was cleaning the room. | The room was being cleaned by her. |
| Past Perfect | She had cleaned the room. | The room had been cleaned by her. |
| Simple Future | She will clean the room. | The room will be cleaned by her. |
| Future Perfect | She will have cleaned the room. | The room will have been cleaned by her. |
| Modals (can, must, should…) | She can clean the room. | The room can be cleaned by her. |
- Perfect continuous tenses and future continuous are usually not changed into passive.
Pronoun changes
| Active (subject) | Passive (after "by") |
|---|---|
| I | me |
| we | us |
| you | you |
| he | him |
| she | her |
| they | them |
| it | it |
Special types
- Questions: "Did you see the film?" → "Was the film seen by you?"
- Wh-questions: "Who wrote this poem?" → "By whom was this poem written?"
- Orders (imperative): "Open the door." → "Let the door be opened." Polite request: "Please help me." → "You are requested to help me."
- Two objects: "He gave me a book." → "I was given a book by him." or "A book was given to me by him."
Practice questions
Q1. Change the voice: "The farmer grows rice."
Rice is grown by the farmer.
Q2. Change the voice: "They are building a new bridge."
A new bridge is being built by them.
Q3. Change the voice: "Sachin has broken the window."
The window has been broken by Sachin.
Q4. Change the voice: "Close the gate."
Let the gate be closed.
Q5. Change the voice: "The letter was posted by me."
I posted the letter.
Q6. Change the voice: "We must obey the rules."
The rules must be obeyed by us.
Exam tip
Keep the tense the same. Only the "be" form changes, the main verb is always V3.