University of Batna 2

Faculty of Technology

Civil Engineering Department

Master 1: VOA/ Matériaux/ Structure/ CMM

Module: Technical English Lecture 3 Ms. Faiza, F

Active and Passive Voice

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have “active” and “passive”
forms. In the active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject and the thing receiving
the action is the object. On the other hand, the subject of the passive sentence is the thing
receiving the action (the object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive
sentence). We use the passive form when we think that the object is more important or when
we don’t know who is doing the action.

The rule of transforming the active sentence to the passive one is:

Subject (the object of the active sentence) + to be (in the tense of the main verb of the active
form) + main Verb (past participle) + by + the object (the subject of the active sentence).

Example:

 Simple present tense:

Active voice Passive voice

He writes the lesson. The lesson is written by him.

He does not write the lesson. The lesson is not written by him.

Does he write the lesson? Is the lesson written by him?

 Simple Past Tense

Active voice: Passive voice:

She finished the work the work was finished by her.

She did not finish the work the work was not finished by her.

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Did she finish the work? Was the work finished by

her.

 Simple future tense:

Active Voice: Passive voice

My uncle will pay my tuition fees. My tuition fees will be paid by my uncle.

My uncle will not pay my tuition fees. My tuition fees will not be paid by my

uncle.

Will my uncle pay my tuition fees? Will my tuition fees be paid by my uncle?

 Present continuous tense:

Active voice: passive voice:

I am revising my lessons. My lessons are being revised by me.

I am not revising my lessons. My lessons are not being revised by me.

Am I revising my lessons? Are my lessons being revised by me?

 Past continuous tense:

Active voice: Passive voice:

He was reading the book. The book was being read by him.

He wasn’t reading the book. The book wasn’t being read by him.

Was he reading the book? Was the book being read by him?

 Future continuous:

Active voice: passive voice:

We will be doing our home-work. Our home-work will be being done by us.

In the case of changing the subject into object and the latter is a pronoun, convert that by the
following rules:

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Active voice Passive voice
I Me
He Him
She Her
It It
They Them
You You
We Us
Who Whom

Passive and Active Voice with Imperative Sentences:

These are the sentences in which we express our feelings and emotions like command, order,
advice, and request. The rule of transforming and imperative sentence in the active voice to
passive is as follows: let + the subject (the object of the active voice) + be /not be + past
participle of the main verb.

Example:

Active voice: passive voice:

Clean your room. Let your room be cleaned.

Always speak the truth. Let the truth be spoken.

Moreover, for sentences containing request, order and advice, we will use “you are requested
to, you are ordered to, you are advised to.

Example:

Active voice: passive voice:

Please do me a favor tonight. You are requested to do me a favor tonight

Get out of my house. You are ordered to get out of my house.

Kindly do not smoke in public places. You are requested not to smoke in public

places.

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