When to use Active Voice:
When focus is on an agent, the sentence is used in active mode.
Basic English Grammar rules can be tricky. In this article, we’ll get you started with the basics of sentence structure, punctuation, parts of speech, and more.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises for Class 7 With Answers CBSE Pdf
A sentence with a transitive verb (a verb with an object) can be written in two voices: active and passive voice. When the subject is the doer of the action, the sentence is said to be in the active voice. When the subject is the receiver of the action, the sentence is said to be in the passive voice.
Examples:
- Kenny is looking at the whale. (Active voice)
- The whale is being looked at by Kenny. (Passive voice)
Different Tenses
To form the passive voice, we use the verb be + past participle form of the main verb. Let us see what forms the verbs in different tenses take when we change the voice.
| Tense | Active voice | Passive voice |
| Simple present | People read newspapers. | Newspapers are read by people. |
| Simple past | They watched the game. | The game was watched by them. |
| Simple future | Meeta will direct the play. | The play will be directed by Meeta. |
| Present continuous | The tourist is taking a photograph. | A photograph is being taken by the tourist. |
| Past continuous | The children were playing chess. | Chess was being played by the children. |
| Present perfect | Satish has cooked Thai green curry. | Thai green curry has been cooked by Satish. |
| Past perfect | The old kings had built the fort. | The fort had been built by the old kings. |
| Future perfect | The coach will have selected the team by tonight. | The team will have been selected by the coach by tonight. |
Changing Personal Pronouns
When the voice is changed, the personal pronouns acting as objects turn into subjects. Subjects are either deleted or they are placed after by. Look at the following table to see how subjects are changed.
| Personal pronoun | Active voice | Passive voice |
| I | I read the books. | The books were read by me. |
| You | You play chess. | Chess is played by you. |
| We | We ate dinner. | The dinner was eaten by us. |
| She | She saw a yeti. | A yeti was seen by her. |
| He | He sang a song. | A song was sung by him. |
| It | It bit my hand. | My hand was bitten by it. |
| They | They learned the language. | The language was learned by them. |
Voice Change: Two Objects
When a sentence has two objects, one direct and one indirect, we change the active voice to the passive as shown below.
When converting this sentence into passive voice, we can:
- Use the indirect object as the new subject.
Helen was given a book by John. (new subject) - Use the direct object as the new subject.
A book was given to Helen by John. (new subject)
A. Are the subjects in the following sentences doers or receivers of the action? Choose the correct option to complete the sentences, then write if it is a doer (D) or receiver (R).
Question 1.
Sharks (finds/are found) in all the oceans of the world.
Answer:
Sharks are found in all the oceans of the world.
Sharks are doers.
Question 2.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (founded/was founded in 1961.
Answer:
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) was founded in 1961.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is the doer here.
Question 3.
Sunaina (will finish/will be finished by) her work in an hour.
Answer:
Sunaina will finish her work in an hour.
Sunaina is the doer here.
Question 4.
Someone (has moved/has been moved by) my papers from this table.
Answer:
Someone has moved my papers from this table.
My papers are the receiver of the action here.
Question 5.
More and more trees (are cutting/are being cut by) humans who want to make room for themselves.
Answer:
More and more trees are being cut by humans who want to make room for themselves.
The trees are the receiver of the action in the above sentence.