Active Voice to Passive Voice

Active Voice to Passive Voice Edit

Mastering voice change from Active Voice to Passive Voice is essential for improving your English sentence structure and grammar accuracy. This comprehensive guide provides 51 solved examples covering various sentence types, including assertions, interrogatives, imperatives, and complex structures to help you practice and excel.

What Is Active Voice to Passive Voice Transformation?

In English grammar, understanding how to shift sentences between Active and Passive Voice is a fundamental skill. For deeper offline study, you can also download our comprehensive ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE PDF. Below are 51 important exercises demonstrating these grammar rules in action.

Pro Tip: When converting active sentences to passive, always ensure the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence, and use the correct form of the verb "to be" along with the past participle.

Important Exercises on Changing Voice (Active to Passive Voice)

Active to Passive Voice Rules and Examples Illustration

1. I placed the proposal to him.

Pass: The proposal was placed to him by me.
2. A storm has uprooted the tree.

Pass: The tree has been uprooted.
3. People hate liars.

Pass: Liars are hated by people.
4. How can you do this?

Pass: How can this be done by you?
5. What did they pay you for doing the job?

Pass: What were you being paid for doing the job by them?
6. Which book have you borrowed?

Pass: Which book has been borrowed by you?
7. Whom did you like?

Pass: Who was liked by you?
8. We ought to respect our teachers.

Pass: Our teachers ought to be respected by us.
9. I have to do it.

Pass: It has to be done by me.
10. You are to colour the picture.

Pass: The picture is to be coloured by you.
11. Who will help you?

Pass: By whom will you be helped?
12. Who gave you this book?

Pass: By whom was this book given to you?
13. By whom was this done?

Act : Who did this?
14. Who broke the pencil?

Pass: By whom was the pencil broken?
15. We should stop smoking.

Pass: Smoking should be stopped.
16. I offered him a job.

Pass: He was offered a job by me.
17. Badal offered me a seat.

Pass: I was offered a seat by Badul.
18. Did you take the therapy?

Pass: Was the therapy taken by you?
19. Do you see the bird?

Pass: Is the bird seen by you?
20. He made me understand the matter.

Pass: I was made to understand the matter by him.
21. He heard the baby cry for its food.

Pass: The baby was heard to cry for its food by him.
22. Let me do the sum.

Pass: Let the sum be done by me.
23. Let me have a cup of coffee.

Pass: Let a cup of coffee be had by me.
24. He decided to leave the job.

Pass: He decided the job to be left.

Or,

Pass: To leave the job was decided by him.
25. He wanted to draw a picture.

Pass: He wanted a picture to be drawn.

Or,

Pass: To draw a picture was wanted by him.
26. I know that he did not work.

Pass: That he did not work is known to me.

Or,

Pass: It is known to me that he did not work.
27. Please, do the work.

Pass: You are requested to do the work.
28. He said that he was ill.

Pass : That he was ill was said by him.

Or,

Pass : It was said by him that he was ill.
29. Please, do the work.

Pass: You are requested to do the work.
30. I did not know where she lived.

Pass : Where she lived was not known to me.

Or,

Pass : It was not known to me where she lived.
31. Honey tastes sweet.

Pass: Honey is tasted sweet.

Or,

Pass: Honey is sweet when it is tasted.
32. The bed felt hard.

Pass: The bed was felt hard.

Or,

Pass: The bed was hard when it was felt.
33. Go away.

Pass: You are ordered to go away.
34. Milk turns sour.

Pass : Milk is turned sour.

Or,

Pass: Milk is sour when it is turned
35. He killed himself.

Pass: He was killed by himself.
36) Keep you words.

Pass: Your words should be kept.
37. They thanked themselves

Pass: They were thanked by themselves.
38. Onions sell at high prices.

Pass: Onions are sold at high prices.
39. The book is printing.

Pass: The book is being printed.
40. Don't laugh at the poor.

Pass: Let not the poor be laughed at.
41. Never eat more than one thing for luncheon.

Pass: Let not more than one thing be ever eaten for luncheon.
42. Buy me a shirt.

Pass: Let a shirt be bought for me.
43. Give me your watch

Pass: Let your watch be given to me.
44. The house is building.

Pass: The house is being built.
45. Honesty is the best policy.

Pass : Honesty is called the best policy.
46. Open the door.

Pass: Let the door be opened.
47. He is a fool.

Pass : He is called a fool.
48. I was annoyed with him.

Act: He annoyed me.
49. The thief was caught.

Pass : Someone / The police caught the thief.
50. His pen has been stolen.

Pass : Someone has stolen his pen.
51. Tell me the tale.

Pass: Let the tale be told to me.

_________________________

Do you want to learn Group Verbs/Phrasal Verbs? Click to read all the posts on group verbs/phrasal verbs:

◼️Group Verbs/Phrasal Verbs: Part 1

◼️Group Verbs/Phrasal Verbs: Part 2

◼️Group Verbs/Phrasal Verbs: Part 3

Key Takeaways on Active to Passive Voice

The object of an active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
Imperative sentences often use "Let" or "You are requested/ordered to" when converted to passive voice.
Interrogative sentences change structure based on question words like who, what, how, and which.
Quasi-passive sentences (like "Honey tastes sweet") can be rewritten using "when it is tasted" or "is tasted".

Quick Practice

Test your understanding of these sentence structures by writing your own passive transformation for "The dog chased the cat." and "Close the window." in the comments below!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you change active voice to passive voice?

To change a sentence from active voice to passive voice, make the direct object of the active sentence the new subject, use the appropriate form of the auxiliary verb "to be" matching the tense, and follow it with the past participle form of the main verb.

How do you convert interrogative sentences to passive voice?

For questions starting with "Who", begin the passive sentence with "By whom". For questions beginning with auxiliary verbs (like "Did" or "Do"), use forms of "to be" (such as "Was" or "Is") at the beginning of the passive structure.