Changing ‘passive voice’ sentences into ‘active

voice’ sentences

What is a passive voice

sentence?

A passive voice sentence

hides the doer of the action and puts the emphasis on the object.

The ball was kicked by

the man.

Where is it good to do that?

In formal reports where you are not allowed to write, e.g. I sent out invitations (1st person) and it gets awkward to keep on saying The writer sent out invitations , then the passive:

Invitations were sent outis better.

How is the passive sentence formed?

1. The object of the active verb starts the sentence, and becomes the subject of the passive verb.

2. The passive verb consists of the helping verb “to be” (is, are, was, were, has been, had been, etc.)

+The past participle of the verb

ExampleNote that we usually don’t put in

“by…”

The results will be sent out tomorrow. (by the college)

Hats are worn to church. (by us)

Perfume is categorised as part of make-up. (by the experts)

Why should we rather use the active voice

when writing?

It makes our writing direct and clear and

lively.

How?

The doer of the action is the subject of the verb.

The man kicks the ball.

Can you see the difference?

The man kicks the ballThe ball was kicked by the man

.

OK. If we see we have written a passive sentence where an active one would have been better -

How do we change it to the active?

1. Take away the helping verb “to be” and turn the past participle into a

verb2. Bring in a subject.

Hats are worn to church. (by us)

We wear hats to church.

Perfume is categorised as part of make-up. (by the experts)

The experts categorise perfume as part of make-up.

How do you know what tense the active verb must be?

If the passive has the helping verbs

Is/are - present simple tense

Was/were - past simple tense

Has/have been - present perfect tense

Had been - past perfect tense

Simple tense example

The dogs are taken for a walk by their

owner. = The owner takes the dogs

…

The dogs were taken for a walk by

their owner. = The owner took the

dogs…

How do you know if the present tense verb must have an “s” at the end?

If the active verb is in the present tense and the subject is third person and singular (he/she/it/Mpho), then the verb takes an -s on the end.

Example

The dogs are taken for a walk by

their owner. = The owner takes the

dogs…

The dogs are taken for a walk by

their owners. = The owners take the

dogs…

Perfect tense example

The dogs have been taken for a walk

by the owner.= The owner has taken

the dogs for a walk.

The dogs had been taken for a walk

by the owner. = The owner had taken

the dogs for a walk.

Do we have to be careful about the active voice perfect tense helping verb

“to have”?We only have to check that

has goes with a singular, third person subject

and have with all other subjects.

The owner has taken the dogs for a walk.

The owners have taken the dogs for a walk.

SO …

Once you have turned the passive sentence around, look carefully to see what the new, active subject is.

The verb must be in the active voice and in the correct form to suit that subject.