Active and Passive voice

Active and Passive

1.      Active voice

·         Active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb.

Example:
Ali ate five fried chicken at home (active)

Mother read the magazine in one day (active)

(In this example, Ali and mother is the subject of the sentence. Ali and mother is the subject of the verb. Ali and mother is performing the action of the verb)

2.      Passive Form

·         In passive voice sentences, the subject is acted upon by the verb.

Example:

At home, five humberger were eaten by ali (passive)

The magazine was read by mother in one day (passive)

(In this example, the magazinel and home did not perform the action of the verb. In fact, it was done to them. Therefore, this is a passive sentence.)

Example of active voice :

·         The king is signing the treaty.
( the king is doing the action (signing)

·         Yuna posted the video on youtube

( Yuna is doing the action (posted)

Example of passive voice :

·         The house will be cleaned by me every Suday

(  the action is being done (me) )

·         The entire house was painted by father

      ( the action is being done (father) )

Active / passive overview

Tense	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future will	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Simple Future be going to	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous will	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Continuous be going to	At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
Future Perfect will	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect be going to	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous will	The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Future Perfect Continuous be going to	The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would Always	My mother would always make the pies.	The pies would always be made by my mother.
Future in the Past Would	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past Was Going to	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.

ACTIVE/PASSIVE WITH MODAL AUXULIARIES

Affirmative Form	Object + may, must, can, could, ought to, should + be + verb3
Question Form	Must, may, can, should, might + object + be + verb3 (past participle)

Something must / can / should... be done by someone at sometime.

Active : Our English teacher may give an exam today.
Passive: An exam may be given by our English teacher today.

Active : Thomas has written many books.
Passive: Many books have been written by Thomas.

Active : Do you have to pay the bill before leaving the restaurant?
Passive: the bill have to be paid before leaving the restaurant?

Active : Juan can give them some information about the job.
Passive: Some information can be given about the job by Juan.

Active : You must obey the traffic rules.
Passive: The traffic rules must be obeyed.

TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE VERBS

Transitive verbs are action verbs that have an object to receive that action. In the first sentence above, the direct object ball received the action of the verb hit.
Here are some more examples of transitive verbs:

I baked some cookies.

I rode the bicycle.

I moved the chair.

I stitched a quilt.

All of the verbs in the above sentences are transitive because an object is receiving the action of the verb.
But what about the sentence “The bird sang.” Is the verb in that sentence a transitive verb? No, in this case the verb sang is an intransitive verb.

What are intransitive verbs?

Intransitive verbs are action verbs but unlike transitive verbs, they do not have an object receiving the action. Notice there are no words after the verb sang.
More examples of intransitive verbs:

I laughed.

I cried.

The book fell.

The horse galloped.

The sun set.

In all of the above cases the subject is performing the action of the verb and nothing is receiving the action.

What about this sentence?

I walked to the park today.

Is walked transitive or intransitive? Think about the rules. Since walked has words coming after it, the verb must be transitive, right? WRONG! The phrase to the park is a prepositional phrase and today is an adverb. There is no object receiving the action of the verb walked so the verb is intransitive.

To recap, a transitive verb must be an action verb plus there must be an object to receive that action.

PASSIVE AND ACTIVE EXERCISES\

Instructions: Tell whether the verbs in the following sentences are transitive active, transitive passive, intransitive linking, or intransitive complete.

1. Yesterday Grandma was hit by a car.

2. My former classmates were seen at the reunion.

3. The lamp for the study was broken on the way home.

4. At camp taps had been blown every night.

5. The dirty clothes will be sent to be cleaned.

  

Answers:

1. was hit - transitive passive

2. were seen - transitive passive

3. was broken - transitive passive

4. had been blown - transitive passive

5. will be sent - transitive passive

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-active-and-passive-voice.html

http://www.towson.edu/ows/activepass.htm

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-active-and-passive-voice.html

http://www.grammarbank.com/passives-with-modals.html

http://www.k12reader.com/term/transitive-and-intransitive-verbs/

http://www.dailygrammar.com/Lesson-118-Transitive-and-Intransitive-Verbs.htm