100+ Active and Passive Voice Examples: Master Grammar Now
Table of Contents
You may have broken something that your parents might have scolded you for. For example, imagine you accidentally drop and break your smartphone. What would you tell your parents?
“I broke my phone.” OR “My phone was broken.”
You may say the second sentence to your parents to avoid admitting guilt (probably unsuccessfully, though). That is passive voice. Both sentences explain the same event, but one tries to hide the culprit.
Making the right choice between active and passive voice is an important part of English grammar and can make your writing sound more professional and confident.
In this guide, you will learn:
- What is the Difference Between Active and Passive Voice?
- A Simple Method You Can Use to Switch Voices
- 40+ Active and Passive Voice Examples across Tenses
- The Special Cases: Imperatives and Modals
- When to Use vs. Avoid Passive Voice
What is the Difference Between Active and Passive Voice?
Before looking at examples, let’s look at the core structures of both voices.
- Active voice: subject + verb + subject/object (The subject performs the action.)
- Passive voice: object + verb + subject/agent (The subject receives the action.)
A simple way to think about it is: in active voice, the star of the show is the “doer.” In passive voice, the star becomes the “receiver.”
A Simple Method You Can Use to Switch Voices
To change from active to passive voice for most cases, just follow these three steps:
- To make the object the new subject, switch the places between the subject and object.
Ex. She eats breakfast. → Breakfast eats her.
- With the correct tense, add the verb “to be,” and add “by” to the new receiver.
Ex. Breakfast eats she. → Breakfast is eats by her.
- Make the main verb into its past participle
Es. Breakfast is eats by her. → Breakfast is eaten by her.
And you’ve done it. To change active voice to passive, you can just reverse the steps in most cases. Now, let’s look at more examples of active and passive voice across different tenses.
40+ Active and Passive Voice Examples across Tenses
Simple Present Tense
Rule: am / is / are + past participle
Active → Passive
- I write a letter. → A letter is written by me.
- He hates broccoli. → Broccoli is hated by him.
Present Continuous Tense
Rule: am / is / are + being + past participle
Active → Passive
- I am reading a book. → A book is being read by me.
- Are they playing football? → Is football being played by them?
Present Perfect Tense
Rule: has / have + been + past participle
Active → Passive
- I have finished the assignment. → The assignment has been finished by me.
- Have you paid the bills? → Have the bills been paid by you?
Simple Past Tense
Rule: was / were + past participle
Active → Passive
- I cleaned the room. → The room was cleaned by me.
- They canceled the event. → The event was canceled by them.
Past Continuous Tense
Rule: was / were + being + past participle
Active → Passive
- I was driving the truck. → The truck was being driven by me.
- The guests were making a mess. → A mess was being made by the guests.
Past Perfect Tense
Rule: had + been + past participle
Active → Passive
- I had finished the assignment. → The assignment had been finished by me.
- Have they built the house? → Had the house been built by them?
Simple Future Tense
Rule: will be + past participle
Active → Passive
- He will send the notice. → The notice will be sent by him.
- The doctor will examine the patient. → The patient will be examined by the doctor.
Future Perfect Tense
Rule: will have + been + past participle
Active → Passive
- They will have finished the project. → The project will have been finished by them.
- I will have read the book. → The book will have been read by me.
The Special Cases: Imperatives and Modals
Imperative Sentences (Commands)
Rule: Let + object + be + past participle
For commands, it is already implied that ‘you’ are the subject.
Active → Passive
- Finish the job. → Let the job be finished.
- Respect my authority. → Let my authority be respected.
Modal Verbs
Rule: Modal + be + past participle
Some modal verbs: can, should, must, might, may, could, ought to
Active → Passive
- I should fix the pool. → The pool should be fixed by me.
- Everyone must obey the law. → The law must be obeyed by everyone.
When to Use vs. Avoid Passive Voice
After looking at all these examples, you might think it’s better to avoid using passive voice. You might want to think again. There are cases where passive voice works better than active voice.
- The doer is obvious: “The mail was delivered.” (By the mail carrier, obviously.)
- The doer is unknown (or you just want to keep them hidden): “The window was broken.” (You don’t know who did it.)
- The receiver matters more than the doer: “The boy was saved by the doctor.”
- You are writing academically, formally, or scientifically: “The rocket was launched at 90 degrees.”
Merriam-Webster says that the value of the passive voice lies in emphasizing the action or receiver rather than the action’s doer. You can become a better writer by just knowing when to use each voice.
Conclusion
Grasping the difference and switching between active and passive voice is important to bring your English a step above. Practice is key! Take sentences you write and try flipping their voices. You will be surprised by shifts in tone and focus.
When you understand the pattern, you will notice the differences everywhere. From academic papers to news headlines to everyday conversations.
If you want to learn more about English writing tools, check out our other blogs that can help with your writing.
Quick Quiz
Here’s a quick test for you:
“The man presented a strong case.”
Which one is the passive voice version?
- A strong case is present by the man.
- A strong case was presented by the man.
- A strong case presented the man.
- A strong case is being presented by the man.
Answer: b)
References
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/corps-plural-singular
