Active and Passive Voice in English

Active and Passive Voice in English

• An active clause refers to the action done on the object, but a passive clause indicates that the action is done by someone.
• We can change an active clause to passive, but for this, the active clause must be a transitive verb that can take an object such as open, close, give, buy, etc. Intransitive verbs do not take objects.
• Passive verbs cannot be passive forms.

Examples

The Simple Present (Active à Passive)

He washes the black car. à  The black car is washed by him.

Present Continuous (Active à Passive)

He is washing the black car. / The black car is being washed by him.

Simple Past (Active à Passive)

He washed the black car. / The black car was washed by him.

Past Continuous (Active à Passive)

He was washing the black car. /  The black car was being washed by him.

Present Perfect (Active à Passive)

He has washed the black car. / The black car has been washed by him.

Past Perfect (Active à Passive)

He had washed the black car. / The black car had been washed by him.

Going to future (Active à Passive)

He is going to wash the black car. / The black car is going to be washed by him.

Future (Active à Passive)

He will have washed the black car. / The black car will have been washed by him.