Good knowledge of rules of grammar and their correct usage in right perspective,
Is the only way of attempting the questions relating to the spotting errors.
How to Change Active Voice into passive Voice?
1. Make the object of the active sentence—Subject of the passive sentence.
Example : I write a letter. (Active Voice)Object of active sentence is ‘a letter’. It becomes subject of the passive sentence. (A letter..)
2. Make the subject of the active sentence---Agent of the passive sentence. The agent will be in objective form. Use ‘by’ before it. ‘By’ is used when the subject of active sentence is important to mention.
Subject of active sentence is ‘I’ Its objective form is ‘me’. So …..by me.
3. Always use third form of the verh (Past participle) in passive structures.
The past participle (V-III) will be preceded by ‘to be’ form of verb, as per the tense of the sentence.
4. Please take care that the ‘to be’ form of verb is governed by the new subject (subject of the passive sentence).
Examples - a. I write a letter. (Active)
A letter is written by me. (Passive)
b. She is helping the students. (Active)
The students are being helped by her(Passive)
Here in sentence (b), plural verb ____are is used as per the new subject __students.
5. Change of the subject of the active sentence into the object of the passive is done as per the following table.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice | Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Me | She | Her |
| He | Him | They | Them |
| You | You | It | It |
| We | Us | Who | Whom |
6. Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be transformed into passive construction. Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be transformed into passive structures. To have is the most important of these verbs.
We can say “He has a new cycle” but we cannot any “A new cycle is had by him”. Here is a brief list of such verbs resemble, look like, equal, agree with, mean, contain, hold, comprise, lack, suit, fit, become. These verbs are intransitive in nature .
7. Sentences in ‘Present Perfect Continuous’ Past Perfect Continuous’ . Future Perfect Continuous’. Past Perfect Continuous’. Can’t be transformed into passive.
The change of verbs (tense wise) take place as per following table.
| Tense | Verb (Active) | Verb (Passive) | To be form +V-3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple present | Write/writes | Am/is/are | Written |
| Simple past | Wrote | Was/were | Written |
| Simple future | Shall / will write | Shall/will be | Written |
| Present continuous | Is/am/are writing | Is/am/are | Being written |
| Past continuous | Was/were writing | Was/were being | Written |
| Present perfect | Has/have written | Has/have been | Written |
| Past perfect | Had written | Had been | Written |
| Future perfect | Will/shall have written | Will/shall have been | written |
