Active & Passive Voice

At a glance 10 rules

1. 1The basic swapThe object becomes the subject, the verb becomes be + past participle, and the doer moves after 'by': Ravi wrote the note becomes The note was written by Ravi.
2. 2The tense staysOnly the 'be' form carries the tense: writes, is writing, has written, wrote, will write become is written, is being written, has been written, was written, will be written.
3. 3Pronouns change caseAn object pronoun that moves to the front turns into a subject: me to I, us to we, him to he, them to they. They praised us becomes We were praised by them.
4. 4ModalsModal + be + past participle, with the modal unchanged: must finish becomes must be finished; should have told becomes should have been told.
5. 5CommandsA command takes Let + object + be + past participle: Close the door becomes Let the door be closed. A request with 'please' becomes You are requested to...
6. 6Questions stay questionsKeep the question order: Did she sign it? becomes Was it signed by her? and Who broke it? becomes By whom was it broken?
7. 7After make, see, hear: add 'to'The bare verb after make, see or hear takes 'to' in the passive: They made him wait becomes He was made to wait.
8. 8People say that...People say that X... becomes It is said that X... or X is said to...; an earlier action takes 'to have been': is believed to have been built.
9. 9Passive -ing formAfter remember, enjoy or hate, the passive of an -ing form is being + past participle: I enjoy being praised.
10. 10No object, no passiveOnly a verb with an object has a passive. Intransitive verbs (sleep, arrive, last) and state verbs (have, lack, suit) have none.