Identifying Active and Passive Voice

Identifying Voice

• Active Voice: The subject performs the action described by the verb.
  • Example: "The dog bites the man." (The subject "dog" performs the action "bites")
• Passive Voice: The subject receives the action described by the verb.
  • Example: "The man is bitten by the dog." (The subject "man" receives the action "is bitten")

Changing Voice

• Changing from Active to Passive:
  • Swap the subject and object
  • Change the verb to the correct form of "to be" (e.g., is, was, were) + past participle
  • Add "by" before the original subject
• Examples:
  • Active: "The chef cooks the meal." → Passive: "The meal is cooked by the chef."
  • Active: "The teacher graded the assignments." → Passive: "The assignments were graded by the teacher."
• Changing from Passive to Active:
  • Identify the subject and verb in the passive sentence
  • Swap the subject and object
  • Change the verb to the correct form
• Examples:
  • Passive: "The package was delivered by the mailman." → Active: "The mailman delivered the package."
  • Passive: "The new policy was approved by the board." → Active: "The board approved the new policy."

Test your understanding of active and passive voice by identifying and converting sentences between the two forms. Learn to recognize the different structures and change sentences from active to passive and vice versa.