Skip to main content

VOICE CHANGE

VOICE CHANGE


1. What is voice?
2. How many kinds of voices are there?
3. Basics rules for changing the voices.
4. Change of pronoun
5. Be-verb in voice
6. How to identify the voice?
7. Voice and tense
8. Passive without ‘by’
9. Passive without doer or agent.
10. Passive of ditransitive
11. Modal verb and passive
12.  Passive of imperative sentences
13. Passive of interrogative sentences
14. Quasi passive
15. Voice of complex sentences
16. Passive of negative sentences
17. Sentences with gerund (verbal noun) with preposition and object.
1. What is voice?
The voice is the form of the verb that indicates if the subject of a sentence is the doer of the action or the action of the verb happens to the subject.

Example:                    I eat bread. (Active)
                                    Bread is eaten by me. (Passive)

2. How many kinds of voices are there?
There are two kinds of voices.   1. Active Voice and 2. Passive Voice


3. Basics rules for changing the voice from active to passive
Voice rule song
Subject to the place of object
Object to the place of subject
Bring one be-verb
Bring one past participle
Bring one ‘by’


Explanation:                  I                   eat                       bread.
                           Active Subject       Verb                Active Object
                                                                 
                    
                         Bread                   is eaten                   by   me.
                Passive Subject          Passive Verb          Agent (Object)




4. Change of pronoun
The pronoun in passive changes accordingly
I
me
we
us
you
you
she
her
he
him
it
it
they
them



5. Be-verb in  passive voice
am              used in present tense 1st person singular number
                   Examples:  He disturbs me. (Active)
                                       I am disturbed by him. (Passive)

is                 used in present tense 3rd person singular number
                   Examples:  He kicks the ball very high. (Active)
                                      The ball is kicked very high by him. (Passive)
are              used in present tense with 1st  person plural, 2nd   person plural and singular ,3rd person  plural number
                   Examples:  God gives us shelter. (Active)
                                      We are given shelter by God.
                                      I give you help. (Active)
                                      You are given help by me. (Passive)
                                      We tell them. (Active)
                                      They are told by us. (Passive)

was             used in past tense 1st or 3rd person singular number
                   Examples:  I kicked the ball very high. (Active)
                                      The ball was kicked very high by me. (Passive)
He kicked the ball very high. (Active)
                                      The ball was kicked very high by him. (Passive)        

were            used in past tense with 1st  person plural, 2nd   person plural and singular ,3rd person  plural number
                    Examples:  God gave us shelter. (Active)
                                       We were given shelter by God. (Passive)
                                       I gave you help. (Active)
                                       You were given help by me. (Passive)
                                      We told them. (Active)
                                      They were told by us. (Passive)
be               used with modal  verbs in passive  
                   Examples:   He can read this book. (Active)
                                      This book can be read by him. (Passive)
                                      She will sing a song. (Active)
                                      A song will be sung by her. (Passive)       

been            used with perfect tense( with ‘has’, ‘have’, ‘had’)
                   Examples:  My brother has broken the glass.
                                      The glass has been broken by my brother.
                                      They have written a letter.
                                      A letter has been written by them. 
                                      I had written the letter before I went to school.
The letter had been written by me before I went to school. 

being          used with continuous tense
                   Example:   They are playing football.
                                      Football is being played by them.  

6. How to identify the voice?
          A sentence with be-verb+past participle is in passive voice.
          Example:   That was done immediately by me.(Passive)
                             I did that immediately. (Active)



 7. Voice and tense



8. Passive without ‘by’
There are some verbs which do not take ‘by’ after their passive form.
1.    They satisfied me.                I was satisfied with him.
2.    I know him.                            He is known to me.
3.    He annoyed me.                    I am annoyed with him.
4.    My behavior vexed him.      He was vexed at my behavior.
5.    I displeased my mother.      My mother was displeased with me.
6.    His gentleness pleased me.   I was pleased with his gentleness.


9. Passive without doer or agent.
When the doer or the agent is not important in a sentence we omit the agent.      When the agent is not known or obvious; we also omit the agent. When the agent is ‘someone’ or ‘somebody’, we omit the agent.
Examples: The thief was arrested. ( by the police)
                             This building was built in 1979. (by my grandfather)
                             He was made monitor. (by his classmates)

10. Passive of ditransitive

When there are two objects of a transitive verb, we can bring any one object in the place of subject in passive voice.  It is preferable to bring the indirect object( me, us, you, him, her, them, it ) in place of the subject in the passive voice.
Examples:          He gave me a book. (Active)      
                             I was given a book by him. (Passive)
                             A book was given to me by him. (Passive)

11. Modal verb and passive
The passive voice of the modal verb with present simple/indefinite is formed with modal +passive form of present indefinite verb. (modal+be+past participle)
Example:  I can sing a song. (Active)
                   A song can be sung by me. (Passive)
                   She should respect her teacher. (Active)
                   Her teacher should be respected by her. (Passive)

12.  Passive of imperative sentences
An imperative sentence always begins with principal verb and the subject is always ‘you’ (understood).
Example: (You) Open the door. (Active)
                   Let the door be opened. (Passive)
                   Do not kill the animals. (Active)
                   Let not the animals be killed. (Passive)
                   Let me do the sum. (Active)
                   Let the sum be done by me. (Passive)
Some imperatives are changed into passive in the following manner.
Examples: Keep your dignity. (Active)
                             Your dignity should be kept. (Passive)
                             Please keep off the grass. (Active)
                             You are requested to keep off the grass. (Passive)

13. Passive of interrogative sentences
There are two kinds of interrogative sentences namely 1. yes/no question
and 2. wh-question.

Passive of yes/no questions
Examples:
Do you know him? (Active)
Is he known to you? (Passive)
Are you writing a letter? (Active)
Is a letter being written by you? (Passive)
Will he help you? (Active)
Will you be helped by him? (Passive)

Passive of wh-questions
Example:
1.      What do they want?
          What is wanted by them?
2.      When did he do it?
          When was it done by you?
3.      Where did he do the work?
          Where was the work done by him?
4.      Which book did he buy?
          Which book was bought by him?
5.      How did you solve the problem?
          How was problem solved by you?
6.      Why did you beat her?
          Why was she beaten by you?
7.      Who broke the window pane?
          By whom was the window pane broken?

14. Quasi passive
Some VERBS look active but express the sense of PASSIVE. That is some verbs are active in form but passive in sense.
They are actually half passive. These verbs are called Quasi Passive. Quasi means half. These verbs are TASTE, FEEL, SMELL, READ, SELL,PRINT, BEAT
Example: The sand paper feels rough.
                   The sand paper is rough when it is felt.
                   Sugar tastes sweet.
                   Sugar tastes sweet when it is tasted.
                   Guns are firing.
                   Guns are being fired.
                   Apples are selling cheap.
                   Apples are being sold cheap.

15. Voice of complex sentences
When there is a complex sentence, we should change not only the principal clause but also the subordinate clause.
Examples: I know that my sister broke the glass.
                             It is known to me that the glass was broken by my sister.
                             They told that Peter would sing a song.
                             It was told by them that a song would be sung by Peter.
                  
16. Passive of negative sentences
Examples: They did not write the letter.
                             The letter was not written by them.
                             I have not broken the toy.
                             The toy has not been broken by me.

17. Sentences with gerund (verbal noun) with preposition and object.
Examples: The government has passed a law against hunting animals.
                             A law has been passed against animals being killed.
                             I saw the cleaning of the house.
                             I saw the house being cleaned.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Mother at Sixty-six by Kamala Das

Hello everybody, hope that you all are fine. In this blog I am going to talk about the poet Kamala Das, then there will be the poem My Mother at Sixty-six and it will be followed by the theme of the poem and word meanings. My Mother at Sixty-six About the poet: Kamala Das is the pen name (nom de plume) of Madhavi Kutty.  She was born on 31 st March 1934 at Punnayurkulum in Kerala. She is one of the greatest poets of India. She is known for her indigenous style and flovour of poetry. She wrote many novels and short stories. Her poetic creations are contained in four volumes. They are: Summer in Calcutta (1965), The Descendants (1967), The Old Playhouse and Other Poems (1973) and Stranger Time (1977). Apart from writing in English she also wrote in her mother tongue, Malayalam. She was a very sensitive writer who could deal with intricate human psychology. She died on 31 st May 2009 in Pune of Maharashtra. My Mother at Sixty-six was written in 1999.   My Mother a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Laburnum Top by Ted Hughes

Poet Ted Hughes was a British poet. He was born on 17 August 1930 in Yorkshire in England. According to the critics, he is the best poet of his generation and one of the greatest writers of the 20 th century. He was married to American poet Sylvia Plath from 1956 until 1963. His last poetic work Birthday Letters (1998) dealt with their relationship. His first collection The Hawk in the Rain (1957) was highly acclaimed. However, probably Crow (1970) was his most significant work. Hughes’s early poetic works dealt with the nature and savagery of animals. He served as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1956 until his death in 1998 The Laburnum Top Ted Hughes                  The Laburnum top is silent, quite still In the afternoon yellow September sunlight, A few leaves yellowing, all its seeds fallen. Till the goldfinch comes, with a twitching chirrup A suddenness, a startlement, at a branch end. Then sleek as a lizar...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Thing of Beauty by John Keats

A Thing of Beauty JOHN KEATS   About the poet JOHN KEATS   FATHER’S NAME: THOMAS KEATS, a livery stable keeper MOTHER’S NAME: Frances Keats Born:31 October 1795,Moorgate, London, England Died:23 February 1821 (aged 25),Rome, Papal State, Cause of death: Tuberculosis ( his brother , Tom and mother also died of tuberculosis) Alma mater: Clarke School, Enfield,King's College London Literary movement: Romanticism Relatives:George Keats (brother) Endymion : According to Greek mythology , Endymion was the shepherd son of Aethlius. He was a beautiful young man. He loved Selene, Moon goddess, often known as Diana. He lived on Mount Latmos.  He had a vision of Cynthia,( Selene) the moon goddess. He was so enamoured with her that he decided to seek her through the forest or even under sea. A Thing of Beauty A thing of beauty is a joy forever Its loveliness increases, it will never Pass into nothingness; but will keep A bower qu...
Post a Comment
Read more