Active & Passive Voice

Active & Passive Voice

Concept

Voice describes whether the subject of a sentence is performing the action or receiving it. In active voice, the subject acts upon the object: “The engineer solved the problem.” In passive voice, the object becomes the subject and receives the action: “The problem was solved by the engineer.” Both are grammatically correct; the choice depends on what you want to emphasize.

GATE focuses on passive voice in engineering and scientific contexts where objectivity matters. “The sample was heated to 100°C” sounds more scientific than “We heated the sample to 100°C” because it emphasizes the experiment over the experimenter. This stylistic preference for passive in technical writing is why you’ll encounter it frequently in GATE’s reading comprehension passages — and why you need to master both spotting and constructing passive sentences.

The mechanics are straightforward: passive voice requires the verb “be” (in whatever tense matches the original) plus the past participle of the main verb. “Is written,” “was completed,” “will be announced,” “has been studied.” Without the “be” helper, you just have a regular verb form. And without the past participle, you’re not forming a passive.

Types & Approach

Identifying Passive: Look for “be + past participle” — if you find it and the subject isn’t doing the action, it’s passive. Watch out for participles used as adjectives (“the broken window”) — no “by” phrase and no agent receiver.

Converting Active to Passive:

1. Identify the object (becomes new subject)
2. Change the verb to appropriate form of “be” + past participle
3. Original subject becomes object with “by”
4. Preserve the tense of the original verb

Converting Passive to Active:

1. Identify the “by + agent” phrase (becomes new subject)
2. Change the “be + past participle” to active verb form matching original tense
3. Original subject (now object) drops “by”

Approach: First, find the verb phrase. If it’s “be + past participle,” you’re dealing with passive. Second, identify who/what is doing the action (agent). Third, restructure according to the rules.

Step-by-Step Example

Q: Convert to passive: “The team will complete the project on time.” A: The project will be completed by the team on time.

Approach: Step 1 → Object = “the project” → new subject Step 2 → Verb “will complete” → “will be completed” (be + past participle, same tense) Step 3 → Subject “the team” → “by the team” Answer: The project will be completed by the team on time.

Common Mistakes

• Using past participle without “be” → “The project completed” is active (intransitive) or broken grammar, not passive
• Forgetting subject-verb agreement in passive → “The data was analyzed” (singular) vs. “The data were analyzed” (plural) — match the original number
• Leaving out the “by agent” when required → Passive sentences need the doer expressed or at least implied (“The car was repaired” — implies someone did it)
• Mixing up linking verbs with passive → “He is tired” is linking verb + adjective, not passive