Active And Passive Voice
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE:
You may know that we can’t make any sentence without a verb. And you may know that there are two kinds of verbs. One is Transitive verb and other is Intransitive verb. The later form of verb (Intransitive) can make a complete sentence by adding it’s subject to it, as, She sleeps. But the former kind of verb (Transitive) does not have this quality, as, He cooked or We shall eat, because until and unless you add an object to these sentences, their meaning cannot be completed, as, He cooked meat and We shall eat rice. So remember that a Transitive verb needs an object and it does not have the quality or ability to make a sentence by only connecting itself with a subject. But, an Intransitive verb does not need an object and has the ability to make a complete sentence without an object. Keep in mind about the subject that is does some work, but so far as object is concerned, it doesn't do any work but something is done to it.
Voice literally means sound formed in larynx and uttered by mouth but in English Grammar voice means the way of expression. There are two voices (way of expression). One is the Active Voice and the other is Passive Voice.
The voice shows the kind of relationship that exists between its subject and object.
In the Active Voice the verb shows that its subject actually performs the action, as,
The hunter killed the lion.
Here, the verb killed is in the active voice as the subject, the hunter, performs the action denoted by it.
In the Passive Voice the verb shows that its subject does not perform the action but receives it, as,
The lion was killed by the hunter.
Here the subject, the lion, does not perform the action expressed by the verb. The hunter who is the object performs the action. Most transitive verbs i.e. the verbs which take direct objects can be used in passive voice.
e.g. They loved their country. (Active Voice)
Their country was loved by them. (Passive Voice)
To change an active sentence in a passive sentence, make the following changes:
a) Make the subject of the active sentence the object of the passive sentence.
b) Place the preposition ‘by’ before the object of the passive sentence, and
c) Replace the main verb by the past participle form (3rd form) and use, is, are, am, was, were, will be, shall be, is being, are being, am being, was being, were being, has been, have been, had been, will have been, and shall have been, before it.
d) The following table shows the structure of the active and passive voice:
These four changes are illustrated below:
Subject Active verb Object
The hunter killed the lion.
Subject Passive verb Object
The lion was killed the hunter.
A sentence with a transitive verb (verb taking a direct object) plus an object may be turned from the active voice into the passive voice by shifting the subject and the object and making necessary changes in the verb phrases. It must be remembered that passive voice is generally used when:
i) the subject of a sentence is unknown or difficult to specify.
ii) It is desirable not to specify the subject or
iii) We wish to emphasize the object rather than the subject.
The Verb appears in five forms:
First form: present tense
base/root form: eat
Second form: present tense
‘S’ form: eats
Third form: past tense ate
Fourth form: present participle eating
Fifth form: past participle eaten
Tense Active structure Example
Simple present root or ‘s’ form I (eat) food.
He (eats) food.
My parents (love) me.
They (eat) apples.
Simple past past tense I (ate) food.
Simple future shall/will + root form I (shall eat) food.
Present progressive am/are/is + present participle I (am eating) food.
We (are eating) food.
He (is eating) food.
Past Progressive was/were + present participle I (was eating) food.
We (were eating) food.
Future progressive shall be/will be + present I (shall be eating) food.
participle. I (will be eating) food.
Present perfect have/ has + past participle I (have eaten) food.
He (has eaten) food.
Past perfect had + past participle He (had eaten) food.
Future perfect shall have/ will have I (shall have eaten) food.
+ past participle He (will have eaten) food
Present perfect have been/has been + present I (have been eating) food.
progressive participle He (has been eating) food.
Past perfect had been + present participle I (had been eating) food.
progressive
Future perfect shall have been/will have been I (shall have been eating) food.
progressive + present participle He (will have been eating)
food.
Tense Passive structure Example
Simple present am/are/is + past participle Food (is eaten) by me.
Apples (are eaten) by them.
I (am loved) by my parents.
Simple past was/were + past participle Food (was eaten) by me.
Apples (were eaten) by me.
Simple future shall be/will be + past participle Food (will be eaten) by me.
I (shall be loved) by my parents.
PREPOSITION:
Preposition is a word used before a noun or a pronoun to show place, position, time or method, as:
About, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, as, at, before, behind, beside, between, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, outside, over, past, round, since, through, till, to, towards, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, without.
Above: The clock is above the board.
Across & towards: The children are walking across the road towards their school.
Along and past: The old man is walking along the road past the cinema.
At: The people are waiting at the bus stop.
Behind: The boy is standing behind his father.
Below: The board is below the clock.
Between: The child is between her mother and father.
Down: The boy is running down the library steps.
In: The books are in the cupboard.
In front of: The school is in front of a park.
Into: The boy is dropping the bottle into the bin.
Near: The car is near the zebra crossing.
Next to/beside: The café is next to/beside the hospital.
Off: The children are getting off the bus.
On: The old man is getting on the bus.
Opposite: The post office is opposite the shopping mall.
Out of: The lady is coming out of the bank.
Outside: The boy making a noise is outside the class.
Through: The children are looking through the windows.
To: I am going to the library.
Under: The boy is standing under the shade.
Up: The woodcutter is climbing up the tree.
DIRECT AND INDIRECT NARRATION.
A speech may be given in two ways:
1. Direct form of speech
2. Indirect for of speech
For example is a boy named Ali tells you something about himself,
You will mention it like this in the Direct for of speech:
Ali says to me, “I go to Muree every year.”
But if you want to tell somebody else what Ali says to you, you will have to mention it with certain changes. At that time you will not say that Ali says to me that I go to Muree every year because if you mention the actual words of the speakers in front of somebody without any changes, he will think that you go to Muree every year and that Ali was telling you about yourself. So, to explain him correctly you will have to mention the actual words of Ali in your own words as,
Ali tells me that he goes to Muree every year. Like this the listener can understand the meaning of the sentence well. Let us learn how to mention the sentences in our way. For this we will have to see few words.
i) Direct Narration: Direct Narration is the actual words of the speaker quoted in writing.
ii) Indirect Narration: To give the substance of the actual words of the speaker.
2. Inverted Commas: “ ” are used to mention the actual words of the speaker.
3.Reporting Speech: It is that part of narration which is written outside the inverted commas, as, Ali says to me,
4. Reported Speech: It is that part of the narration which is written inside the inverted commas, as, “I go to Muree every year.”
5. Reporting verb: It is the verb used in the reporting speech, as,
Ali says to me,
6. Reported verb: It is the verb used in the reported speech, as,
“I go to Muree every year.”
CHANGES:
I changes into me
We “ us
You “ you
They “ them
He “ him
She “ her
It “ it
Simple present changes into Simple past
Present continuous changes in Past continuous
Present perfect changes in Past perfect
Present perfect continuous changes in Past perfect continuous
Simple past changes in Past perfect
Shall/Will changes in Would
this – that
today - that day
yesterday – the previous day
last night – night before
tonight – that night
tomorrow – the next day
next – the following
now – then
here – there
ago – before
thus – so
Assertive Sentences:
Assertive Sentences contain statements. If the statement is in yes sense, it is affirmative sentence, and if the statement is in negative sense, it is negative sentence. While converting such sentences into indirect, following rules must be adopted:
1.that must be used after removing the inverted commas.
2.said to and say/says to must be changed into told or tell/tells.
3.changes in pronouns and tense or other words must also be kept in consideration.
Solved examples:
He said to me, “I am a teacher and I have been teaching for ten years.
He told me that he was a teacher and he had been teaching for ten years.
I said to him, “I do not play cricket. It is time consuming.
I told him that I did not play cricket because it was time consuming.
Interrogative:
Interrogative sentences contain questions: While changing these sentences from direct to indirect speech, we must apply the following rules:
1. said to and say/says to must be changed into asked or ask/asks.
2. Do not use that after removing the inverted commas.
3. If the sentences inside the inverted commas start with ‘wh’ or H then start the sentence in indirect speech with the same word and change it into simple sentence.
4. If the sentence inside the inverted commas begin with any helping verb, then begin the sentence with ‘if’ or ‘whether’ and make the sentence simple.
SOLVED EXAMPLES.
He said to me, “What is your name?”
He asked me my name.
He asked me what my name was.
She said to Ali, “Is your mother at home?”
She asked Ali whether his mother was at home.
Imperative:
The Policeman said to the driver, “Show me your licence.”
The Policemen ordered the driver to show him his licence.
The beggar said to the lady, “Please give me something to eat.”
The beggar requested the lady to give him something to eat.
Father said to the children “Do not go near the water.”
Father advised the children not to go near the water.
He said to his friends, “Let us go to a picnic today.”
He proposed his friends to go to a picnic that day.
Exclamatory and Optative:
He said, “Alas! I have failed in the examination.”
He exclaimed with sorrow that he had failed in the examination.
She said, “Oh! I have passed my examination.”
She exclaimed with joy that she had passed her examination.
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
Assertive Sentences:
He said to me, “I am a teacher and I have been teaching for ten years.
He told me that he was a teacher and he had been teaching for ten years.
I said to him, “I do not play cricket. It is time consuming.
I told him that I did not play cricket because it was time consuming.
Interrogative:
He said to me, “What is your name?”
He asked me my name.
He asked me what my name was.
She said to Ali, “Is your mother at home?”
She asked Ali whether his mother was at home.
Imperative:
The Policeman said to the driver, “Show me your licence.”
The Policemen ordered the driver to show him his licence.
The beggar said to the lady, “Please give me something to eat.”
The beggar requested the lady to give him something to eat.
Father said to the children “Do not go near the water.”
Father advised the children not to go near the water.
He said to his friends, “Let us go to a picnic today.”
He proposed his friends to go to a picnic that day.
Exclamatory and Optative:
He said, “Alas! I have failed in the examination.”
He exclaimed with sorrow that he had failed in the examination.
She said, “Oh! I have passed my examination.”
She exclaimed with joy that she had passed her examination.