Page 68 - Grammar Glow - 5

Active Voice

It is called active because here the verb does some action—the subject of the
sentence performs an act. In active voice, the subject of the verb is the doer of the

action and thus active.
1. He writes a letter.

2. They play cricket.

Passive Voice

It is called passive because the person or thing denoted by the subject is not active

but passive. It is not involved in action but action is done to it. In other words, it is
acted upon.

1. A letter is written by him.

2. Cricket is played by them.

Remember

The form of the verb which shows the importance of its subject in regard to the
action is called the active voice.

The form of the verb which shows the importance of its object in regard to the

Cricket action is called the passive voice.

Steps to change the voice

When a verb is changed from active to passive, the object of the active verb becomes
the subject of the passive verb.

1. The boys saw a cat.

2. A cat was seen by the boys.

In most cases, the word ‘by’ is used with the doer of the action.

A song is sung by Meena.
(Meena – doer of the action)

Pronouns are changed as mentioned below:

I – me We – us
He – him She – her

They – them you – you
It – it

66