Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses

Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses: Rohan was confident when he entered the examination hall. English had never frightened him. The comprehension passage felt easy, grammar rules seemed familiar, and he was sure this paper would boost his overall score. But then he reached a question on changing active voice into passive voice. The first sentence was simple, and he answered it quickly. The next one, written in a different tense, made him pause. He stared at the sentence, but unsure about the correct helping verb. For the first time that day, doubt arose in him. He guessed the answer and moved on to the next question, but that small confusion stayed in his mind.

When the result came, Rohan realised something important. He had lost marks on that particular question not because English was difficult, but because he never truly understood how active and passive voice work across different tenses. That day he learned a lesson that memorising a few rules is never enough. Understanding the logic behind those rules is what actually helps in exams and in real life. I think many students face the same problem and that is exactly why learning active and passive voice properly becomes so important.

Today in this article we will learn the complete active and passive voice rules with their examples. You will learn in the same way as your teacher explains on the blackboard slowly, clearly, and honestly. Below this article there is an exercise to practice. But before starting the lesson if you do not know the tense then it will be very difficult for you to understand. You have already written an article on 12 types of tenses with examples and formula, if you wish you can read it.

Table of Contents

Active and Passive Voice Rules

What Is Active and Passive Voice?

Before rules, remember this one truth:

• Active Voice → Subject does the action
• Passive Voice → Subject receives the action

Simple example:

• Active: Rohan wrote the letter.
• Passive: The letter was written by Rohan.

Note: Remember the action always stays the same. The doer may move or even disappear. The object of active becomes the subject of passive.

If this shift is clear in your mind, half the problem is already solved.

The Golden Rules of Changing Active to Passive

Whenever you change a sentence, follow these steps in order:

Identify the object of the active sentence

Make that object the subject of the passive sentence

Change the main verb into its past participle (V³)

Add the correct form of “be” according to the tense

Decide whether to keep or remove “by + subject”

Most mistakes happen in steps 3 and 4.

Tense	Passive Helping Verb
Present Simple	am / is / are
Past Simple	was / were
Future Simple	will be
Present Continuous	am/is/are being
Past Continuous	was/were being
Present Perfect	has/have been
Past Perfect	had been
Future Perfect	will have been

Before moving to the rules you have to remember some pronouns. if there is 'I' in active voice then it will change in 'me' in passive voice and if there is 'me' in active voice then it will change in 'I' in passive voice means vice versa.

Active	Passive
I	Me
You	You
We	Us
He	Him
She	Her
It	It
They	Them

Active and Passive Voice Rules for All Tenses

1. Present Indefinite Tense

Structure (Active): Subject + V¹ (+ s/es) + Object

Structure (Passive): Object + am/is/are + V³ + (by subject)

She writes a letter. → A letter is written by her.

Rohan plays cricket. → Cricket is played by Rohan.

They clean the room. → The room is cleaned by them.

The teacher explains the lesson. → The lesson is explained by the teacher.

He sells books. → Books are sold by him.

If the active verb has s/es, remove it. Passive always uses V³.

2. Past Indefinite Tense

Active: Subject + V² + Object
Passive: Object + was/were + V³ + by Subject

She wrote a letter. → A letter was written by her.

They completed the work. → The work was completed by them.

Rohan won the match. → The match was won by Rohan.

He broke the glass. → The glass was broken by him.

The police caught the thief. → The thief was caught by the police.

3. Future Indefinite Tense

Active: Subject + will + V¹ + Object
Passive: Object + will be + V³ + by Subject

She will write a letter. → A letter will be written by her.

They will announce the result. → The result will be announced by them.

Rohan will buy a bike. → A bike will be bought by Rohan.

He will solve the problem. → The problem will be solved by him.

We will organize the event. → The event will be organized by us.

4. Present Continuous Tense

Active: Subject + am/is/are + V-ing + Object
Passive: Object + am/is/are being + V³ + by Subject

She is writing a letter. → A letter is being written by her.

They are cleaning the room. → The room is being cleaned by them.

Rohan is watching the match. → The match is being watched by Rohan.

He is repairing the bike. → The bike is being repaired by him.

We are preparing food. → Food is being prepared by us.

Never forget “being” in continuous passive.

5. Past Continuous Tense

Active: Subject + was/were + V-ing + Object
Passive: Object + was/were being + V³ + by Subject

She was writing a letter. → A letter was being written by her.

They were painting the house. → The house was being painted by them.

Rohan was playing cricket. → Cricket was being played by Rohan.

He was driving the car. → The car was being driven by him.

We were watching a movie. → A movie was being watched by us.

You may want to read this post :

• 12 Types of Tenses with Examples and Formula
• Types of Clauses in English Grammar with Examples

6. Present Perfect Tense

Active: Subject + has/have + V³ + Object
Passive: Object + has/have been + V³ + by Subject

She has written a letter. → A letter has been written by her.

They have completed the work. → The work has been completed by them.

Rohan has won the prize. → The prize has been won by Rohan.

He has cleaned the room. → The room has been cleaned by him.

We have prepared dinner. → Dinner has been prepared by us.

This was Rohan’s exam mistake. The correct form is has been completed.

7. Past Perfect Tense

Active: Subject + had + V³ + Object
Passive: Object + had been + V³ + by Subject

She had written a letter. → A letter had been written by her.

They had finished the task. → The task had been finished by them.

Rohan had scored well. → Good marks had been scored by Rohan.

He had repaired the bike. → The bike had been repaired by him.

We had booked the tickets. → The tickets had been booked by us.

8. Future Perfect Tense

Active: Subject + will have + V³ + Object
Passive: Object + will have been + V³ + by Subject

She will have written a letter. → A letter will have been written by her.

They will have completed the project. → The project will have been completed by them.

Rohan will have won the match. → The match will have been won by Rohan.

He will have repaired the car. → The car will have been repaired by him.

We will have finished the work. → The work will have been finished by us.

Active to Passive Voice Rules for Negative Sentences

Negative sentences look scary at first, but the rule is actually very simple.

Golden Rule: The word “not” always stays after the helping verb in both active and passive voice. You do NOT remove “not”. You only adjust the helping verb according to the tense.

Structure:

Active: Subject + helping verb + not + main verb + object

Passive: Object + helping verb + not + be + V³ + by subject

Examples:

Active: She does not write a letter.
Passive: A letter is not written by her.

Active: They did not complete the work.
Passive: The work was not completed by them.

Active: Rohan will not buy a bike.
Passive: A bike will not be bought by Rohan.

Active: He is not repairing the car.
Passive: The car is not being repaired by him.

Active: We have not finished the task.
Passive: The task has not been finished by us.

Important Exam Tip:
Never remove “not”. Many students lose marks by forgetting this.

Active to Passive Voice Rules for Interrogative Sentences

Interrogative sentences test your understanding the most, but once you know the pattern, they become easy.

Golden Rule:

First convert the sentence into assertive form in your mind

Change it into passive

Then place the helping verb before the subject again

Structure:

Active: Helping verb + subject + main verb + object?

Passive: Helping verb + object + be + V³ + by subject?

Examples:

Active: Does she write a letter?
Passive: Is a letter written by her?

Active: Did they complete the work?
Passive: Was the work completed by them?

Active: Will Rohan buy a bike?
Passive: Will a bike be bought by Rohan?

Active: Is he repairing the car?
Passive: Is the car being repaired by him?

Active: Has she finished the task?
Passive: Has the task been finished by her?

WH-Question Rule:

If the sentence starts with who, it usually changes to by whom in passive.

Active: Who wrote this letter?
Passive: By whom was this letter written?

When “By Whom” Is Removed

If the doer is obvious, unknown, or unimportant, remove it.

Active: Someone stole my phone.
Passive: My phone was stolen.

This makes your sentence natural and correct.

My Biggest Learning

I stopped memorising rules when I started understanding movement:
Object → Subject
Verb → V³
Tense → decides helping verb

Once this clicked, voice questions stopped scaring me.

Tip for Practice:
Always check three things before writing the answer:
1) Identify the tense
2) Use the correct form of be
3) Change the main verb to V³

Practice Exercises: Change Active into Passive Voice

1. She writes a letter.
   Answer: A letter is written by her.
2. They are cleaning the room.
   Answer: The room is being cleaned by them.
3. Rohan won the match.
   Answer: The match was won by Rohan.
4. He will repair the bike.
   Answer: The bike will be repaired by him.
5. We have completed the task.
   Answer: The task has been completed by us.
6. She does not like mangoes.
   Answer: Mangoes are not liked by her.
7. They did not finish the work.
   Answer: The work was not finished by them.
8. He is not driving the car.
   Answer: The car is not being driven by him.
9. Will she invite you?
   Answer: Will you be invited by her?
10. Did they paint the house?
    Answer: Was the house painted by them?
11. Has Rohan solved the problem?
    Answer: Has the problem been solved by Rohan?
12. The teacher explains the lesson.
    Answer: The lesson is explained by the teacher.
13. Someone stole my phone.
    Answer: My phone was stolen.
14. Who wrote this story?
    Answer: By whom was this story written?
15. They were watching a movie.
    Answer: A movie was being watched by them.
16. She had prepared dinner.
    Answer: Dinner had been prepared by her.
17. Will they announce the result?
    Answer: Will the result be announced by them?
18. He has not cleaned the room.
    Answer: The room has not been cleaned by him.
19. Is she singing a song?
    Answer: Is a song being sung by her?
20. We will have finished the work.
    Answer: The work will have been finished by us.