English grammar · lesson 24 of 30 · free

Active and passive voice — English grammar for kids

In the active voice the doer comes first (Dev wrote a letter). In the passive voice the thing comes first and the doer moves after “by” (A letter was written by Dev). The tense stays the same — it moves to the verb “be”.

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The grammar rule

be + V3, same tense — “the object becomes the subject; “be” takes the tense, the verb becomes V3”

  1. Make the object the new subject; the doer goes after “by”.
  2. Use “be” in the same tense: is / are (present), was / were (past), will be (future), is being (continuous), has been / have been (perfect).
  3. Add the past participle (V3): written, eaten, made. Match is / are, was / were to the new subject.

Use it for: Science and history writing (Water is heated …), news reports, and voice-change questions in Class 7–10.

Worked example: Change to passive: “Dev wrote two letters yesterday.” → Two letters ___ by Dev yesterday. → were written

  1. “wrote” is simple past, so “be” is was or were; the verb becomes V3: written.
  2. The new subject “two letters” is more than one, so: were written.

Check: One letter: “A letter was written by Dev”; two letters: “were written” ✓

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