Active vs. Passive Voice – What’s the Difference?

Active vs. Passive Voice – First off, “voice” is a bit of a misnomer. In the context of grammar, “voice” just indicates whether the grammatical subject performs the action or receives the action. This is less complicated than it sounds. Take the following examples:

• Zombies eat brains. (Active voice)
• Brains are eaten by zombies. (Passive voice)

In the first sentence, “zombies” is the grammatical subject. What is the action? Eating. In other words, the grammatical subject (“zombies”) is the performer of the action. Since the subject performs the action, this sentence is in the active voice. (If you’re looking for a grammar review, I strongly recommend Purdue OWL.)

The second sentence is different. In this sentence, the grammatical subject is “brains. Are “brains” performing any action? No – in this sentence, the brains are being eaten. In other words, the “brains” is the receiver of the action. Since the grammatical subject is the receiver of the action, this sentence is in the passive voice.

Here are two more examples:

• Zombies scare me. (Active voice)
• I am scared by zombies. (Passive voice)

Active vs. Passive Voice (Continued)

As you can see, in the first sentence, the grammatical subject (“zombies”) is the performer of the action (scaring me). Therefore, the first sentence is in the active voice. In the second sentence, the grammatical subject (“I”) is the receiver of the action (being scared). Remember, when the grammatical subject is the receiver of the action, the sentence is in the passive voice.

You might be wondering “Why the focus on zombies?” For me, adding “by zombies” to the end of a sentence is an easy way to figure out whether it’s in the active or passive voice. Take a look at the following examples:

• The dog catches the ball by zombies.
• We saw the movie by zombies.
• I was told to dance by zombies. 
• She knocked on the door by zombies
• I woke up at 6am by zombies.  

In the five sentences above, only the third makes any sense when you add “by zombies.” This means that only the third sentence is in the passive voice. (Though why the zombies told you to dance remains unclear). Now that we can identify the active and passive voice, let’s look at how to form them.

How do I form the active and passive voice? 

Active Voice

Of the two kinds of sentences, the active voice is far simpler. When a sentence is in the active voice, the grammatical subject comes before the verb. The object (if there is one) comes after the verb. Take the two following examples:

• The zombie bit me.
• I will hit the zombie’s head with a bat.

Both these sentences are in the active voice. How do we know? In both these sentences, the grammatical subject (“the zombie” / “I”) comes before the verb (“bit” / “hit”). In this way, we can tell that the grammatical subject is the performer of the action. Similarly, the object in both sentences (“me” / “the zombie’s head”) comes after the verb.

Passive Voice

The passive voice is a bit trickier. Most basically, the passive voice is formed by using some form of the verb “to be” and a past participle. As with all things grammatical, it helps to look at an example. Take the following:

• I am bitten.

This sentence is in the passive voice. How can we tell? Well, we can see that the grammatical subject (“I”) is the receiver of the action (being bit). This simple sentence shows the basic form of the passive voice. It starts with a grammatical subject, which is followed by a form of “to be” (“am”), and it ends with a past participle (“bitten” – the past participle of “to bite”). So, we can say that sentences in the passive voice are constructed as follows:

Grammatical subject + Form of “to be” + Past Participle

I

am

bitten

Let’s take a look at a few more examples to see how this construction works.

Grammatical subject + Form of “to be” + Past Participle

You	are	seen
She	was	told
We	were	taken
They	have been	chosen
I	will be	eaten

Now that we have a solid grasp on the basic form, let’s look at how to write active and passive sentences in the present, past, and future.

Present Tense

Present Simple – we use the present simple tense to talk about regular or habitual events.

Active	Passive (am / is / are + past participle)
I walk the dog.	The dog is walked by me.
My father sees me.	I am seen by my father.
I see my sisters.	My sisters are seen by me.

Present Progressive – we use the present progressive to talk about a temporary action that is currently happening; we also use the present progressive to talk about future plans.

Active (am / is / are + verb-ing)	Passive (am / is / are + being + past part.)
I am walking the dog.	The dog is being walked by me.
My father is watching me.	I am being watched by my father.
I am watching my sisters.	My sisters are being watched by me.

Present Perfect – we use the present perfect to describe actions that started in the past and continue to affect the present.

Active (has / have + past participle)	Passive (has / have + been + past part.)
I have walked the dog.	The dog has been walked by me.
My father has watched me.	I have been watched by my father.
I have watched my sisters.	My sisters have been watched by me.

 Present Perfect Progressive – we use the present perfect progressive to describe an ongoing action that continues in the present.

Active (has / have + been + verb-ing)	Passive (not used)
I have been walking the dog.	The dog has been being walked by me.
My father has been watching me.	I have been being watched by my father.
I have been watching my sisters.	My sisters have been being watched by me.

(As you can see, the present perfect progressive can’t be used in the passive voice.)

Past Tense

Past Simple – we use the simple past to refer to actions that were completed before the current time period.

Active (verb-ed / irregular)	Passive (was / were + past participle)
I walked my dog.	My dog was walked by me.
My father watched me.	I was watched by my father.
I watched my sisters.	My sisters were watched by me.

Past Progressive – we use the past progressive to refer to an action that was started in the past and interrupted by another action.

Active (was / were + verb-ing)	Passive (was / were + being + past part.)
I was walking my dog.	My dog was being walked by me.
My father was watching me.	I was being watched by my father.
I was watching my sisters.	My sisters were being watched by me.

Past Perfect – we use the past perfect to refer to a past action that occurred before another action in the past.

Active (had + past participle)	Passive (had + been + past participle)
I had walked my dog before I left.	My dog had been walked by me…
My father had seen me before he left.	I had been seen by my father…
I had done it before I left.	It had been done by me…

 Past Perfect Progressive – we use the past perfect progressive to refer to an action that started in the past and was in progress up until another moment in the past.

Active (had + been + verb-ing)	Passive (had + been + being + past part.)
I had been walking my dog.	My dog had been being walked by me.
My father had been watching me.	I had been being watched by my father.
I had been watching my sisters.	My sisters had been being watched by me.

(As you can see, the past perfect progressive can’t be used in the passive voice.)

Future Tense

Future Simple – we use the future simple tense to refer to an action that is likely to occur in the future.

Active (will + infinitive)	Passive (will + be + past participle)
I will walk my dog.	My dog will be walked by me.
My father will watch me	I will be watched by my father.
I will do it.	It will be done by me.

*or*

Active vs. Passive Voice (Continued)

Active (is / am + going to + infinitive)	Passive (is / am + going to be + past part.)
I am going to walk my dog.	My dog is going to be walked by me.
My father is going to watch me.	I am going to be watched by my father.
I am going to do it.	It is going to be done by me.

Future Progressive – we use future progressive to talk about actions that will be happening in the future over a period of time.

Active (will + be + verb-ing)	Passive (will + be + being + past part.)
I will be walking my dog.	My dog will be being walked by me.
My father will be watching me.	I will be being watched by my father.
I will be doing my homework.	My homework will be being done by me.

(As you can see, the future progressive can’t be used in the passive voice.)

Future Perfect – we use the future perfect to talk about actions that will have been completed before another event in the future.

Active (will + have + past participle)	Passive (will + have + been + past part.)
I will have walked my dog.	My dog will have been walked by me.
My father will have watched me.	I will have been watched by my father.
I will have done it.	It will have have been done by me.

(While technically possible, the passive form of the future perfect tense tends to sound awkward.)

Future Perfect Progressive – we use the present perfect progressive to describe actions that will continue up to a point in the future.

Active (will + have + been + verb-ing)	Passive (will have been being + past part.)
I will have been walking my dog.	My dog will have been being walked…
My father will have been watching me.	I will have been being watched by…
I will have been doing it.	It will have been being done by me.

(Like many of the progressive tenses, the future perfect progressive tense can’t be used in the passive voice.)

When should I use the passive voice?

As a general rule, using the active voice makes your writing stronger and more assertive. That being said, there are a few situations where the passive voice can be useful and appropriate. Consider the following:

1) Use the passive voice if you want to emphasize the action rather than the doer. For example:

• Quizzes are given fortnightly.
• Papers will be returned in five days.

Active vs. Passive Voice (Continued)

2) You can also use the passive voice if you don’t know who has done the action. For example:

• The car was made in China.
• The form had been filled in.

3) Lastly, you can also use the passive voice if you want to avoid mentioning the person or persons responsible for the action. For example:

• Mistakes were made.
• I was misinformed.

Active Voice vs. Passive Voice – Additional Resources

Don’t despair! As I’ve written elsewhere, English isn’t really one language – it’s three languages wearing a trenchcoat. Take your time to fully understand the active and passive voice and pretty soon you’ll have it down pat. If you’re looking for more grammar help, check out “101 Common Phrasal Verbs” and “20 SAT Grammar Rules.” All that being said, if you’ve had it up to here with English grammar and you wanna bail, check out the “20 Easiest Languages to Learn for English Speakers.”

• 15 Examples of Allusion in Literature & Poetry
• 50 Common Prepositions You Need to Know
• What is a Prepositional Phrase? 25 Examples