Active & Passive Voice
🔒 Log in to trackExam strategy: the 20-second conversion protocol
🔒 Log in to trackVoice items are worth one mark each in under 30 seconds — the purest formula topic in the paper. The protocol:
- Tag the voice. Active stem → build passive; passive stem → build active.
- Fix the tense. From the first auxiliary (active) or skeleton (passive). Say the row aloud: 'was writing → was being + V3'.
- Move the parts. Object↔subject; subject→by-phrase (or they/people); pronouns swap case.
- Re-agree the verb with its new subject.
- Eliminate the four classic faults in options: wrong V-form (V1/V2 after be), broken being/been slot, unchanged tense, pronoun case error. In a well-set item each wrong option carries exactly one of these faults.
Distribution reality: roughly one active→passive and one passive→active per Tier 1 shift; Tier 2 adds voice items inside error-spotting and cloze. Tenses drawn are usually simple present, simple past, present perfect, present continuous and modals — master those five rows first, then add the rest.
Daily plan: 10 conversions a day, alternating directions, written not spoken. After a week, recite the eight-row table from memory; after two, the item needs only the row-recall plus the elimination sweep. Target: 100% accuracy, 25 seconds per item.
Detailed notes
Why this is the cheapest topic in the paper
Voice items are worth one mark each in under 30 seconds, and every item is a row of one table. There is no inference, no vocabulary, no context — only the row and the three moves. With the eight rows memorised, the section becomes marks on demand.
The 20-second protocol
- Tag the voice. Active stem → build passive; passive stem → build active.
- Fix the tense. From the first auxiliary (active) or the first auxiliary of the be + V3 skeleton (passive). Say the row aloud: was writing → was being + V3.
- Move the parts. Object ↔ subject; subject → by-phrase (or they if missing); pronouns swap case.
- Re-agree the verb with its NEW subject.
- Eliminate by fault class — every wrong option in a well-set item breaks exactly one rule.
The four fault classes (name them, kill them)
| Fault class | What it looks like | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong V-form after be | V1 or V2 where V3 belongs | is wrote, must obeyed, is ringed |
| being/been slot broken | been after continuous be; being after have | is been built, has being taken |
| Tense change | row swapped to another tense | was written offered for wrote; would be for will be |
| Pronoun case / agreement | by he; us were; has been for a plural new subject | The returns has been filed |
A fifth, rarer fault: role reversal — The judge was acquitted by the accused for The judge acquitted the accused.
Where the marks actually come from
Roughly one active→passive and one passive→active per Tier 1 shift; Tier 2 adds voice items inside error-spotting, cloze and sentence improvement. The tenses drawn are usually simple present, simple past, present perfect, present continuous and modals — master those five rows first, then add past perfect and future perfect. Imperatives (Let) and By-whom questions appear about once every two or three shifts.
When two options both look clean
Compare them on ONE dimension at a time, in this order: (1) tense row, (2) being/been, (3) agreement with the new subject, (4) pronoun case, (5) agent kept or dropped. One of the two will break a dimension — the other survives. Never choose by what sounds smoother; sound is what the wrong options are engineered to exploit (is been sounds exactly like is being at speed).
Daily drill that actually works
Ten conversions a day, written by hand, alternating directions: five statement rows, two modals, two imperatives, one question. After a week, recite the eight-row table from memory before starting. After two, run only the fault-class sweep on practice papers. Target: 100% accuracy, 25 seconds per item. Voice rewards drilling more than reading — errors live on paper, not in the ear.
Quick revision
- Protocol: tag voice → fix tense row → move parts → re-agree → eliminate by fault class.
- Fault classes: wrong V-form, being/been slot, tense change, case/agreement, role reversal.
- Five-row priority: simple present, simple past, present perfect, present continuous, modals.
- Two clean options? Test one dimension at a time — tense first.
- Write daily; voice is a hand skill, not an ear skill.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: One clean option: fault-class eliminationvery common3 practice Q
Four passive options for one stem; each wrong one breaks a different rule (V-form, being/been, tense) and only one is clean.
- Build the correct row yourself BEFORE reading the options.
- Scan options for the four faults: V-form, being/been, tense, agreement.
- Name each option's fault; the option with no nameable fault is the answer.
Why it works: items are engineered as one clean + three single-fault options; naming faults is faster than admiring sentences.
Example: Select the passive form: They are constructing a new library.
Row: present continuous → is being constructed: A new library is being constructed by them. Decoys: is been constructed (slot), is constructing (active), was being constructed (tense).
Type 2: Tense-trap discrimination among near-identical optionscommon3 practice Q
All four options share the same words and differ only in the auxiliary chain (is cooked / was cooked / has been cooked / is being cooked).
- Fix the active tense first and say its row aloud.
- Match the option whose auxiliary chain reproduces that row exactly.
- Refuse rows that are grammatical but from a DIFFERENT tense — grammar is not the test, the row is.
Why it works: the setter builds three grammatical-looking rows from neighbouring tenses; only row-faithfulness separates them.
Example: Select the passive form: The peon was ringing the bell.
Past continuous → was being rung: The bell was being rung by the peon. 'Was rung' (simple past row) and 'is being rung' (present continuous row) are both grammatical — but from the wrong rows.
Type 3: Identify the voice of a given sentenceoccasional3 practice Q
The stem asks which sentence is in the passive (or active) voice; options are four complete sentences, usually about the same event.
- Look for the be/have been + V3 skeleton → passive; plain V1/V2/V-ing with a doer before the object → active.
- Continuous actives (was reading) are still ACTIVE — V-ing after be is not a passive.
- A by-phrase confirms the passive but is not required (agents can be dropped).
Why it works: the item tests recognition, not conversion; the decoy is always the continuous active that superficially resembles a passive.
Example: Which sentence is in the passive voice: The window was broken by the cricketer / The cricketer broke the window / The cricketer was breaking the window / The cricketer has broken the window?
The window was broken by the cricketer — be + V3 with the receiver as subject. The others keep the cricketer as doer, so they remain active however their tenses differ.
Type 4: Combined skeletons (modal + perfect, future perfect, question + perfect)occasional3 practice Q
The stem stacks two features — will have written, must not violate, Who has written — so the answer needs two rules applied in order.
- Peel the outer frame first: modal stays, perfect adds been, question adds inversion/By whom.
- Rows: will have written → will have been + V3; must not violate → must not be + V3; Who has written → By whom has ... been written.
- Apply pronoun and agreement checks last.
Why it works: stacked items are just two rows worn at once; solving the outer frame first prevents mid-sentence panic.
Example: Select the passive form: They will have published the magazine by March.
Future perfect row: will have been published — The magazine will have been published by March. 'Will be published' drops the perfect; 'will have published' keeps the active.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ Fault-class elimination
Every wrong option breaks exactly one rule: V-form, being/been, tense, agreement, pronoun. Name the fault — the option dies by its name.
⚡ Five-row priority
Master simple present, simple past, present perfect, present continuous, modals first — they cover 80% of paper items.
⚡ Write, don't speak
Voice errors live on paper. Convert in writing daily; the hand learns the skeleton faster than the ear.
Where students lose marks
Rushing the re-agreement check after conversion.
Memorising conversions word-by-word instead of as tense rows.
Ignoring pronoun case at the ends of sentences.
Treating 'is been' as acceptable because it sounds like the continuous.
Practice sets — 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 8 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.