📌 Voice — Active vs Passive
Voice tells us whether the subject performs the action (Active) or receives the action (Passive). Voice & Narration together carry 3–5 marks in every BCS, Bank, and competitive exam.
To change Active → Passive, find the object of the active sentence — it becomes the subject of the passive. No object? No passive! (Intransitive verbs like sleep, die, arrive can never be made passive.)
Active: Rahim writes a letter. (Subject does the action)
Passive: A letter is written by Rahim. (Subject receives the action)
Passive Voice Formula
Object + Auxiliary (be) + Past Participle (V3) + by + Subject
O — Move the Object to the front (it becomes the new subject)
B — Add the correct form of "be" (am/is/are/was/were/been/being/be)
V — Change the main verb to V3 (past participle)
Then optionally add "by + original subject" at the end.
📌 Voice Change Rules by Tense
| Tense | Active Structure | Passive Structure | Example (Passive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | S + V1/V5 + O | O + am/is/are + V3 | A letter is written |
| Present Continuous | S + am/is/are + V-ing + O | O + am/is/are + being + V3 | A letter is being written |
| Present Perfect | S + have/has + V3 + O | O + have/has + been + V3 | A letter has been written |
| Simple Past | S + V2 + O | O + was/were + V3 | A letter was written |
| Past Continuous | S + was/were + V-ing + O | O + was/were + being + V3 | A letter was being written |
| Past Perfect | S + had + V3 + O | O + had + been + V3 | A letter had been written |
| Simple Future | S + will + V1 + O | O + will + be + V3 | A letter will be written |
| Future Perfect | S + will have + V3 + O | O + will have + been + V3 | A letter will have been written |
| Modals | S + modal + V1 + O | O + modal + be + V3 | A letter can be written |
- Only transitive verbs (verbs with objects) can be changed to passive
- Intransitive verbs (sleep, die, come, go, arrive, happen) cannot be made passive
- "by + agent" is omitted when the agent is obvious, unknown, or unimportant
- Pronoun changes: I→me, we→us, he→him, she→her, they→them, you→you
- Perfect Continuous & Future Continuous tenses are rarely converted to passive
📌 Passive with Modals (Exam Favourite)
Formula: Object + Modal + be + V3 (+ by + Subject)
| Modal | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| can | She can do it. | It can be done by her. |
| must | You must finish the work. | The work must be finished. |
| should | We should help the poor. | The poor should be helped. |
| may | They may cancel the match. | The match may be cancelled. |
| have to | I have to do it. | It has to be done by me. |
| ought to | You ought to respect elders. | Elders ought to be respected. |
📌 Special Passive Constructions
1. Imperative Sentences
Active: Open the door. → Passive: Let the door be opened.
Active: Do not touch it. → Passive: Let it not be touched.
Active: Help me. → Passive: You are requested to help me. (polite request)
Pattern 1: Let + Object + be + V3 → "Let the door be opened."
Pattern 2: You are requested/ordered/advised + to + V1 → "You are requested to help me."
Use Pattern 2 when reporting verbs like request, advise, order fit the context.
2. Double Object Passives
Some verbs take two objects — an Indirect Object (person) and a Direct Object (thing). Either can become the passive subject.
Active: He gave me a book. (IO = me, DO = a book)
Passive 1: I was given a book (by him). ← IO as subject ✅ (preferred)
Passive 2: A book was given to me (by him). ← DO as subject ✅
Common double-object verbs: give, tell, teach, show, offer, send, ask, pay, promise, lend
3. "It is said that…" Construction
When the active subject is people, everyone, they (general), we use two passive forms:
Active: People say that he is honest.
Passive 1: It is said that he is honest. (Impersonal "it")
Passive 2: He is said to be honest. (Personal subject)
Active: Everyone knows that she won the prize.
Passive 1: It is known that she won the prize.
Passive 2: She is known to have won the prize.
It is said / believed / thought / known / expected / reported / rumoured / alleged / supposed / understood that… These appear repeatedly in BCS & Bank exams!
4. Quasi-Passive
These sentences look active grammatically but carry passive meaning:
| Quasi-Passive Sentence | Passive Meaning |
|---|---|
| The book reads well. | = The book is read well. |
| Rice sells cheap. | = Rice is sold cheaply. |
| The door opened. | = The door was opened. |
| The milk tastes sour. | = sense/state (no agent) |
| Honey tastes sweet. | = Honey is tasted as sweet. |
5. "Get-Passive" (Informal Passive)
In spoken English and some exam questions, "get + V3" replaces "be + V3":
• He got injured in the accident. (= was injured)
• She got promoted last month. (= was promoted)
• They got married in 2020. (= were married)
6. Passive with Phrasal Verbs
Keep the preposition/particle attached to the verb — never separate it:
Active: They laughed at him. → Passive: He was laughed at.
Active: Someone broke into the house. → Passive: The house was broken into.
Active: We must look into the matter. → Passive: The matter must be looked into.
Active: They called off the meeting. → Passive: The meeting was called off.
📌 Narration — Direct vs Indirect Speech
Direct Speech: The exact words of the speaker in quotation marks.
Indirect Speech: Reporting what someone said without quoting exact words.
Direct: He said, "I am happy."
Indirect: He said that he was happy.
"said" → no object needed: He said that he was happy. ✅
"told" → object required: He told me that he was happy. ✅
❌ He told that… (WRONG — "told" always needs a person after it)
❌ He said me that… (WRONG — "said" never takes a person directly)
📌 Narration Change Rules
1. Tense Changes (Backshift)
| Direct (Present) | Indirect (Past) | Example — Direct → Indirect |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present (V1) | Simple Past (V2) | "I play" → he played |
| Present Continuous (am/is/are + V-ing) | Past Continuous (was/were + V-ing) | "I am playing" → he was playing |
| Present Perfect (have/has + V3) | Past Perfect (had + V3) | "I have played" → he had played |
| Present Perfect Cont. | Past Perfect Cont. | "I have been playing" → he had been playing |
| Simple Past (V2) | Past Perfect (had + V3) | "I played" → he had played |
| Past Continuous | Past Perfect Continuous | "I was playing" → he had been playing |
| will | would | "I will go" → he would go |
| can | could | "I can swim" → he could swim |
| may | might | "I may come" → he might come |
| shall | should | "I shall go" → he should go |
would, could, should, might, ought to, must, used to, had better, need not → these remain unchanged in indirect speech because they are already "past" or invariable.
"I could swim" → He said he could swim. (no change)
2. Pronoun Changes
S — 1st person pronoun changes according to Subject of reporting verb
O — 2nd person pronoun changes according to Object of reporting verb
N — 3rd person pronoun → No change
Direct: He said to me, "I will help you with his work."
Indirect: He told me that he would help me with his work.
• "I" → "he" (1st person → follows Subject "He")
• "you" → "me" (2nd person → follows Object "me")
• "his" → "his" (3rd person → No change)
3. Time & Place Changes
| Direct | Indirect | Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|---|---|
| now | then | here | there |
| today | that day | this | that |
| tonight | that night | these | those |
| tomorrow | the next day / the following day | ago | before |
| yesterday | the previous day / the day before | thus | so / in that way |
| last night | the previous night | come | go |
| next week | the following week | bring | take |
📌 Types of Sentences in Narration
1. Assertive (Statement)
Direct: She said, "I like coffee."
Indirect: She said that she liked coffee.
Direct: He said to me, "I will come tomorrow."
Indirect: He told me that he would come the next day.
Reporting verbs: said / told (+ object) / stated / mentioned / remarked + that
2. Interrogative (Question)
Yes/No Question → use if / whether:
Direct: He said, "Do you like tea?"
Indirect: He asked me if/whether I liked tea.
Wh- Question → keep the wh-word:
Direct: She said, "Where do you live?"
Indirect: She asked me where I lived.
- Remove the question mark (?)
- Change word order from question (VSO) to statement (SVO)
- Remove do/does/did (auxiliary) from Yes/No questions
- Reporting verbs: asked, enquired, wanted to know, wondered
- Never use "that" with questions — use "if/whether" or wh-word
3. Imperative (Command/Request)
Command: He said, "Close the door." → He ordered me to close the door.
Request: She said, "Please help me." → She requested me to help her.
Advice: He said, "Study hard." → He advised me to study hard.
Negative: He said, "Don't go there." → He forbade me to go there. / He told me not to go there.
Choose the right verb based on the tone of the direct sentence:
- Command: ordered, commanded, directed
- Request: requested, begged, entreated, implored
- Advice: advised, suggested, recommended
- Warning: warned, cautioned
- Negative: forbade (= ordered not to)
4. Exclamatory
Direct: She said, "What a beautiful day!"
Indirect: She exclaimed that it was a very beautiful day.
Direct: He said, "Hurrah! We have won!"
Indirect: He exclaimed with joy that they had won.
Direct: She said, "Alas! I have failed."
Indirect: She exclaimed with sorrow that she had failed.
5. Optative (Wish/Prayer)
Direct: He said, "May you live long!"
Indirect: He prayed/wished that I might live long.
Direct: She said, "May God bless you."
Indirect: She prayed that God might bless me.
Reporting verbs: wished, prayed, blessed, cursed
6. "Let" Proposals
Direct: He said, "Let us go for a walk."
Indirect: He proposed/suggested that they should go for a walk.
Direct: She said, "Let me do it."
Indirect: She offered/volunteered to do it.
Direct: He said, "Let him come in."
Indirect: He suggested that he should come in.
- Universal truths: He said, "The earth moves round the sun." → same tense
- Habitual facts: She said, "I always get up early." → same tense (optional backshift)
- Reporting verb in present/future tense: He says that he is happy. (no backshift)
- Hypothetical situations (wish/if): She said, "If I were rich…" → same tense
- Past Perfect already: cannot backshift further → remains "had + V3"
📌 Most Repeated Exam Sentences
| # | Type | Direct | Indirect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Voice | Who wrote this letter? | By whom was this letter written? |
| 2 | Voice | People say he is a genius. | It is said that he is a genius. / He is said to be a genius. |
| 3 | Voice | Someone has stolen my pen. | My pen has been stolen. |
| 4 | Voice | They made him captain. | He was made captain. |
| 5 | Narration | He said, "Let us play cricket." | He suggested/proposed that they should play cricket. |
| 6 | Narration | She said, "What a lovely flower!" | She exclaimed that it was a very lovely flower. |
| 7 | Narration | He said, "May God help you." | He prayed that God might help me. |
| 8 | Narration | Mother said, "Don't waste time." | Mother forbade me to waste time. / Mother told me not to waste time. |
📌 "Wh-Question" Passive (Exam Trap)
| Active (Question) | Passive |
|---|---|
| Who wrote this book? | By whom was this book written? |
| What do you want? | What is wanted by you? |
| When did he open the shop? | When was the shop opened by him? |
| Why did you break the glass? | Why was the glass broken by you? |
"Who" (subject) changes to "By whom" in passive voice. This is a BCS classic — memorise it!
❌ Who was this book written? → ✅ By whom was this book written?
📌 Common Exam Mistakes
| # | Mistake | Correct Approach |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Using "said me" or "told that" | said (that) — no person | told + person + that |
| 2 | Forgetting to remove question mark & fixing word order | Indirect questions use SVO order, no "?" mark |
| 3 | Using "that" in indirect questions | Use if/whether (Y/N) or wh-word — never "that" |
| 4 | Passivising intransitive verbs (die, happen, sleep) | Only transitive verbs (with objects) can be made passive |
| 5 | Dropping preposition in phrasal verb passive | Keep the preposition: "laughed at," "looked into" |
| 6 | Using "Who" instead of "By whom" in passive | Who wrote it? → By whom was it written? |
| 7 | Backshifting universal truths | Keep original tense: "The sun rises" stays as "rises" |
| 8 | Confusing "Let us" (proposal) with "Let him" (command) | "Let us" → suggested/proposed | "Let him" → suggested that he should |