Verbs 06 - Active and Passive Verbs

'The dishes are washed by the maid.’ Here ‘the dishes’ become the subject on whom action is performed and so the same information has been given but in a passive sentence.

Just as we saw in the previous quizzes, some changes are to be done to sentences while converting from active to passive and vice versa. In the example with the dishes and maid we notice that the word BY has been introduced in the passive sentence. A passive sentence is usually formed by an action being performed on the subject and adding the word BY to signify who is performing the action. You can often recognise a passive sentence by the appearance of BY.

When verbs are involved can tenses be far away? Sentences undergo changes when we look at active and passive forms. Since there are several forms such as Simple Past, Simple Present and Simple Future (will/going to) forms we need to understand what changes need to be made to convert sentences from active to passive and vice versa. One simple rule to follow is that the form should remain the same in both voices and the appropriate changes to the verb have to be made.

This quiz shows active and passive verb forms in action. Have a go and see how well you know active and passive verbs.