In an ACTIVE sentence, the subject does the action: "Riya wrote a letter." In a PASSIVE sentence, the subject receives the action instead: "A letter was written by Riya." Same meaning, flipped around.
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Ask: WHO or WHAT is doing the action, and is that doer at the FRONT of the sentence (active) or after "by" near the end (passive)?
🔵 Active
Doer + verb + receiver
Riya wrote a letter.
⚪ Passive
Receiver + be + past participle + by doer
A letter was written by Riya.
Every tense has its own "be" word, but the pattern is always the same: be + past participle.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | She writes it. | It is written by her. |
| Simple past | She wrote it. | It was written by her. |
| Simple future | She will write it. | It will be written by her. |
| Present continuous | She is writing it. | It is being written by her. |
The doer becomes an object pronoun after "by": she → her, he → him, I → me, they → them, we → us.
Find the doer, the verb, and the receiver. Then swap the receiver to the front and change the verb.
12 IEO-style questions on active and passive voice. 🍀
