Voices, meaning grammatically the way of speaking or writing a sentence, are classified into ‘two’ types
# ACTIVE VOICE
The way of ‘giving importance to subject‘ in a sentence is termed as ‘Active Voice’.
The general pattern of a sentence in Active Voice is ‘S + V + O’ ( commonly considered as the pattern of sentences, as explained in the topic Sentences .)
eg: Martin wrote a letter.
As we know, the ‘subject‘ here is ‘Martin’, ‘Verb’ is ‘wrote’ and the ‘Object’ is ‘a letter’.
# PASSIVE VOICE
The way of ‘giving importance to object’ in a sentence is known as ‘Passive Voice’.
The general pattern of a sentence in passive voice is ‘O + Be-forms + V3 + by + S’
eg: A letter was written by Martin.
Here, the ‘object’ is ‘A letter’, ‘be- forms’ is ‘was’ , ‘V3’ form is ‘written’ ( of the verb ‘write’ ) and the ‘subject’ is ‘Martin’.
# Points to remember
1 The ‘Verb form’ of the sentences in Passive Voice is always ‘Be-forms + V3’.
2 If the ‘subject’ or ‘object’ is in ‘pronoun form’, it may be changed mutually , as shown below.
ACTIVE VOICE (A.V) —————————> PASSIVE VOICE (P.V)
<—————————
I me
We us
He him
She her
They them
Who whom
eg: ‘I’ speak English well. ( A.V)
English is spoken well by ‘me’ ( P.V)
Here, the subject ‘I’ in A.V is changed as ‘me’ in P.V
eg: The programme is conducted by ‘him’. (P.V.)
‘He’ conducts the programme. (A.V)
Here the object ‘him’ in P.V. is changed into ‘He’ in A.V.
3 The pronouns ‘You’, ‘It’, ‘This’, ‘These’, ‘That’, ‘Those’, etc.. are not changed in their forms.
eg: You wrote the answer. ( A.V)
The answer was written by you ( P.V)
# Voices can be applied in 4 types of sentences, such as,
1 ASSERTIVE SENTENCE OR DECLARATIVE SENTENCE
eg: Thomas (S) called ( V) him (O). ( A.V)
He ( O ) was called ( be-forms + V3) by Thomas ( S) ( P.V)
Here the object ‘Him’ is changed into ‘He’ when the voice is changed, as noted above in ‘No. 2’ in ‘ Points to remember’
- S = Subject, V = Verb, O = Object
2 INTERROGATIVE SENTENCE
eg: Why did Tom call you ? ( A.V)
Why were you called by Tom ? ( P.V)
3 IMPERATIVE SENTENCE
eg: Open the door ( A.V)
Let the door be opened ( P.V)
4 COMPLEX SENTENCE
eg: The president said that our country will become the first among the world ( A.V )
It was said by the President that our country will become the first among the world . ( P.V )
Voices in the above mentioned types of sentences must be studied in detail.
So, for detailed study, let’s go through the topic Voices in different types of sentences