Changing the Voice of a Verb

In order to preserve the meaning of a sentence when the Voice of the verb is changed, it is
necessary to alter the order of the words in the sentence.

a. Changing the verb from the active voice to the passive voice
When a verb which takes an object is changed from the Active Voice to the Passive Voice, in
order to preserve the meaning of the sentence, the former object becomes the subject of the
verb, and the former subject may be preceded by the preposition by, and placed after the
verb. In the following examples, the verbs are underlined, and the direct objects of the verbs
are printed in bold type.

For instance, in the sentence:

The wind is rippling the water.
the verb is rippling has the subject wind and takes the object water. When the verb is put
into the Passive Voice and the meaning of the sentence is preserved, the former object,
water, becomes the subject of the verb, and the former subject, wind, becomes the object of
the preposition by, as follows:
The water is being rippled by the wind.

Other examples are:

Active: The squirrel ate the nut.
Passive: The nut was eaten by the squirrel.

Active: The child will open the parcel.

Passive: The parcel will be opened by the child.

In the first pair of examples, the verb ate, in the Active Voice, is changed to was eaten, in the
Passive Voice. In order to preserve the meaning, nut, the object of the verb in the Active
Voice, becomes the subject of the verb in the Passive Voice, and is placed before the verb;
and squirrel, the subject of the verb in the Active Voice, becomes the object of the
preposition by, and is placed after the verb.

Similarly, in the second pair of examples, parcel, the object of the verb in the Active Voice,
becomes the subject of the verb in the Passive Voice and is placed before the verb; and child,
the subject of the verb in the Active Voice, becomes the object of the preposition by, and is
placed after the verb.

See Exercise 6.

It should be noted that, when changing the Voice of a verb in a sentence while preserving the
meaning of the sentence, it is necessary to make sure that the verb agrees with its new
subject.
e.g. Active: The boys are mowing the lawn.
Passive: The lawn is being mowed by the boys.

In the first sentence, the subject boys is plural; therefore a plural auxiliary are is used. In the
second sentence, the subject lawn is singular; therefore a singular auxiliary is is used. The
agreement of verbs with noun subjects is discussed in the next chapter.

b. Changing the verb from the passive voice to the active voice
When a verb is changed from the Passive Voice to the Active Voice, in order to preserve the
meaning of the sentence, the former subject becomes the object of the verb, and, if the
sentence includes a phrase beginning with the preposition by, the former object of the
preposition becomes the subject of the verb.
e.g. Passive: The clover is being eaten by the cow.
Active: The cow is eating the clover.

In this pair of examples, the verb is being eaten, in the Passive Voice, is changed to is
eating, in the Active Voice. In order to preserve the meaning of the sentence, clover, the
subject of the verb in the Passive Voice, becomes the object of the verb in the Active Voice,
and is placed after the verb; and cow, the object of the preposition by, becomes the subject of
the verb in the Active Voice, and is placed before the verb.

Other examples are:

Passive: The wine was ordered by the dealer.
Active: The dealer ordered the wine.

Passive: The deer could have been killed by the poacher.

Active: The poacher could have killed the deer.

See Exercise 7.

c. Changing the voice of a verb which takes both a direct object and an indirect object
When a verb in the Active Voice takes both a direct object and an indirect object, either
object can become the subject of the verb when the verb is put into the Passive Voice, and the
meaning of the sentence is preserved. The object which does not become the subject remains
as an object. When a verb in the Passive Voice takes an indirect object, the indirect object is
usually preceded by a preposition.
e.g. Active: The guide will show you the museum.
Passive: You will be shown the museum by the guide.
Passive: The museum will be shown to you by the guide.

In the first sentence, the verb will show, in the Active Voice, takes the direct object museum,
and the indirect object you. In the second and third sentences, the verb will be shown is in
the Passive Voice, and the meaning has been preserved by altering the word order and using
the preposition by. In the second sentence, the former indirect object, you, is the subject of
the verb, and the former direct object, museum, remains the direct object. In the third
sentence, the former direct object, museum, is the subject of the verb, and the former indirect
object, you, is preceded by the preposition to.

A similar example is:

Active: The policeman gave you a medal.
Passive: You were given a medal by the policeman.
Passive: A medal was given to you by the policeman.

In the first sentence, the verb gave, in the Active Voice, takes the direct object medal and the
indirect object you. In the second and third sentences, the verb was given is in the Passive
Voice. In the second sentence, the former indirect object, you, is the subject of the verb, and
the former direct object, medal, remains the direct object. In the third sentence, the former
direct object, medal, is the subject of the verb, and the former indirect object, you, is
preceded by the preposition to.