active-passive voice

Question 1

The baker kneaded the dough with strong, rhythmic movements.

Answer 1

The dough was kneaded with strong, rhythmic movements (by the baker).

Note: It’s often unnecessary to include “by the baker” as it is implied.

Question 2

The dog chased the ball.

Answer 2

The ball was chased by the dog.

Question 3

The sun shines brightly.

Answer 3

The sun is shone brightly.

However, this sentence is grammatically incorrect. “Shine” is an intransitive verb, meaning it doesn’t take an object. We cannot have a passive voice sentence without an object. A more natural way to express a similar idea would be:

The earth is brightly lit by the sun.

Question 4

She sings beautifully.

Answer 4

Beautifully is sung by her.

Question 5

They built a house.

Answer 5

A house was built.

Question 6

He eats breakfast early.

Answer 6

Breakfast is eaten early by him.

Question 7

The wind howled through the trees.

Answer 7

The trees were howled through by the wind.

While grammatically correct, this sentence sounds unnatural and awkward. Passive voice is best used when the action is more important than the actor, or the actor is unknown. In this case, the active voice (“The wind howled through the trees”) is much more effective and natural sounding.

Question 8

The cat meowed loudly.

Answer 8

The passive voice version of “The cat meowed loudly” is:

A loud meow was made by the cat.

Note: While grammatically correct, using the passive voice here sounds unnatural. The active voice (“The cat meowed loudly”) is more direct and generally preferred in writing.

Question 9

I love to read books.

Answer 9

Books are loved to be read (by me).

However, this sentence structure sounds awkward and unnatural. It’s usually best to avoid passive voice when a sentence flows well in active voice.

Question 10

We won the game!

Answer 10

The game was won (by us)!

Question 11

The rain stopped abruptly.

Answer 11

The rain was stopped abruptly.

Question 12

The chef prepared a delicious meal.

Answer 12

A delicious meal was prepared by the chef.

Question 13

The artist painted a stunning portrait.

Answer 13

A stunning portrait was painted by the artist.

Question 14

The musician played a haunting melody.

Answer 14

A haunting melody was played by the musician.

Question 15

The writer crafted a captivating story.

Answer 15

A captivating story was crafted by the writer.

Question 16

The teacher explained the lesson clearly.

Answer 16

The lesson was explained clearly (by the teacher).

Question 17

The student answered the question correctly.

Answer 17

The question was answered correctly by the student.

Question 18

The gardener planted colorful flowers.

Answer 18

Colorful flowers were planted by the gardener.

Question 19

The carpenter built a sturdy table.

Answer 19

A sturdy table was built by the carpenter.

Question 20

The photographer captured a breathtaking sunset.

Answer 20

A breathtaking sunset was captured by the photographer.

Question 21

The athlete broke the world record.

Answer 21

The world record was broken by the athlete.

Question 22

She gave her friend a gift.

Answer 22

A gift was given to her friend by her.

Question 23

He told his parents the good news.

Answer 23

The good news was told to his parents (by him).

Question 24

I wrote my grandmother a letter.

Answer 24

A letter was written to my grandmother by me.

Question 25

They sent their children to school.

Answer 25

Their children were sent to school.

Question 26

We bought our dog a new collar.

Answer 26

A new collar was bought for our dog.

Question 27

The company offered him a job.

Answer 27

He was offered a job by the company.

Question 28

The teacher showed the students a map.

Answer 28

A map was shown to the students by the teacher.

Question 29

The waiter brought us the menu.

Answer 29

The menu was brought to us by the waiter.

Question 30

The doctor gave the patient a prescription.

Answer 30

A prescription was given to the patient by the doctor.

Question 31

The librarian recommended me a book.

Answer 31

A book was recommended to me by the librarian.

Question 32

The children played in the park.

Answer 32

The park was played in by the children.

Question 33

The birds flew over the mountains.

Answer 33

The mountains were flown over by the birds.

Question 34

The boat sailed across the lake.

Answer 34

The lake was sailed across by the boat.

Question 35

The car drove through the tunnel.

Answer 35

The tunnel was driven through by the car.

Question 36

The hikers walked along the trail.

Answer 36

The trail was walked along by the hikers.

Question 37

The cat slept under the table.

Answer 37

The table was slept under by the cat.

Question 38

The dog barked at the mailman.

Answer 38

The mailman was barked at by the dog.

Question 39

The leaves fell from the trees.

Answer 39

The leaves were fallen from the trees.

However, this is not grammatically correct. “Fall” is an intransitive verb, meaning it doesn’t take a direct object. You can’t have a passive voice sentence without a direct object.

A more natural way to express this passively would be:

The trees were stripped of their leaves.

This sentence implies an action (stripping) happened to the leaves, allowing for a passive construction.

Question 40

The sun rose in the east.

Answer 40

The sun was risen in the east.

It’s important to note that while grammatically correct, this sentence is not ideal. Using the passive voice with natural occurrences like the sun rising can sound awkward and unnatural. It’s usually better to stick with the active voice in these situations.

Question 41

The moon shone brightly in the night sky.

Answer 41

The night sky was brightly shone upon by the moon.

Question 42

She woke up and made breakfast.

Answer 42

Breakfast was made after she woke up.

Question 43

He studied hard and passed the test.

Answer 43

The test was passed by him after he had studied hard.

Question 44

They laughed and danced all night.

Answer 44

Laughing and dancing was done all night.

Question 45

I ran and jumped over the hurdle.

Answer 45

The hurdle was jumped over after it was run toward.

Question 46

We sang and played music together.

Answer 46

Music was sung and played (by us).

You’ll notice “by us” is in parentheses. This is because in most cases, it’s unnecessary to include who performed the action in passive voice if it’s obvious or unimportant.

Question 47

The dog barked and wagged its tail.

Answer 47

Barking was heard from the dog, and its tail was wagged.

Question 48

The cat purred and rubbed against my leg.

Answer 48

My leg was rubbed against by the cat as it purred.

Question 49

The wind blew and the rain poured down.

Answer 49

The passive voice version of “The wind blew and the rain poured down” is:

The wind was blown and the rain was poured down.

However, this sentence sounds awkward and unnatural.

Here’s why:

• Intransitive Verbs: The verbs “blew” and “poured” are intransitive in the original sentence. This means they don’t have a direct object. Passive voice is typically used with transitive verbs that have a direct object.
• Natural Language: While grammatically possible, forcing these actions into passive voice makes the sentence sound clunky and removes the natural agency of weather phenomena.

It’s better to keep this sentence in active voice as it is more concise and natural sounding.

Question 50

The thunder roared and lightning flashed.

Answer 50

The passive voice versions of the sentence “The thunder roared and lightning flashed” are:

• The thunder was roared and lightning was flashed. (Technically correct, but sounds unnatural)
• There was a roar of thunder and a flash of lightning. (More natural and commonly used)

It’s important to note that using the passive voice for sentences like this is often unnecessary and can sound awkward. Active voice is usually clearer and more impactful, especially when describing natural phenomena.

Question 51

The children played and had fun.

Answer 51

The passive voice focuses on the action and the recipient of the action rather than the actor. Since “played” and “had fun” both describe actions done by the children, we can adjust the sentence in this way:

Games were played and fun was had (by the children).

Note:

• We changed “played” and “had” to past participles (“played” remains the same).
• The phrase “by the children” is in parentheses because it is implied and can be omitted. The sentence remains grammatically correct without it.

Using the passive voice can sometimes make sentences sound a bit clunky or unclear, especially when actions are more important than who did them.