Stop confusing active and passive voice! Learn the 4-step conversion formula that works for every tense. Complete guide with 70 practice questions for CBSE Class 9-10 students.
You're halfway through your English exam. Question 8 asks you to convert "The teacher explains the lesson" to passive voice. You freeze. Should it be "The lesson is explained by the teacher" or "The lesson was explained by the teacher"?
The clock ticks. You guess. You move on. Three marks gone.
Sound familiar? Voice change questions trip up thousands of CBSE students every year. But they're actually the easiest grammar marks you can get.
Here's why. Every voice conversion follows the same four-step formula. Master those four steps, and you'll convert any sentence in under 30 seconds.
The grammar section carries 15-20 marks in your CBSE English exam. Voice questions alone give you 3-5 guaranteed marks. That's huge for something that takes less than a minute per question.
Most students memorize separate rules for each tense. Present tense rules. Past tense rules. Future tense rules. Your brain turns into a filing cabinet of disconnected rules. Under exam pressure, you can't remember which rule goes where.
The problem isn't voice conversion. The problem is treating each tense as a separate topic when they all follow one universal pattern.
Voice shows whether the subject performs the action or receives it. That's it. Nothing more complicated than that.
Active voice: Subject does the action. "Maya writes stories."
Passive voice: Subject receives the action. "Stories are written by Maya."
Notice what changed? The object (stories) became the subject. The subject (Maya) moved to the end. The verb changed form.
That's the pattern for every single voice conversion. Object becomes subject. Add the right form of "be." Change verb to past participle. Add "by + original subject."
This formula works for every tense. Present, past, future. Simple, continuous, perfect. Doesn't matter. Same four steps every time.
Step 1: Make the object the new subject.
Step 2: Add the correct form of "be" (is/are/was/were/been) after the new subject.
Step 3: Change the main verb to past participle form.
Step 4: Add "by + original subject" at the end (optional).
Let's apply it. Active: "Students solve problems."
Step 1: Object "problems" becomes subject → "Problems"
Step 2: Add correct "be" form → "Problems are"
Step 3: Change "solve" to past participle "solved" → "Problems are solved"
Step 4: Add "by students" → "Problems are solved by students"
Done. Four steps. Works every time.
The only thing that changes across tenses is Step 2 - which form of "be" you add. Everything else stays exactly the same.
Active: He helps me.
Formula: am/is/are + past participle
Passive: I am helped by him.
The present form of "be" is am/is/are. That's the only thing you need to remember for present tense conversions.
Active: She sang a song.
Formula: was/were + past participle
Passive: A song was sung by her.
Past form of "be" is was/were. One word changes from present tense formula. That's it.
Active: They will finish the work.
Formula: will be + past participle
Passive: The work will be finished by them.
Future already has "will" in it. Just add "be" after "will."
Active: I am reading a book.
Formula: is/are being + past participle
Passive: A book is being read by me.
Continuous tenses add "being" after the "be" form. Present continuous uses is/are being.
Active: We were watching a movie.
Formula: was/were being + past participle
Passive: A movie was being watched by us.
Same as present continuous, but with past "be" form. Was/were being instead of is/are being.
Active: You have completed the task.
Formula: has/have been + past participle
Passive: The task has been completed by you.
Perfect tenses add "been" after has/have. Has/have been is your signal for present perfect passive.
Active: He had written a letter.
Formula: had been + past participle
Passive: A letter had been written by him.
"Had" becomes "had been" in past perfect passive. One word addition.
Active: She will have finished her homework.
Formula: will have been + past participle
Passive: Her homework will have been finished by her.
Future perfect adds "been" after "will have."
Notice the pattern? Simple tenses use just "be." Continuous tenses add "being." Perfect tenses add "been." That's the entire system.
Students think passive voice is just for grammar questions. Wrong. Passive voice exists for specific situations where it's the better choice.
Use passive voice when:
The doer is unknown. "My wallet was stolen." (You don't know who stole it.)
The doer is obvious. "English is spoken worldwide." (Everyone knows humans speak it.)
You want formal writing. "Smoking is prohibited." (Sounds more official than "We prohibit smoking.")
The action matters more than the doer. "The bridge was completed in 2024." (The completion matters, not who completed it.)
Active voice for everything else. It's clearer, shorter, and more direct.
Wrong: The book is wrote by him.
Right: The book is written by him.
"Wrote" is simple past tense. You need past participle "written" for passive voice. The tense is shown by "is," not by the main verb.
Wrong: The work is finish.
Right: The work is finished.
After any form of "be," you must use past participle. "Finish" is base form. "Finished" is past participle.
Wrong: The letter is wrote yesterday.
Right: The letter was written yesterday.
"Yesterday" signals past tense. Use past form "was," not present form "is."
All three mistakes happen when students forget the formula. The "be" form shows the tense. The main verb is always past participle in passive voice.
Here's how to master voice in one week.
Write out the four-step formula. Apply it to five sentences. Check your work. Do this until you can recite the steps without looking.
Take one sentence like "I write letters." Convert it to all eight tenses. Then convert each tense to passive. You'll see the pattern clearly.
Do random voice conversions without knowing which tense in advance. This builds recognition speed. Ten questions daily is enough.
Find common mistakes in passive sentences and correct them. This trains your eye to spot errors instantly during exams.
Track your speed. By day seven, you should convert any sentence in under 30 seconds. That's exam-ready speed.
Ready to practice? I've created a comprehensive worksheet with everything you need.
What's Inside:
The worksheet includes active-to-passive, passive-to-active, error correction, fill-in-the-blanks, and identification questions. Every question type you'll face in CBSE exams.
This isn't just practice questions. Each answer explains which tense was used and which conversion rule was applied. You learn the why, not just the what.
Get Your Free Worksheet: Download Free Voice Change Practice Worksheet →
Voice conversion isn't complicated once you see the pattern. Four steps. Same steps every time. Only the "be" form changes with tense.
Forget memorizing separate rules for each tense. Learn the universal formula. Practice applying it. Within a week, voice questions become automatic.
The difference between losing marks and scoring full marks in grammar? Usually just understanding one simple formula.
Stop overthinking. Start applying the formula. Your exam scores will reflect it.
Created by Shambhavi Thakur, an instructional designer with 15+ years of experience creating CBSE study materials. All resources follow the 5C approach: Clear, Correct, Concise, Coherent, and Complete.
Need more grammar help? Browse our complete collection of CBSE study materials covering Classes 9-12 across all subjects.
Questions? Drop a comment below or email info@shambhavithakur.com
Instructional Designer | 15+ Years Experience
Creating educational content for CBSE students across India
Master active and passive voice with 70 practice questions, simplified rules, and complete answer key. Convert sentences confidently in every tense.
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