Active and passive voice are two essential components of English grammar that writers frequently use to convey information. While both styles serve to express actions, events, or states of being, they do so in distinct ways, each with its own set of advantages and applications.
Change the sentences below from active to passive tense. For example:
Active: The GP referred the patient to a consultant.
Passive: The patient was referred to a consultant by the GP.
Remember that it is not always necessary to mention the subject in a passive sentence. For example:
Active: We have identified the cause of this outbreak of dysentery.
Passive: The cause of this outbreak of dysentery has been identified.
1. The nurse noticed a rise in the patient’s pulse rate.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
2. The consultant is allowing him to watch the operation.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. All chemists sell the tablets.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
4. The doctor diagnosed appendicitis.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
5. The paramedics comforted the injured person until the ambulance arrived.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
6. The midwife delivered the twins.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
7. The gland was producing an excess of hormones.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
8. They looked after him very well in hospital.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
9. We examined the tissue under the microscope.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
10. The doctor gave me an unpleasant mixture to drink.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
11. You cannot take the lotion orally.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
12. Toxic fumes poisoned the workers.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
13. Doctors are predicting a rise in cases of whooping cough.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
14. The drug suppresses the body’s natural instinct to reject the transplanted tissue.
Passive:……………………………………………………………………………………………………
Answers:
- A rise in the patient’s pulse was noticed by the nurse.
- He is being allowed by the consultant to watch the operation.
- The tablets are sold by all chemists.
- Appendicitis was diagnosed by the doctor.
- The injured person was comforted by the paramedics until the ambulance arrived.
- The twins were delivered by the midwife.
- An excess of hormones was being produced by the gland.
- He was very well looked after in hospital.
- The tissue was examined under the microscope.
- I was given an unpleasant mixture to drink by the doctor.
- The lotion cannot be taken orally.
- The workers were poisoned by toxic fumes.
- A rise in cases of whooping cough is being predicted by doctors.
- The body’s natural instinct to reject the transplanted tissue is suppressed by the drug.
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