SSC Active and Passive Voice Questions with Rules and Answers

Active and Passive Voice is a regular grammar topic in SSC CGL, CHSL and MTS English papers. The questions ask you to convert a sentence from one voice to the other or to find the correct passive form from four options. The rules are limited and easy to learn, which makes this a high-scoring topic. This practice paper gives you the rules in a tense table and 30 practice questions with answers and explanations.

Practice Paper at a Glance

What Are Active and Passive Voice? Basic Concept in Simple Words

In the active voice, the subject performs the action: "Ravi wrote the letter." In the passive voice, the action is done to the subject: "The letter was written by Ravi."

• Use the active voice when who does the action is important.
• Use the passive voice when the action or the object is more important than the doer.
• Only sentences with a transitive verb (a verb that takes an object) can be changed into the passive voice.

Rules of Active and Passive Voice (Tense Table)

Basic rule: Object becomes the subject, the verb changes to the passive form (a form of "be" + past participle) and the subject becomes the object after "by".

• Imperative sentences: "Open the door" becomes "Let the door be opened" or "You are requested to open the door."
• Questions: keep the helping verb before the subject. "Who wrote this book?" becomes "By whom was this book written?"
• Two objects: either object can become the subject. "He gave me a book" becomes "I was given a book by him" or "A book was given to me by him."
• Intransitive verbs (like sleep, go and arrive) cannot be changed into the passive.
• Continuous tense passives need "being": is being, was being.
• Future continuous and perfect continuous forms are rarely changed in exams.

Set 1: Active to Passive (Basic Tenses) (Q1–Q10)

Q1. Change into the passive voice: She writes a letter.
Answer: A letter is written by her.
Solution: Simple present: is/am/are + past participle.

Q2. Change into the passive voice: They played cricket.
Answer: Cricket was played by them.
Solution: Simple past: was/were + past participle.

Q3. Change into the passive voice: He will buy a car.
Answer: A car will be bought by him.
Solution: Simple future: will be + past participle.

Q4. Change into the passive voice: The teacher is teaching the students.
Answer: The students are being taught by the teacher.
Trick: Present continuous: is/are being + past participle.

Q5. Change into the passive voice: I have finished my work.
Answer: My work has been finished by me.
Solution: Present perfect: has/have been + past participle.

Q6. Change into the passive voice: She was singing a song.
Answer: A song was being sung by her.
Solution: Past continuous: was/were being + past participle.

Q7. Change into the passive voice: Rahul had completed the project.
Answer: The project had been completed by Rahul.
Solution: Past perfect: had been + past participle.

Q8. Change into the passive voice: Birds eat insects.
Answer: Insects are eaten by birds.
Solution: Simple present with a plural object.

Q9. Change into the passive voice: The boy broke the window.
Answer: The window was broken by the boy.
Solution: Simple past with the irregular verb break (broke, broken).

Q10. Change into the passive voice: Who wrote this book?
Answer: By whom was this book written?
Trick: "Who" changes into "by whom" in the passive.

Set 2: Passive to Active (Q11–Q20)

Q11. Change into the active voice: The letter was written by Ravi.
Answer: Ravi wrote the letter.
Solution: Was written changes to wrote.

Q12. Change into the active voice: A song is being sung by Meena.
Answer: Meena is singing a song.
Solution: Is being sung changes to is singing.

Q13. Change into the active voice: The work has been done by them.
Answer: They have done the work.
Solution: Has been done changes to have done.

Q14. Change into the active voice: The thief was caught by the police.
Answer: The police caught the thief.
Solution: Was caught changes to caught.

Q15. Change into the active voice: English is spoken by many people.
Answer: Many people speak English.
Solution: Is spoken changes to speak.

Q16. Change into the active voice: The match will be won by India.
Answer: India will win the match.
Solution: Will be won changes to will win.

Q17. Change into the active voice: The book had been read by her.
Answer: She had read the book.
Solution: Had been read changes to had read.

Q18. Change into the active voice: The food was being cooked by my mother.
Answer: My mother was cooking the food.
Solution: Was being cooked changes to was cooking.

Q19. Change into the active voice: The exam will be conducted by SSC.
Answer: SSC will conduct the exam.
Solution: Will be conducted changes to will conduct.

Q20. Change into the active voice: The poem was recited by the students.
Answer: The students recited the poem.
Solution: Was recited changes to recited.

Set 3: Modals, Imperatives, Questions and Special Cases (Q21–Q30)

Q21. Change into the passive voice: You must obey the rules.
Answer: The rules must be obeyed by you.
Solution: Modal + be + past participle.

Q22. Change into the passive voice: Open the door.
Answer: Let the door be opened.
Trick: Imperative sentences use "Let ... be + past participle".

Q23. Change into the passive voice: Do you know him?
Answer: Is he known to you?
Solution: The verb "know" takes "to" with the agent in the passive.

Q24. Change into the passive voice: She can speak French.
Answer: French can be spoken by her.
Solution: Can + be + past participle.

Q25. Change into the passive voice: He gave me a book.
Answer: I was given a book by him. (or A book was given to me by him.)
Trick: A sentence with two objects has two passive forms.

Q26. Change into the passive voice: Please help me.
Answer: You are requested to help me.
Solution: A polite request uses "You are requested to".

Q27. Change into the passive voice: Why did you break the glass?
Answer: Why was the glass broken by you?
Solution: The question word stays at the start and the helping verb comes before the subject.

Q28. Change into the passive voice: They are building a bridge.
Answer: A bridge is being built by them.
Solution: Present continuous passive uses "is being".

Q29. Change into the passive voice: People say that honesty is the best policy.
Answer: It is said that honesty is the best policy.
Solution: Sentences with "People say that" use an impersonal passive.

Q30. Change into the passive voice: Someone has stolen my wallet.
Answer: My wallet has been stolen.
Solution: The vague agent "someone" is omitted.

Common Mistakes in Active and Passive Voice

• Forgetting the past participle (using the base form or the past form).
• Using "being" in the wrong tense or leaving it out in the continuous passive.
• Not changing the pronoun case (I to me, he to him).
• Trying to change an intransitive verb into the passive.
• Leaving "by" in sentences where the doer is not important.
• Using "is" with a plural subject and "are" with a singular subject.

How to Practice These 30 Questions

1. Learn the tense table and memorise one example for each tense.
2. Memorise the past participles of the 50 most common irregular verbs.
3. Solve Set 1 first and check each sentence against the table.
4. Practise Set 3 carefully because questions with modals and imperatives are common in exams.
5. Revise the rules after finishing and write down your mistakes.

Related Topics to Study Next

• Idioms and Phrases
• One Word Substitution
• SSC Error Detection Questions
• Parts of Speech Notes

Frequently Asked Questions

What is active and passive voice?

In the active voice, the subject performs the action. In the passive voice, the action is received by the subject. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

How many active and passive voice questions come in SSC exams?

Generally one or two questions are asked per shift, either as a direct conversion or as a spot-the-correct-passive question.

What is the formula for passive voice?

Object + helping verb (form of be) + past participle + by + subject. The helping verb changes with the tense of the sentence.

How do I change continuous tenses into the passive voice?

Use "is/am/are being" for the present continuous and "was/were being" for the past continuous, followed by the past participle of the main verb.

How do I change imperative sentences into the passive voice?

Use "Let + object + be + past participle" (Let the door be opened) or "You are requested to + verb" for polite requests.

How do I change questions into the passive voice?

Keep the question word at the start, place the correct helping verb before the new subject and use the past participle. "Who wrote this?" becomes "By whom was this written?"

Which verbs cannot be changed into the passive voice?

Intransitive verbs, such as go, sleep, arrive and fall, cannot be changed into the passive voice because they do not take an object.

Can sentences with two objects have two passive forms?

Yes. In "He gave me a book", either object can become the subject: "I was given a book by him" or "A book was given to me by him".

What is the passive voice of a sentence with modals?

Use the same modal followed by "be" and the past participle: "She can write a letter" becomes "A letter can be written by her".

How should I prepare active and passive voice for SSC exams?

Learn the tense table, practise all types of conversions, memorise irregular past participles and solve previous year questions to get used to the pattern.