Voice change: Special cases

 

A. Passive Voice with Prepositions Other Than “by”

In passive voice, by generally introduces the agent/doer. But with certain verbs, the preposition is an essential part of the verb or expression and must be retained.

1. Verbs followed by to

Some verbs take to in the passive.

Active: Someone has sent a letter to me.
Passive: A letter has been sent to me.

Examples:

She gave a book to me.
→ A book was given to me by her.

He showed the picture to us.
→ The picture was shown to us by him.

The teacher explained the lesson to the students.
→ The lesson was explained to the students by the teacher.

Important: Do not unnecessarily replace the preposition with by.

 

2. Verbs followed by with

Certain verbs are commonly followed by with in the passive.

Active: The police supplied the villagers with food.
Passive: The villagers were supplied with food by the police.

More examples:

They provided him with a car.
→ He was provided with a car by them.

The company supplied us with necessary equipment.
→ We were supplied with necessary equipment by the company.

They furnished the room with modern furniture.
→ The room was furnished with modern furniture by them.

 

3. Verbs followed by at

Some verbs expressing an emotional or mental reaction retain at.

Everyone laughed at him.
→ He was laughed at by everyone.

The children laughed at the clown.
→ The clown was laughed at by the children.

They scoffed at his proposal.
→ His proposal was scoffed at by them.

Rule

Subject + verb + preposition + object

becomes

Object + be + V³ + preposition + by + subject

They laughed at him.
→ He was laughed at by them.

 

4. Verbs followed by after

The nurse looked after the patient.
→ The patient was looked after by the nurse.

His grandmother brought him up and looked after him.
→ He was looked after by his grandmother.

 

5. Verbs followed by for

Everyone knows him for his honesty.
→ He is known for his honesty by everyone.

People admired him for his courage.
→ He was admired for his courage by the people.

6. Verbs followed by with in expressions of filling/covering

They filled the glass with water.
→ The glass was filled with water by them.

The farmer covered the ground with leaves.
→ The ground was covered with leaves by the farmer.

They loaded the truck with goods.
→ The truck was loaded with goods by them.

 

7. Verbs followed by from

Some verbs naturally retain from.

They deprived him of his rights.
→ He was deprived of his rights by them.

Notice that this particular verb takes of, not from.

Other examples:

The noise prevented him from sleeping.
→ He was prevented from sleeping by the noise.

They discouraged him from taking the risk.
→ He was discouraged from taking the risk by them.

 

B. Important Verb + Preposition Combinations

These are particularly useful for examinations.

Active expression	Passive expression
laugh at	be laughed at
look after	be looked after
look into	be looked into
listen to	be listened to
speak to	be spoken to
talk about	be talked about
deal with	be dealt with
refer to	be referred to
depend on	be depended on
rely on	be relied on
care for	be cared for
call for	be called for
send for	be sent for
put off	be put off
take after	be taken after
bring up	be brought up
carry out	be carried out
make fun of	be made fun of

Examples

Active: They looked into the matter.
→ The matter was looked into by them.

Active: Everyone listened to the speaker.
→ The speaker was listened to by everyone.

Active: The committee dealt with the problem.
→ The problem was dealt with by the committee.

Active: They called for the doctor.
→ The doctor was called for by them.

Active: Someone has put off the meeting.
→ The meeting has been put off.

 

C. Special Cases of Voice Change

1. Questions beginning with “Who”

When who is the subject of the active sentence:

Who + verb + object?

→ By whom + passive verb + object?

Example:

Who wrote this poem?
→ By whom was this poem written?

Who broke the window?
→ By whom was the window broken?

Who teaches you English?
→ By whom are you taught English?

Informal English

Who was this poem written by?

But for formal examination writing:

By whom was this poem written? ✔️

 

2. Questions Beginning with “Whom”

Active: Whom did you invite?
→ Who was invited by you?

Active: Whom did the teacher punish?
→ Who was punished by the teacher?

Here whom, being the object in the active sentence, becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

 

3. Questions Beginning with “Why”

The interrogative word remains at the beginning.

Why did he punish the boy?
→ Why was the boy punished by him?

Why did they cancel the meeting?
→ Why was the meeting cancelled by them?

 

4. Questions Beginning with “When/Where/How”

The interrogative word remains unchanged.

When did they build the bridge?
→ When was the bridge built by them?

Where did they find the stolen car?
→ Where was the stolen car found by them?

How did he solve the problem?
→ How was the problem solved by him?

 

5. Modal Auxiliaries

With can, could, may, might, must, should, ought to, will, would, etc.:

Formula

Modal + V¹ → Modal + be + V³

Examples:

You can solve the problem.
→ The problem can be solved by you.

We must obey the rules.
→ The rules must be obeyed by us.

You should respect your parents.
→ Your parents should be respected by you.

They may cancel the programme.
→ The programme may be cancelled by them.

 

6. Infinitive

Active

to + V¹

Passive

to be + V³

Examples:

I want to read the book.
→ I want the book to be read by me.

She expects him to complete the work.
→ She expects the work to be completed by him.

They decided to postpone the meeting.
→ They decided that the meeting should be postponed.

 

7. Gerund

A gerund after a verb can become a passive gerund:

V-ing → being + V³

Examples:

I remember people praising him.
→ I remember him being praised by people.

She hates people laughing at her.
→ She hates being laughed at by people.

 

8. Double Object

Verbs such as give, send, tell, show, teach, offer, lend, promise can have two objects.

Active:

He gave me a book.

Two passive constructions are possible:

I was given a book by him.

A book was given to me by him.

Similarly:

She taught us English.

→ We were taught English by her.

→ English was taught to us by her.

 

9. Object Complement

Some verbs are followed by an object + complement.

They elected him captain.
→ He was elected captain by them.

The people made him king.
→ He was made king by the people.

They painted the door red.
→ The door was painted red by them.

The complement remains after the passive verb.

 

10. “Make” – Special Case

Active:

Subject + make + object + V¹

Passive:

Object + be + made + to + V¹

This is a very important rule.

The teacher made the boy write.
→ The boy was made to write by the teacher.

The officer made the soldiers march.
→ The soldiers were made to march by the officer.

Remember:

make + object + V¹
→ be made + to + V¹

 

11. “See / Hear / Watch” – Special Case

With verbs of perception, the bare infinitive in active voice often becomes to-infinitive in passive voice.

I saw him cross the road.
→ He was seen to cross the road by me.

We heard her sing a song.
→ She was heard to sing a song by us.

They watched the boy climb the tree.
→ The boy was watched to climb the tree by them.

However, with a present participle:

I saw him crossing the road.
→ He was seen crossing the road by me.

The -ing form remains -ing.

 

12. “Let” – Special Case

Active:

Let + object + V¹

Passive:

Let + object + be + V³

Examples:

Let him do the work.
→ Let the work be done by him.

Let her sing a song.
→ Let a song be sung by her.

Let them play the match.
→ Let the match be played by them.

 

13. “People say/believe/think…”

This is one of the most important special constructions.

Active:

People say that he is honest.

Two passive forms:

It is said that he is honest.

or

He is said to be honest.

Similarly:

People believe that he is innocent.

→ It is believed that he is innocent.

→ He is believed to be innocent.

If the active clause has a past action:

People say that he stole the money.

→ It is said that he stole the money.

→ He is said to have stolen the money.

Formula

Present action:

is/am/are + said + to + V¹

Past action:

is/am/are + said + to have + V³

 

14. “Have/Get” Causative Construction

This is not an ordinary active-to-passive transformation, but it is a very important passive-like construction.

I had a mechanic repair my car.

→ I had my car repaired by a mechanic.

She got a tailor to stitch her dress.

→ She got her dress stitched by a tailor.

 

15. “Need + V-ing”

This is another useful special structure.

The house needs repairing.

This means:

The house needs to be repaired.

Similarly:

The car needs washing.
→ The car needs to be washed.

The room needs cleaning.
→ The room needs to be cleaned.

 

16. Phrasal Verbs

The particle/preposition must not be removed.

Active: They brought up the child.
→ The child was brought up by them.

Active: Someone has turned off the light.
→ The light has been turned off.

Active: They called off the meeting.
→ The meeting was called off.

Active: The police looked into the matter.
→ The matter was looked into by the police.

❌ The matter was looked by the police.
✔️ The matter was looked into by the police.

 

⭐ Examination Shortcut

When changing voice, first identify what kind of construction you have:

Ordinary transitive verb → be + V³

Verb + preposition → retain the preposition

Two objects → either object may become the passive subject

Make + object + V¹ → object + be made + to + V¹

See/hear + object + V¹ → object + be seen/heard + to + V¹

Modal + V¹ → modal + be + V³

Infinitive → to be + V³

Gerund → being + V³

People say/believe… → It is said… / He is said to…

Phrasal verb → retain the particle/preposition

Imperative → usually Let + object + be + V³

Request → You are requested to…

Advice → You are advised to…

Prohibition → You are forbidden/prohibited from…