Table of Contents
Understanding active and passive voice is very important if you want to improve your writing skills in English. It is impossible to achieve any skill without practice. Learning active and passive voice is no different. In this blog, some active and passive voice exercises are provided for you to practice and improve your English grammar knowledge and writing skills. Boost your grammar skills with engaging active and passive voice exercises across all major tenses. Includes answers and clear examples.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises: Introduction
It is essential to understand the difference between active voice and passive voice if you want to improve the quality and clarity of your writing. If you have mastery over both forms, then it can improve your grammatical accuracy and stylistic flexibility to a whole new level. Sometimes you want to emphasize the subject. But there are other instances where the doer is unknown or unimportant and the focus should be on the action or the receiver. This is the exact thing that passive voice helps us achieve. In this blog, we will discuss the basics of active and passive sentence structures and then do some active and passive voice exercises in various tenses to help you understand the concepts better. So, let’s get started.
When Should You Use Active and Passive Voice Exercises?
1: Which of the sentences below is grammatically correct?
‘The man killed the snake’ and ‘The snake was killed by the man’ might sound the same when we take only the meaning of the sentence into consideration. Active voice and passive voice are not interchangeable when we count circumstances. Active voice is direct, dynamic, and clear, whereas passive voice is useful when emphasizing the action or recipient, not the actor. The table provided below will give you more clarity about the concept.
Voice Type | Use It When… | Example |
Active Voice | You want stronger, more concise sentences. | The chef cooks the meal. |
You know the doer and want to highlight them. | The manager approved the request. | |
You aim for engaging and straightforward prose. | The students solve the problems. | |
Passive Voice | The actor is unknown or irrelevant. | The window was broken last night. |
You wish to emphasize the action itself. | The documents were signed. | |
You are writing scientific, technical, or formal content (focus on process). | The experiment was conducted carefully. |
Practising using active and passive voice exercises is very important when learning English grammar. This is because, these practise exercises will help you learn to switch perspectives, cementing understanding of sentence structure across tenses, and building flexibility in your writing style.
Spoken English Course for Guaranteed Confidence and Career Growth
Spoken English Course by Entri App: Enhance your communication skills, gain certification, and boost your career with confidence.
Join Now!55+ Engaging Exercises on Active and Passive Voice with Answers
In this section, we will do some practice active and passive voice exercises. Let us begin.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises (Simple Present Tense)
First let us start active and passive voice exercises with a few ‘convert from active to passive’ exercises in simple present tense.
- She writes a blog every week.
- They build houses in this area.
- He reads the newspaper every day.
- The chef prepares delicious meals.
- We watch movies on weekends.
Now let us look at the answers.
- A blog is written by her every week.
- Houses are built in this area (by them).
- The newspaper is read by him every day.
- Delicious meals are prepared by the chef.
- Movies are watched by us on weekends.
Where you able to answer all them correctly? Very good. Now let us do the opposite. Convert the following sentences in simple present tense from passive to active.
- The letters are delivered by the postman every morning.
- The floors are cleaned by the janitor daily.
- English is spoken in many countries.
- The homework is checked by the teacher.
- The room is used for meetings.
Let us check the answers now.
- The postman delivers the letters every morning.
- The janitor cleans the floors daily.
- People speak English in many countries.
- The teacher checks the homework.
- People use the room for meetings.
How many have you managed to get correct. Discuss with your mentors!
Active and Passive Voice Exercises (Present Continuous Tense)
Let us look at passive to active questions in present continuous tense.
- The documents are being reviewed by the manager.
- The walls are being painted by the workers.
- A new song is being recorded by the artist.
- The cake is being baked by her.
- The reports are being checked by the supervisor.
Now, we will practice some active to passive questions.
- She is cleaning the room.
- They are organizing a party.
- He is watching a movie.
- The children are playing football.
- I am writing an email.
Now it is time for answers. See how many did you get correctly.
- The manager is reviewing the documents.
- The workers are painting the walls.
- The artist is recording a new song.
- She is baking the cake.
- The supervisor is checking the reports.
Now we will look at the answers of the reverse case.
- The room is being cleaned by her.
- A party is being organized by them.
- A movie is being watched by him.
- Football is being played by the children.
- An email is being written by me.
Spoken English Course for Guaranteed Confidence and Career Growth
Spoken English Course by Entri App: Enhance your communication skills, gain certification, and boost your career with confidence.
Join Now!Active and Passive Voice Exercises (Present Perfect Tense)
Let us work with some passive to active exercises in present perfect tense.
- The invitations have been sent by the secretary.
- The book has been published by the company.
- The emails have been answered by John.
- The rooms have been cleaned by the staff.
- The bill has been paid by the customer.
Now we do the same scenario, but active to passive.
- She has completed the assignment.
- They have built a new library.
- He has broken the glass.
- We have painted the house.
- I have written three articles.
Let us look at the answers for this section. Discuss your answers with your peers for better understanding.
- The secretary has sent the invitations.
- The company has published the book.
- John has answered the emails.
- The staff has cleaned the rooms.
- The customer has paid the bill.
Now we will look at the answers of the second case.
- The assignment has been completed by her.
- A new library has been built by them.
- The glass has been broken by him.
- The house has been painted by us.
- Three articles have been written by me.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises (Simple Past Tense)
Now let us learn the Simple Past Tense case by practising passive to active questions.
- The window was broken by the boy.
- The letters were posted by Mary.
- The car was repaired by the mechanic.
- The cake was baked by my mom.
- The exam was finished by the students.
Now we do the same case but with active to passive questions.
- She delivered the message.
- They painted the fence.
- He washed the clothes.
- The dog chased the cat.
- We celebrated the festival.
Look at the key below to see how many answers did you get correctly.
- The boy broke the window.
- Mary posted the letters.
- The mechanic repaired the car.
- My mom baked the cake.
- The students finished the exam.
Now we will look at the answers of the next case.
- The message was delivered by her.
- The fence was painted by them.
- The clothes were washed by him.
- The cat was chased by the dog.
- The festival was celebrated by us.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises (Past Continuous Tense)
Let us practise some passive to active questions in past continuous tense.
- The house was being cleaned by the maid.
- The song was being sung by the artist.
- The documents were being prepared by the assistant.
- The walls were being decorated by the team.
- The road was being repaired by workers.
Now let us work with same case but in opposite order.
- She was writing a letter.
- They were planting trees.
- He was fixing the bike.
- I was reading a novel.
- The kids were playing cricket.
How did you do so far? Are you getting better at it. Look at the answers below.
- The maid was cleaning the house.
- The artist was singing the song.
- The assistant was preparing the documents.
- The team was decorating the walls.
- Workers were repairing the road.
Now we will look at the answers of the second case.
- A letter was being written by her.
- Trees were being planted by them.
- The bike was being fixed by him.
- A novel was being read by me.
- Cricket was being played by the kids.
Active and Passive Voice Exercises (Past Perfect Tense)
Here we will practise some passive to active exercise questions in past perfect tense.
- The letter had been written by Sarah.
- The door had been locked by him.
- The documents had been signed by the director.
- The car had been washed by her.
- The room had been arranged by the staff.
Now let us look at some active to passive questions in past perfect tense.
- She had completed the project.
- They had eaten the cake.
- He had repaired the laptop.
- We had cleaned the classroom.
- I had submitted the form.
Are you improving? Or are you going back to the basics? Look at the answers below to know!
- Sarah had written the letter.
- He had locked the door.
- The director had signed the documents.
- She had washed the car.
- The staff had arranged the room.
Now we will look at the answers of the reverse case.
- The project had been completed by her.
- The cake had been eaten by them.
- The laptop had been repaired by him.
- The classroom had been cleaned by us.
- The form had been submitted by me.
You can learn all these if you join an English course. What if that online course is now online and comes with many other benefits, that is exactly what Entri offers.
Click here to learn more about Entri Elevate Spoken English online course! Join now!
Active And Passive Voice Exercises: Conclusion
Mastering active and passive voice across different tenses deepens your command of grammar and enhances your ability to write with precision and style. The 55+ exercises provided here offer hands‑on practice to help you internalize structures, regardless of tense or form. With regular use and review, you’ll incorporate these voice switches fluidly into both creative and academic writing.
Spoken English Course for Guaranteed Confidence and Career Growth
Spoken English Course by Entri App: Enhance your communication skills, gain certification, and boost your career with confidence.
Join Now!Frequently Asked Questions
Can I apply these exercises in my own writing?
Absolutely—take a passage in your writing, identify active/passive sentences, and rewrite them in the opposite voice. It’s one of the best ways to reinforce learning.
Why practice with different tenses?
Because switching tenses changes how “to be” is used (is, are, was, were, has been, had been, etc.). Practicing across tenses ensures fluency in forming both active and passive constructions.
How do I form passive voice?
Use the correct form of “to be” + past participle (+ optional “by” phrase). Example: Active – “They build the bridge.” → Passive – “The bridge is built by them.”
How do I choose between active and passive voice?
Use active for clarity and strong writing; use passive when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or you want to emphasize the action or recipient.
Is passive voice always bad?
Not at all! It’s perfectly appropriate—and even preferred—in many formal, scientific, or process‑oriented contexts.