English grammar · Class 7
Active and passive voice: the basics
In the active voice the doer of the action comes first. In the passive voice the thing that receives the action comes first, and the doer can follow with 'by' — or be left out when it is unknown or unimportant.
Foundation lesson (not tied to a printed syllabus list). Passive voice is not in the CBSE Class 9/10 grammar list for 2026-27; it is a common foundation topic.
The rules
1. Passive = a form of be + past participle (the third form of the verb).
- write → written
- make → made
- clean → cleaned
2. Simple present: am / is / are + past participle.
- Active: Ravi cleans the room. → Passive: The room is cleaned by Ravi.
- Active: They grow tea in Assam. → Passive: Tea is grown in Assam.
3. Simple past: was / were + past participle.
- Active: Asha wrote this poem. → Passive: This poem was written by Asha.
- Active: The boys broke the windows. → Passive: The windows were broken by the boys.
4. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive one; the verb agrees with this new subject.
- The letters were posted. (letters → were)
- The letter was posted. (letter → was)
Common mistakes
The cake was bake by my mother.
The cake was baked by my mother.
Use the past participle (baked), not the base form.
The books was kept on the shelf.
The books were kept on the shelf.
'Books' is plural, so use were.
Practice
1. Passive of: 'The gardener waters the plants.'
- (a) The plants are watered by the gardener.
- (b) The plants were watered by the gardener.
- (c) The plants is watered by the gardener.
- (d) The gardener is watered by the plants.
Show the answer
(a) The plants are watered by the gardener. — Simple present with a plural subject (plants): are + watered.
2. Passive of: 'Meena drew this picture.'
- (a) This picture is drawn by Meena.
- (b) This picture was drew by Meena.
- (c) This picture was drawn by Meena.
- (d) This picture drawn by Meena.
Show the answer
(c) This picture was drawn by Meena. — Simple past: was + past participle (drawn).
3. English ___ in many countries.
- (a) speaks
- (b) is spoken
- (c) is speak
- (d) spoken
Show the answer
(b) is spoken — The subject (English) receives the action, so use is + spoken.
4. The windows ___ yesterday.
- (a) was cleaned
- (b) were cleaned
- (c) are clean
- (d) cleaned by
Show the answer
(b) were cleaned — Past time and a plural subject: were + cleaned.
5. Which sentence is in the passive voice?
- (a) The dog bit the postman.
- (b) The postman was bitten by the dog.
- (c) The postman runs fast.
- (d) The dog is barking.
Show the answer
(b) The postman was bitten by the dog. — Only (b) has be + past participle with the receiver of the action as subject.
Made by Shishya (AI-assisted); every answer checked by hand when written. Topic list for Class 9 and 10 from the CBSE 2026-27 English syllabus.