Mastering English Passive Voice Exercises

Passive Voice Transformation Exercises

Part 1: Active to Passive Conversions

• 1. All students must be given an identity card.
• 2. The fires are being started deliberately.
• 3. He is said to be the greatest drummer alive.
• 4. The results will be sent out in six weeks.
• 5. Nothing can be done about it without a receipt.
• 6. It has been decided that three students will be interviewed.
• 7. That chair has just been given to me by my grandmother.

Part 2: Sentence Transformation Practice

1. 1. The wine should be opened about three hours before you use it.
2. 2. Steps in the ice had been cut by previous climbers.
3. 3. My shoes had been cleaned and my suit was brushed.
4. 4. This room is only used for special occasions.
5. 5. Nails must not be hammered into the walls without permission.
6. 6. Pigs are used to find truffles in some districts.
7. 7. A light was switched on and the door was opened.
8. 8. The picture had been slashed with a knife by someone.
9. 9. The old theatre is being pulled down.
10. 10. Why wasn't the roof mended before it fell in?
11. 11. All the shop windows were broken by the mob in recent riots.
12. 12. The librarian said that a new system was being started because people were not returning books.
13. 13. Each of us was asked about his movements on the night of the crime by the police.
14. 14. Refreshments will be served.
15. 15. Bicycles must not be left in the hall.
16. 16. Books may be kept for three weeks; after that, they must be returned.
17. 17. An enormous hole had been cut in the steel door by the burglars.

Part 3: Contextual Passive Usage

• 1. By the time the work is finished, the junior school will have been closed for over three months.
• 2. All the classrooms are being repainted at the moment.
• 3. The building was expected to have been finished last month.
• 4. The teachers have been hoping to move back.
• 5. Parents will be invited to go on a tour of the facilities.
• 6. In the meantime, plans of the new premises can be seen online.
• 7. The main priority has been established.
• 8. Rumours have been circulating.