Voice and narration: Class 10 English

Key points

Voice shows whether the subject does the action or receives it. In the active voice the subject does the action: 'The gardener waters the plants.' In the passive voice the subject receives the action: 'The plants are watered by the gardener.' Only transitive verbs, those that take an object, can be changed into the passive.

Steps to change active into passive:

• Find the subject, verb and object of the active sentence.
• Move the object to the front as the new subject.
• Use the correct form of be in the same tense as the active verb, followed by the past participle (third form) of the main verb.
• Put the old subject after by, if it is needed. Use the object form of a pronoun: I becomes me, he becomes him, they becomes them.

Passive forms by tense (example verb: write):

• Simple present: is, am or are written. Active: He writes a letter. Passive: A letter is written by him.
• Simple past: was or were written. Passive: A letter was written by him.
• Simple future: will be written. Passive: A letter will be written by him.
• Present continuous: is, am or are being written. Past continuous: was or were being written.
• Present perfect: has or have been written. Past perfect: had been written. Future perfect: will have been written.
• With modals: can be written, must be written, should be written.

The passive is used when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious, or when the action matters more than the doer. 'My bicycle was stolen' does not name the thief. 'English is spoken here' needs no doer. Notices and news reports often use the passive. For imperatives, use let: 'Close the door' becomes 'Let the door be closed.' For questions, keep the question order: 'Who wrote this poem?' becomes 'By whom was this poem written?'

Narration is the way of reporting what someone said. In direct narration we give the exact words of the speaker inside inverted commas: She said, 'I am tired.' In indirect narration we report the meaning without the exact words and without inverted commas: She said that she was tired. The part inside the quotation marks is the reported speech, and the part outside is the reporting speech.

Changes in indirect narration when the reporting verb is in the past tense:

• Pronouns change by sense: 'I' follows the speaker, 'you' follows the listener, and third person pronouns stay the same. He said, 'I am ill' becomes He said that he was ill.
• The tense moves one step back: simple present to simple past, present continuous to past continuous, present perfect to past perfect, simple past to past perfect, will to would, can to could, may to might.
• Time and place words change: now to then, today to that day, tomorrow to the next day, yesterday to the previous day, ago to before, here to there, this to that, these to those.
• If the reported speech is a universal truth or habit, the tense does not change: The teacher said that the earth moves round the sun.

If the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, such as says or will say, the tense of the reported speech does not change. 'He says, 'I am busy'' becomes 'He says that he is busy.' Only the pronouns are adjusted when needed.

Reporting different kinds of sentences:

• Statements: use said that or told (someone) that. She said, 'I will help.' becomes She said that she would help.
• Questions with a question word: use asked and keep the question word, with statement order. He said, 'Where do you live?' becomes He asked where I lived.
• Yes or no questions: use asked if or whether. She said, 'Are you ready?' becomes She asked if I was ready.
• Commands and requests: use ordered, told, requested or advised with a to infinitive. The teacher said, 'Open your books.' becomes The teacher ordered them to open their books.
• Exclamations: use exclaimed or cried out with joy, sorrow or surprise. He said, 'Hurrah! We have won.' becomes He exclaimed with joy that they had won.

Wishes and prayers use wished or prayed: He said, 'May you succeed.' becomes He wished that I might succeed. Suggestions use suggested that: She said, 'Let us go.' becomes She suggested that they should go. Remove the question mark and exclamation mark in indirect speech, and end it with a full stop.

Practise by changing the same sentence both ways. Check that the reporting verb suits the meaning, that every pronoun matches its person, and that the tense of the sentence has been moved one step back when the reporting verb is past.

Study tip: Learn the passive pattern as be plus past participle and match be to the tense. For narration, write the order of change in this sequence: reporting verb, linking word, pronouns, tense, time and place words. Check each sentence against this list before moving on, and always finish indirect speech with a full stop.

Definitions and flashcards

Say the meaning first, then open the card to check.

Short questions with model answers

These are the kind of questions asked for 2, 3 and 5 marks. Try each one before opening the answer.

Common mistakes

• Using the wrong form of be, such as 'The letter is wrote' instead of 'is written'.
• Changing the tense of the verb but forgetting to change pronouns, or the reverse.
• Keeping the question order in indirect speech, as in 'She asked where was the library'.
• Leaving the question mark or quotation marks in indirect narration.
• Changing the tense in a universal truth, such as 'the sun rose in the east'.

Practise this chapter

Practice questions and timed test Printable worksheet