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Voice and Narration

English Language & Pedagogy

Useful for: REET, UPTET, BPSC TRE, Assistant Teacher Recruitment (Super TET), Bihar STET, Bihar Assistant Professor, Bihar TET / CTET Route, MP Assistant Professor

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Overview

Voice changes the focus from the doer to the receiver; narration reports someone’s words with changes of tense, pronoun and time words.

Key points

Passive form: object + appropriate form of "be" + past participle + (by + agent).
Continuous passive uses "being": "is being built"; perfect passive uses "been": "has been eaten".
Imperatives: "Open the door" → "Let the door be opened."
Narration back-shift: present → past, past → past perfect, will → would, can → could.
Time words: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the previous day.

Explanation

Universal truths keep the present tense in indirect speech.
Questions: yes/no → "if/whether"; wh-questions keep the wh-word; statement word order.
Requests and commands: "told/requested/ordered + object + to + verb"; negatives use "not to".
Intransitive verbs (sleep, arrive) have no passive.

Step by step

Identify tense and type.
Apply the conversion rules.
Check meaning and tense.

Examples

"They are building a new school." → "A new school is being built by them."
He said, "I am tired." → He said that he was tired.
She said to him, "Don’t be late." → She told him not to be late.

Traps and advanced points

Trap: Forgetting "being" in continuous passives.
Trap: Back-shifting universal truths.
Trap: Keeping question word order in reported questions.

Quick revision

Be + V3 for passive.
One step back in tense.
Told + not to for negative commands.

Practice MCQs

Change into passive: "Who taught you English?"
1. Who was taught you English?
2. By whom were you taught English?
3. By whom you were taught English?
4. Whom taught you English?
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Answer: (b) By whom were you taught English?. "Who" becomes "By whom" and the question form is kept.
Change into indirect speech: He said, "I have finished my work."
1. He said that he has finished his work.
2. He said that he had finished his work.
3. He said that I had finished my work.
4. He told that he finished his work.
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Answer: (b) He said that he had finished his work.. Present perfect becomes past perfect; "I/my" become "he/his".
Change into indirect speech: She asked me, "Do you like mangoes?"
1. She asked me do I like mangoes.
2. She asked me if I liked mangoes.
3. She asked me that I liked mangoes.
4. She said me if I like mangoes.
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Answer: (b) She asked me if I liked mangoes.. Yes/no questions use "if/whether" with statement order and back-shifted tense.
Change into passive: "Let him do it."
1. Let it be done by him.
2. Let it done by him.
3. It is let done by him.
4. Let him be done it.
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Answer: (a) Let it be done by him.. Imperatives with "let": Let + object + be + V3.
Change into passive: "They are building a new school."
1. A new school is built by them.
2. A new school is being built by them.
3. A new school has been built by them.
4. A new school was being built by them.
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Answer: (b) A new school is being built by them.. Present continuous passive = is/are being + V3.
Change into indirect speech: He said to me, "Please open the door."
1. He said me to open the door.
2. He requested me to open the door.
3. He told me that please open the door.
4. He asked me that I open the door.
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Answer: (b) He requested me to open the door.. Requests become "requested + object + to + verb".
Change into indirect speech: She said to him, "Don't be late."
1. She told him not to be late.
2. She told him to not late.
3. She said him don't be late.
4. She asked him that he is not late.
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Answer: (a) She told him not to be late.. Negative commands become "told + object + not to + verb".
Passive of "Ram writes a letter" is —
1. A letter was written by Ram.
2. A letter is being written by Ram.
3. A letter has written by Ram.
4. A letter is written by Ram.
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Answer: (d) A letter is written by Ram.. Simple present passive: is + V3.
Passive of "They are building a bridge" is —
1. A bridge is built by them.
2. A bridge is being built by them.
3. A bridge has been built by them.
4. A bridge was built by them.
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Answer: (b) A bridge is being built by them.. Present continuous passive: is being + V3.
Passive of "She has finished the work" is —
1. The work had been finished by her.
2. The work has been finished by her.
3. The work was finished by her.
4. The work is finished by her.
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Answer: (b) The work has been finished by her.. Present perfect passive: has been + V3.