Passive Voice of Imperative and Interrogative Sentences
Passive Voice of Imperative Sentences
The following rules explain how do we change an imperative sentence into a passive voice.
Passive Voice of Imperative Sentences Expressing Command and Order.
Active Voice: Verb + Object
Passive Voice: Let + Object + be + (Verb)3
Learn: Rules of Active and Passive Voice
Examples
- Active: Bring a chair.
- Passive: Let a chair be brought.
- Active: Do not mistake him.
- Passive: Let him not be mistaken.
- Active: Give your study more time.
- Passive: Let your study be given more time.
- Active: Do this quickly.
- Passive: Let this be done quickly.
- Active: Give them their money.
- Passive: Let their money be given to them.
- Active: Keep the baby away from fire.
- Passive: Let the baby be kept away from fire.
- Active: Answer the phone.
- Passive: Let the phone be answered.
- Active: Clean the table.
- Passive: Let the table be cleaned.
- Active: Send this parcel to my brother.
- Passive: Let this parcel be sent to my brother.
Some imperative sentences do not have an object; such sentence in the passive voice may begin with you are ordered/commanded.
Examples
- Active: Go out.
- Passive: You are ordered to go out.
- Active: Shut the window.
- Passive: You are ordered to shut the window.
- Or Let the window be shut.
- Active: Don’t drink.
- Passive: You are ordered not to drink.
Passive of Imperative Sentences Expressing Permission, Request, or Advice.
Case 1: When a sentence contains the object, the structure of the passive voice is
Object + Should + be + (Verb)3
Examples
- Active: Obey parents.
- Passive: Parents should be obeyed.
- Active: Prepare for the exam.
- Passive: You should be prepared for the exam.
- Or Be prepared for the exam.
Case 2: When there is no object in the sentence expressing permission, request, or advice, the sentence in the passive voice begins with you are allowed, requested or advised, etc.
Examples
Active: Please stay here.
Passive: You are advised to stay here.
Passive of Imperative Sentences Showing Indirect Command or Request
- Active: I request her to go with me.
- Passive: She was requested to go with me.
- Active: I advised her to take tuition classes.
- Passive: She was advised to take tuition classes.
The imperative sentence expresses permission or suggestion that usually begins with “Let.”
- Active: Let them walk there. (Permission)
- Passive: They may be allowed to walk there.
- Active: Let me help you. (Suggestion)
- Passive: You should be helped.
- Active: Let her write the letter.
- Passive: Let the letter be written by her.
Active to Passive of Interrogative Sentences
Interrogative sentences are divided into two classes.
Questions that can be answered in either Yes or No are usually begin with the auxiliary verb do/does/did etc.
Sentences start with question words such as what, which, who, how, etc. These types of questions need a detailed answer.
In an active voice, interrogative sentences in the present simple tense begin with do/does, and in the simple past tense, it begins with did.
In a passive voice, interrogative sentences in the present simple tense begin with is/am/are, and in the simple past tense, it starts with was/were.
Examples
- Active: Do you speak Urdu?
- Passive: Is Urdu spoken by you?
- Active: Did they win the game?
- Passive: Was the game won by them?
When interrogative pronouns (whom, whose, which, what, etc.) are used in active sentences, note the following rules while changing these sentences into passive.
When the interrogative pronouns (what, which) in an active sentence are used as a subject, change it into “by what” and “by which.”
“Who” becomes “by whom,” in passive and “whom” is transformed into “who.”
If these interrogative pronouns are not used as a subject in an active sentence, they are placed as they are.
Example 1
Active: What are you eating?
In this sentence, the subject is you, not the interrogative pronoun what. So, we place the interrogative pronoun as it is and changing the sentence into passive as follows.
Interrogative Sentences passive Voice Examples
Passive: What is being eaten by you?
Example 2
Active: What makes you tired?
The subject of this sentence is the pronoun “what.”
Passive: By what are you made tired?
Example 3
Active: Whom are you teaching English?
Passive: Who is being taught English by you?
Example 4
Active: Which player beat you?
Passive: By which player were you beaten?
Further Examples of Active and Passive Voice Sentences
- Active: Where did she hide the phone?
- Passive: Where was the phone hidden?
- Active: Who killed the dog?
- Passive: By whom was the dog killed?
- Active: Why were they making trouble?
- Passive: Why was trouble being made by them?
- Active: Who rolled the ball?
- Passive: By whom was the ball rolled?
- Active: Who will teach me?
- Passive: By whom will I be taught?
- Active: Have they served lunch?
- Passive: Has lunch been served?
- Active: Who stole your money?
- Passive: By whom was your money stolen?
- Active: Why did she punish him?
- Passive: Why was he punished by her?
- Active: When did he tell you the news?
- Passive: When was the news told to you?
- Active: Who was calling you?
- Passive: By whom were you being called?
