Change from active to passive voice in present continuous tense

Change from active to passive voice in present continuous tense

Sentences in English are written in the active voice or in the passive voice. In this post, we learn how to write present continuous tense sentences in the active and passive voice, and how to change the active voice into the passive voice.

The present continuous tense, also known as the present progressive tense, talks about the actions that someone is doing in the present.

Active and passive voice of the Present Continuous tense

Active voice: Subject (doer) + is/am/are + V1+ing + object
Passive voice: The object (receiver of the action) + is/am/are + being + V3 + (by the doer)

Active: She is taking a class.
(she = doer of the action, is = helping verb = taking = main verb, a class = receiver of the action)

Passive: A class is being taken by her.
(a class = the new subject, is being = helping verb = taking = main verb)

In the active voice of the Present Continuous, we focus on the person who is currently performing an action in the present.

In the passive voice of the present continuous, we focus on the object (the receiver of the action) that is receiving the action in the present. Verb tense is formed using“is/am/are + being + V3“.

Examples:

• Active voice: Ashish is teaching English at this university.
• Passive voice: English is being taught by Ashish at this university.
• Active voice: They are making a movie about me.
• Passive voice: A movie about me is being made (by them).
• Active voice: A robot is serving food in this hotel.
• Passive voice: Food is being served by a robot in this hotel.
• Active voice: They are taking interviews for different posts.
• Passive voice: Interviews are being taken for different posts (by them).
• Active voice: The police are interrogating him right now.
• Passive voice: He is being interrogated (by the police right now).
• Active voice: Everybody is watching the final match.
• Passive voice: The final match is being watched by everyone.
• Active voice: Who is helping you in your project?
• Passive voice: Who are you being helped by in this project?
• Active voice: Ron is not training the kids.
• Passive voice: The kids are not being trained (by Ron).
• Active voice: Are they playing cricket right now?
• Passive voice: Is cricket being played by them right now?
• Active voice: Why is he not helping us?
• Passive voice: Why are we not being helped by him?

NOTA: el verbo auxiliar (is/am/are) puede ser diferente en la voz activa y pasiva de una oración. La voz activa (verbo) sigue al que realiza la acción, y la voz pasiva (verbo) sigue al receptor de la acción.

In the passive voice, the doer of the action is usually not mentioned since the focus is on the recipient of the action. It occurs when the topic is less important, understood or unnecessary to mention.

Examples:

• His interview is being taken.
• The final match is being played at Wankhede Stadium.
• The next video is being recorded.
• Students are being punished for tricking the class teacher.
• Some people are being arrested on the road.

Note that in the examples above, we haven’t added the author of the action, as that’s not what we’re focusing on.

Change the active voice of Present continuous tense into passive voice!

Practice set!

Sentences in the active voice:

1. She is cooking food.
2. My parents are making budget plans.
3. The school is organizing a picnic.
4. Everyone is praising your work.
5. How are they doing it?
6. I am not doing anything these days.
7. Whom are you dating now?
8. Is he not seeing a girl?
9. Where are you giving classes?
10. Jon is holding a press conference.

Answers:

Sentences in the passive voice:

1. Food is being cooked by her.
2. Budget plans are being made by my parents.
3. A picnic is being organized by the school.
4. Your work is being praised by everyone.
5. How is it being done by them?
6. Nothing is being done these days by me.
7. Whom is being dated by you now?
8. Is a girl not being seen by him?
9. Where are classes being given by you?
10. A press conference is being held by Jon.

Use of IS/AM/ARE

IS	he, she, it & singular noun names (Jon, Roxy, mother, doctor, chair, etc.)
AM	I (first-person pronoun)
ARE	you, we, they & plural noun names (people, friends, parents, doctors, chairs, etc.)

The subject used with is, am, and are