VOICES
Voice is the property of a verb that shows the doer or receiver of the actions. The subject (doer of the action) can stand in the position of the object (receiver of an action) through the use of voice. Voice makes the verb to be transitive and the sentence will be transformed in which the doer of the action (subject) can be put in the position of the receiver of the action (object) and vice versa.
1a. My mother beats him
b. He is beaten by my mother
2a. I took the book.
b. The book was taken by me.
In sentence 1a and b as well as 2a and b, you should notice that the meaning of sentences 1a and b are the same and sentences 2a and b. However, there is transformation between 1a and 1b as well as 2a and 2b. There are two categories of voice, which are; active voice and passive voice.
1. Active Voice: This is used to show that the doer of the action (subject) is the performer of the action. His/her name/gender must be mentioned. In an active voice, the receiver of the action (object) must receive the action that is demonstrated. Active voice is simply known with the grammatical structures.
Subject Verb Object
I saw him
My Olu hates his son
Biodun swept the floor
The active voice attracts the main verb, either in present tense (singular/plural) or past tense. The active voice can be divided into two namely, present active voice and past active voice.
i. Present active voice: This makes use of present tenses which can be singular or plural. Examples:
Samad plays the guitar.
The woman loves the man.
Their mothers teach them.
Our parents help us.
ii. Past active voice: This makes use of past tenses. Examples:
Samad played the guitar.
The woman loved the man.
Their mothers taught them.
Our parents helped us.
2. Passive voice: This is used when the receiver of the action (object) and the action (verb) are more important than the doer of the action (subject). In a passive voice, it is not necessary to mention the name of the subject. The object of the verb must be at the subject level in passive voice.
Biodun swept the floor (active)
The floor was swept by Biodun (passive)
Passive voice makes use of auxiliary verbs, especially primary auxiliary verbs, which are: is, am are, was and were. It is essential for you to know that past participles must come after the primary auxiliary verbs in passive voice.
Present tense Past tense Past participle
Write wrote written
Sing sang sung
Feed fed fed
a. I write the letter (active).
The letter is written by me (passive).
b. He sang the song (active).
The song was sung by him (passive).
c. The mother feeds the baby (active).
The baby is fed by the mother (passive).
d. He is washing the clothes (active).
The clothes are being washed by him (passive).
Passive voice can be divided into two, namely present passive voice and past passive voice.
a. Present passive voice: It makes use of auxiliary verbs which are present tenses.
The guitar is played by Samad.
The man is loved by the woman.
They are taught by their mothers.
We are helped.
b. Past passive voice: This makes use of auxiliary verbs that are past tenses:
The guitar was played by Samad.
The man was loved by the woman.
They were taught.
We were helped by our parents.

Notes.
1. Do not choose wrong pronouns at the subject and the object level of a sentence.
Our parents help us (active)
In the passive speech, the object ‘us’ will change to ‘we’ at the subject level.
We are helped by our parents (passive).
Do not forget the table below:
Subjective Objective case
I me
He him
She her
They them
We us
You you
It it.
My mother loves me.
I am loved by my mother.

The teacher beats them.
They are beaten by the teacher.

2. Be conscious with the choice of verb when you are given questions.
My mother praises them (active)
They are praised by my mother (passive)
You will notice that the subject in the first statement is ‘my mother’ and it attracts singular verb ‘praises’, while the subject in the second sentence is plural and it attracts plural verb (are). Hence, take note of your choice of verb.
3. Past participles can come after the verbs with “ING”
i. A woman is beating the girl (active).
The girl is being beaten by a woman (passive)
ii. He was washing the plate (active)
The plates were being washed by him (passive).
iii. My mother is feeding me.
I am being fed by my mother.
iv. The teacher has been beating him (active).
He has been being beaten by the teacher.
v. They have been doing the work.
The work has been being done by them.
4. Modal auxiliary verbs (can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, ought to, had to, must etc.) attract be in passive voice and are followed by the past participles of the main verbs.

Examples:

I can eat the food (active)
The food can be eaten by me (passive)

You will notice that the modal auxiliary verb (can) in sentence two is followed by BE and the past participle of EAT.

She will fry the egg (active)
The egg will be fried by her (passive)

They must visit us (active)
We must be visited by them (passive)

5. Anomalous Verbs (has, have, had) attract BEEN first in passive voice and will be followed by the past participles of the main verbs.

He has given Shola the book (active)
The book has been given to Shola by him (passive)

6. In passive voice, the objects and verbs are more important in the information given than the subjects. Therefore, it is at the speaker's convenience to mention the doer of an action in passive voice.

Example:

Frank kicked the ball very well (active)
The ball was kicked very well (passive)

The subject 'Frank' is not mentioned in the passive voice because what is done (action) and what or who receives the action (object) are all what is needed to disseminate the information.


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