Active and Passive Voice Questions for SSC CGL

The Core Idea

In Active Voice, the subject does the action. In Passive Voice, the subject receives the action. Think of it this way: Active is like a bowler throwing the ball (subject acts), Passive is like the ball being thrown (object becomes focus). The Object of the active sentence becomes the Subject of the passive sentence, and the original subject either disappears or appears after 'by'.

• Active: Subject + Verb + Object
• Passive: Object + Helping Verb (be-form) + Past Participle + by + Subject
• The be-form (is/are/was/were/been/being) must match the tense
• By + agent is often dropped when agent is unknown or obvious (by someone, by people, by us)
• Object pronouns shift: I becomes me, he becomes him, she becomes her, they becomes them, we becomes us

Tense-wise Passive Conversion Table

Each tense has a fixed passive formula. Memorise the be-form used for each tense. The Past Participle (3rd form) of the main verb stays constant across all tenses — only the be-form changes to carry the tense information. This table is the heart of all passive voice questions.

• Simple Present: is/am/are + V3 — She writes a letter → A letter is written by her
• Simple Past: was/were + V3 — He broke the glass → The glass was broken by him
• Simple Future: will be + V3 — They will complete the task → The task will be completed by them
• Present Continuous: is/am/are + being + V3 — She is cooking food → Food is being cooked by her
• Past Continuous: was/were + being + V3 — He was fixing the car → The car was being fixed by him
• Present Perfect: has/have + been + V3 — They have submitted the report → The report has been submitted by them
• Past Perfect: had + been + V3 — She had written the letter → The letter had been written by her
• Future Perfect: will have been + V3 — He will have finished the work → The work will have been finished by him

Special Cases That Appear in SSC CGL

Certain sentence types have unique passive rules that SSC loves to test. Sentences with two objects (direct and indirect), sentences with 'by' already in them, and imperatives (commands) are frequent traps. Perfect Continuous tenses (Present/Past/Future Perfect Continuous) do NOT have a passive form — this itself is a question type where you must identify the wrong option.

• Imperative (command): Active — Open the door. Passive — Let the door be opened (OR You are requested/ordered to open the door)
• Sentences with two objects: Active — She gave him a book. Two passives possible: A book was given to him by her / He was given a book by her
• Perfect Continuous tenses have NO passive voice — 'She has been writing a novel' cannot be passivised
• Interrogative sentences: passive keeps the question format — Did he call you? → Were you called by him?
• Preposition after verb must be retained: Active — She laughed at him. Passive — He was laughed at by her (do not drop 'at')

Pronoun Shifts in Passive

One of the most common error types in SSC is wrong pronoun use after conversion. When the object of an active sentence becomes the subject of passive, it must take subject form. When the active subject becomes the agent (after 'by'), it must take object form. Many aspirants forget this shift.

• I → me (by me), He → him (by him), She → her (by her)
• We → us (by us), They → them (by them), You stays as you
• Me/him/her/us/them → I/he/she/we/they when they become passive subject
• Example: Him insulted me. Wrong. Active: He insulted me. Passive: I was insulted by him. — both pronoun forms are tested

• Using wrong be-form for the tense — writing 'The letter is written yesterday' instead of 'was written' (tense of be-form must match original tense)
• Dropping the preposition after phrasal verbs — 'She was laughed' instead of 'She was laughed at' — SSC specifically tests this
• Not changing pronouns — writing 'The cake was eaten by he' instead of 'by him' — subject pronoun after 'by' is a classic trap
• Attempting to passivise Perfect Continuous tenses — there is no passive for 'has/have/had been + V-ing' structures
• Forgetting 'being' in Continuous tense passives — writing 'The work is done' (Simple Present passive) when the original was Present Continuous and it should be 'The work is being done'

• SWAP-BAP Rule: Swap subject and object, add Be-form As Per tense, Past participle stays. SWAP-BAP and you are done.
• For Modals remember: Modal + BE + V3. Imagine the word BE sitting right after every modal in passive — can BE done, must BE submitted, should BE informed.
• Pronoun flip trick: If you see I/he/she/we/they in active subject position, they flip to me/him/her/us/them after 'by' in passive. Think of it as a seesaw — one side goes up, other goes down.
• Perfect Continuous = No Passive. Remember: If you see 'has/have/had been + V-ing', tell yourself 'this tense does not go passive' — that sentence stays active always.

• SSC CGL Tier 1 typically has 2-3 direct transformation questions asking you to choose the correct passive form from four options — differences are usually in be-form or pronoun, so scan those first.
• Error spotting passages sometimes hide a wrong be-form or a missing 'being' in continuous passive — train your eye to spot is/are/was/were + V3 patterns quickly.
• Modal passive questions (can, should, must, may) appear almost every year — the answer always has modal + be + V3, so if an option shows modal + been or modal + being, it is wrong.
• Imperative passives with 'Let the work be done' or 'You are requested to...' are asked as fill-in-the-blank — both forms are acceptable, but SSC usually prefers the 'Let' form in options.
• Timing tip: Passive voice questions should take under 30 seconds each. If you have memorised the tense table, just identify the tense, apply the formula, check pronouns — done.