Converting Passive Voice to Active Voice Explained

Understanding how to convert sentences between active voice and passive voice is a key skill in English grammar. The active voice is generally more direct and energetic, while the passive voice is often used when the action or the receiver of the action is more important than the doer.

Let's analyze the given sentence:

The incident was narrated by somebody to Naresh.

This sentence is in the passive voice. We can identify this because:

• The subject ("The incident") is receiving the action, not performing it.
• It uses a form of the verb "to be" ("was") followed by the past participle of the main verb ("narrated").
• The actual doer of the action ("somebody") is introduced by the preposition "by".

Identifying Key Elements in the Passive Sentence

To convert a passive sentence to active voice, we need to identify the following:

• The Doer/Agent: This is the person or thing performing the action, usually found after "by" in the passive sentence. In this sentence, the doer is "somebody".
• The Action/Verb: The main verb describing the action. Here, it is "narrated".
• The Receiver of the Action: The noun or pronoun that the action is done to. Here, it is "the incident".
• The Tense: The form of "to be" ("was") and the past participle ("narrated") indicate the tense. "Was narrated" in passive voice corresponds to the Simple Past tense in active voice.
• Other Elements: Any other parts of the sentence, like "to Naresh", which specify who the incident was narrated to.

Steps to Convert Simple Past Passive to Simple Past Active

The general structure for Simple Past Passive is: Receiver + was/were + Past Participle (+ by Doer).

The general structure for Simple Past Active is: Doer + Past Tense Verb + Receiver (+ Other Elements).

Applying these steps to "The incident was narrated by somebody to Naresh":

1. Make the doer ("somebody") the new subject of the sentence.
2. Use the main verb ("narrated") in its Simple Past tense form. The past tense of "narrate" is "narrated".
3. Make the original receiver ("the incident") the object of the active sentence.
4. Include any other elements ("to Naresh") in their appropriate place.

Following these steps, the active voice sentence becomes: Somebody narrated the incident to Naresh.

Analyzing the Options

Now let's look at the given options to find the one that matches our converted sentence:

• Option 1: Somebody was narrating the incident to Naresh.
  This is in the Past Continuous tense (was + -ing form), not Simple Past. It is also in active voice, but the tense doesn't match the original passive sentence.
• Option 2: Somebody narrated the incident to Naresh.
  This sentence has "Somebody" as the subject, "narrated" as the Simple Past tense verb, "the incident" as the object, and "to Naresh" as the additional element. This matches the structure and tense we derived.
• Option 3: Somebody was about to narrate the incident to Naresh.
  This uses the structure "was about to", indicating future intention in the past, which is not the same tense as the original Simple Past passive.
• Option 4: Somebody will narrate the incident to Naresh.
  This sentence is in the Simple Future tense, which does not match the original Simple Past passive.

Option 2 correctly expresses the original passive sentence in the active voice while maintaining the Simple Past tense.

Comparison of Active and Passive Voice

Here is a simple comparison of the structures:

Revision Table: Active and Passive Voice

Reviewing the key differences and conversions between active and passive voice structures is helpful.

Additional Information on Voice Conversion

Converting from passive to active voice makes the sentence structure generally simpler and clearer. It puts the focus on the agent performing the action. While active voice is often preferred for clarity, passive voice is useful in certain contexts:

• When the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant (e.g., "The window was broken.").
• When you want to emphasize the action or the receiver of the action (e.g., "The critical report was published yesterday.").
• In scientific or technical writing, to maintain objectivity (though active voice is increasingly accepted).

When converting, always ensure the tense remains the same as the original sentence. The subject of the active sentence is the object of the preposition "by" in the passive sentence.