1. PES/ENG/XI/047
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A PUNJAB EDUSAT SOCIETY PRODUCTION
SUBJECT ENGLISH
CLASS XI
MODULE VOICES (Episode 1)
MM
(Visual or animation)
a boy looking at mangoes with a smiling face
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
i. Ram likes mangoes.
ii. Mangoes are liked by Ram.
The two sentences above have the same meaning, yet they are not quite the
same. How do they differ?
Cut to ANCHOR
Today we will see how in spite of conveying the same meaning how two
sentences are different only because of the action or non-action of their
SUBJECTS.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
In sentence i. Ram, the subject is doing some action ie. likes, on the object
mangoes.
But in sentence ii. the subject ie. mangoes, is not doing any work.
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2. PES/ENG/XI/047
So the verbs in the above two sentences are in different VOICES.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
We will learn
1. The two voices in which a verb works
2. Their names
3. How we can identify these voices in a sentence
4. When these voices can be used.
Introduction
Cut to ANCHOR
We call a person ACTIVE when he is doing some work and PASSIVE (no
movement) when he does no work.
So it is with VERBS also.
When the subject of a sentence is doing any work then the verb is said to be in
ACTIVE VOICE.
MM 2
(visual or animation of a fish seller selling fish)
VOICE OVER
Jack sells fish.
Here JACK which is the SUBJECT of the sentence is doing the work SELL which
is the verb of the sentence.
So the verb (and the sentence also) is in ACTIVE VOICE.
MM 3,4
i. (visual or animation of a man who has finished selling fish)
ii. ( “ “ “ “ “ “ thinking of selling fish)
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3. PES/ENG/XI/047
VOICE OVER
i. Jack sold all the fish.
ii. Jack will sell fish tomorrow.
Cut to ANCHOR
In each of the above sentences the subject of the sentence is doing work, in
different tenses.
So the verbs in all the sentences are in ACTIVE VOICE.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
Eg. i. Mary loves the little lamb.
ii. Hari will write the letter soon.
iii. Mother has baked a cake.
iv. The cat killed two mice.
In all these sentences the subjects are all doing some work and so the sentences
and verbs are in ACTIVE VOICE.
Cut to ANCHOR
Now let us see the other kind of voice that is where the subject DOES NO
WORK. We will have to follow the sentences carefully.
MM 2
VOICE OVER
Fish is sold by Jack .
Cut to ANCHOR
In the sentence the subject, that is FISH, is doing NO WORK. Work is done on
the subject. The work ie. sell is being done by Jack who is NOT the subject.
So the SENTENCE and the VERB are in PASSIVE VOICE.
MM 3, 4
VOICE OVER
i. All the fish was sold by Jack.
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4. PES/ENG/XI/047
ii. Fish will be sold by Jack tomorrow.
In each of the sentences above the subjects are not doing any work. Work is
done upon them.
So the verbs in the sentences are in PASSIVE VOICE.
SUPER APPEARS
VOICE OVER
i. The kite is being flown by Tom.
ii. The lesson had been taught by our teacher.
iii. The jewel will be guarded by top security.
iv. Our national anthem was composed by Shri Rabindranath Tagore.
Cut to ANCHOR
In all the sentences above the subjects are NOT DOING work. The work in the
sentences are done by someone else on the subjects.
So all the SENTENCES and the VERBS there, are in PASSIVE VOICE.
Let us do a bit of recap before moving on to the next objective.
(ans. to appear few seconds after the ques.come)
SUPER APPEARS
VOICE OVER
1. What are the two kinds of voices used in the English language?
A. Active voice and Passive voice.
2. Which part of a sentence is said to be in either of these two voices?
A. The VERB of a sentence is said to be in either of these two voices.
3. When is a verb in ACTIVE voice?
A. A verb is in ACTIVE voice when the SUBJECT of the sentence is DOING
the WORK.
4. When is a verb in PASSIVE voice?
A. When the subject is NOT doing the work and work is done on it.
5. Does the meaning of a sentence change with the change of voice?
A. NO the meaning remains same.
VOICE OVER
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5. PES/ENG/XI/047
But how can we identify the voice in which a verb is in?
Cut to ANCHOR
Not at all difficult. Let us first tackle ACTIVE voice.
What happens in ACTIVE voice?
The subject does the work
Let us then take a sentence where the verb is in ACTIVE voice.
SUPER APPEARS
VOICE OVER
The gardener is watering the plants.
The bold part is the subject, the italicized part is the verb and the underlined is
neither subject nor verb. It is called the object.
The part in bold is the doer of the part which is in italics. The underlined part is
not doing any work.
Cut to ANCHOR
So keep in mind when you are to identify a verb in active voice.
Now we will see a verb in PASSIVE voice.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
The plants are being watered by the gardener.
Here as before the bold part is the subject, the italicized part is the verb and the
underlined is neither subject nor verb. Here it is an agent doing the work on the
subject.
Now we must learn how to identify the voice in which the verb of a sentence is.
SUPER APPEARS
Prema is eating a cake.
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6. PES/ENG/XI/047
Here Prema which is the subject is doing a work ie.eating. So the verb is in
ACTIVE VOICE.
So to identify an active voice we need to check that the subject is doing the work
in the sentence.
SUPER APPEARS
A cake is being eaten by Prema.
Here cake which is the subject of the sentence is NOT doing the work of eating.
Eating is being done on it. So the verb is in PASSIVE VOICE.
Cut to ANCHOR
But if the subject is not doing the work, then who is doing it?
In passive voice the work is done by an AGENT.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
An apple is eaten by me.
Here me is the AGENT who is doing the work on the subject an apple.
So to identify a passive voice, we need to locate an agent.
Also check that the subject is not doing any work.
SUPER APPEARS
Let us try out a few exercises
Identify the voice in which a sentence is written:
(ans. to appear a few seconds after the ques.)
1. I have done the task------ Active voice
2. The students are watching a movie--------Active voice
3. The match is supervised by the referee------Passive voice
4. Ravi will write the note tomorrow-----Active voice
5. The lesson was taught by the teacher last week--------Passive voice
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7. PES/ENG/XI/047
Identify the subjects in the following sentences and say if they are doing the work
or not:
1. Peter drives a car.----------PETER-subject is doing the work
2. Shalini wrote a story-------SHALINI-subject is doing the work
3. Rice is cooked by mother everyday-------RICE-subject not doing
the work
4. Mathew will play cricket from tomorrow----MATHEW-subject is
doing the work
5. The book has been read by me--------BOOK-subject not doing the
work
Cut to ANCHOR
But why are these two voices needed? Is it only for grammar’s sake?
Not really. These two voices have their own uses in appropriate time.
Let us note the up coming sentences.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
1. My mother does all the housework.
Here MY MOTHER is the most important part of the sentence.
2. School rules are to be followed by all.
Here SCHOOL RULES is the most prominent part of the sentence.
3. My purse has been stolen.
In this case it is NOT KNOWN who has done the work.
Cut to ANCHOR
So when the doer of an action is the most important part of a sentence, the verb
has to be in ACTIVE voice as in the first sentence.
In the next sentence the thing on which the action is being done is more
prominent than the doer of the action. Such times the verb has to be in PASSIVE
voice.
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8. PES/ENG/XI/047
Many a times an action is done on a subject, but the doer is not known as in the
third sentence. Then the way to express is to put the verb in PASSIVE voice.
Let us see some more examples.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
1. The army forced the enemy to surrender.
2. The accident victims have been removed to the hospital.
3. The medicines must be taken by the patient.
4. The surgeon performed the operation successfully.
5. The child was frightened.
Cut to ANCHOR
Next time when you write or say something, decide which is to get the priority,
and then use the voice suitably.
Let us tax our brains a bit on these two voices.
VOICE OVER
SUPER APPEARS
1. Identify the voices in the following sentences:
(ans.to appear a few seconds after ques.)
a. Raju watched two films yesterday. (ACTIVE)
b. The school will reward the boy. (ACTIVE)
c. The thief has been arrested. (PASSIVE)
d. The programme is organized by our club every year. (PASSIVE)
e. I had written a long essay. (ACTIVE)
f. The man eater was killed. (PASSIVE)
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2. Find out the subject in each of the sentences below and say if they are
doing work or not:
a. The cat killed the mouse.---THE CAT (doing work)
b. Kites are made by the boy.---KITES (not doing work).
c. Gaurav was praised by his father.---GAURAV (not doing work).
d. Edison invented the electric bulb.---EDISON (doing work)
e. We are climbing the cliff.---WE (doing work)
f. The lion has been shot by the hunter.---THE LION (not doing work)
SUMMARY
Cut to ANCHOR
Today we learnt how a sentence can be written in two different ways while
keeping the meaning intact.
A verb is said to be in ACTIVE VOICE when the subject is doing the work in the
sentence.
A verb is said to be in PASSIVE VOICE when the subject is not doing any work.
The work is done on it by an AGENT.
Through this we are also able to identify in which voice a verb is.
Also we have seen when a voice needs to be used. Through the correct voice
what we want to convey is clearer to the listener.
However there are more about the voices which we shall see in our next lesson.
.
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