What are the steps to change passive to active voice?

1) Find the doer — it follows “by,” or you supply it. 2) Make the doer the subject. 3) Change be + past participle to the plain verb, keeping the tense. 4) Make the old subject the object.

How do you change passive to active when there is no "by" phrase?

Decide who did it and write them in. “The decision was made” → “The board made the decision.” If you cannot or should not name a doer, the passive may be the right sentence.

How do you change a passive question to active?

Same steps, then re-form the question: “Was the letter sent by you?” → “Did you send the letter?” “Has the claim been reviewed?” → “Has anyone reviewed the claim?”

What tense do I use in the active version?

The tense carried by the be verb. Was/were + participle → simple past; is/are → simple present; has/have been → present perfect; will be → future; is being → present progressive.

How to change passive voice to active voice

PassiveVoiceChecker editorial · Updated November 10, 2026 · 2 min read

Changing a passive sentence to active takes three moves: find the doer (after "by," or supply it), make it the subject, and replace *be* + past participle with the plain verb in the same tense. "The claim was denied by the adjuster" → "The adjuster denied the claim."

The three steps

Find the doer. Look for a “by” phrase. The budget was approved by the board. If there is none, ask who did it.
Make the doer the subject. The board …
Re-inflect the verb. Drop be, and change the participle to the active form in the same tense. Was approved → approved. The old subject becomes the object: The board approved the budget.

Tense by tense

Passive	Active
The claim is reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor reviews the claim.
The claim is being reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor is reviewing the claim.
The claim has been reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor has reviewed the claim.
The claim was reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor reviewed the claim.
The claim was being reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor was reviewing the claim.
The claim had been reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor had reviewed the claim.
The claim will be reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor will review the claim.
The claim will have been reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor will have reviewed the claim.
The claim must be reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor must review the claim.
The claim needs to be reviewed by a supervisor.	A supervisor needs to review the claim.

The tricky cases

No doer named. “Errors were found in the ledger.” Who found them? If you know, say so: “The auditors found errors in the ledger.” If you want to avoid saying, that is a decision, not a grammar fix. If the doer is unknown, keep the passive.

Pronouns change case. “I was told by him” → “He told me.” Subject pronouns (he, she, they, I, we) go in front; object pronouns (him, her, them, me, us) go after the verb.

Subject–verb agreement follows the new subject. “The forms were signed by the applicant” → “The applicant signed the forms” (singular doer, so signs in the present: “The applicant signs the forms”).

Two objects. “The employees were given a bonus by the company” → “The company gave the employees a bonus.”

Reporting passives. “It is believed that the fire started in the kitchen” → “Investigators believe the fire started in the kitchen.” Name the believer, or drop the frame entirely: “The fire probably started in the kitchen.”

Infinitive passives after need/have/want. “The roof needs to be replaced” → “We need to replace the roof.” The doer attaches to need, not to replace.

Get-passives. “She got promoted” → “The company promoted her.” Same steps; got is just an informal stand-in for was.

Compound sentences. Convert each clause on its own. “The file was reviewed and the claim was denied” → “The adjuster reviewed the file and denied the claim.”

Let the tool do the mechanical part

Paste text into the passive to active voice converter. Where a doer is named, it moves it to the front and re-inflects the verb; where none is named, it shows “[Who?]” with the verb already converted so you only supply the actor. For the reverse direction, the active to passive converter builds the passive form in any tense.

Questions people ask

What are the steps to change passive to active voice?: 1) Find the doer — it follows “by,” or you supply it. 2) Make the doer the subject. 3) Change be + past participle to the plain verb, keeping the tense. 4) Make the old subject the object.
How do you change passive to active when there is no "by" phrase?: Decide who did it and write them in. “The decision was made” → “The board made the decision.” If you cannot or should not name a doer, the passive may be the right sentence.
How do you change a passive question to active?: Same steps, then re-form the question: “Was the letter sent by you?” → “Did you send the letter?” “Has the claim been reviewed?” → “Has anyone reviewed the claim?”
What tense do I use in the active version?: The tense carried by the be verb. Was/were + participle → simple past; is/are → simple present; has/have been → present perfect; will be → future; is being → present progressive.

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