Active & Passive Voice Tests — Pick a Level and Start
Tap a level to see every test in it. Level 1 is set at real SSC CGL difficulty — start there once the tense formulas are fresh. Level 2 is pitched above the exam, with longer sentences and wrong options that differ from the answer by a single word.
Level 1 SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests
Same difficulty as the real SSC CGL and CHSL paper. Every tense in affirmative, negative and question form, modals (can, must, should, ought to), commands with “Let”, polite requests with “You are requested to”, “By whom” questions, two-object verbs, phrasal verbs such as look after and laugh at, and verbs that take with, at or to. The wrong options are the classic SSC ones: a tense slip, a wrong helping verb, or a wrong pronoun or agreement.
Level 2 Above SSC CGL Level Checking… View tests
Harder than the exam asks. Modal perfects (should have been done), “to be done” and “being done” forms, “It is said that” and “He is said to have”, sentences with nobody and no one, factitive verbs (elected him captain), that-clauses, used to, going to and about to, in long sentences with negatives and adverbs. Each wrong option differs from the answer by one small detail — been or being, has or had, at or with — and is still definitely wrong.
Every voice question asks one thing: which option says exactly the same thing in the other voice? In the passive, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject, the verb becomes be + past participle in the same tense, and the doer moves into a “by” phrase. Going the other way, the doer in the “by” phrase becomes the subject again.
Marks are lost in three places. The first is a tense slip — picking “was written” for “has written”, or dropping the being that every continuous tense needs. The second is agreement with the new subject — “The letters has been posted”. The third is a sentence type that breaks the pattern: commands take “Let”, “Who” becomes “By whom”, and “known” takes “to”, not “by”.
How Many Active and Passive Voice Questions Are Asked in SSC CGL?
Voice is a regular part of the English section — usually one question in an SSC CGL Tier I shift, sometimes two, and a few more in CHSL and the Tier II English paper. It is one of the most scoring questions in the section, because the rules never change. The kinds of sentence that come up are listed below, most common first.
| Kind of sentence | How often |
|---|---|
| Statement in a simple, continuous or perfect tense | The most common form |
| Sentence with a modal (can, must, should, ought to) | Common |
| Passive given, active asked | Common |
| Command or request (Let … be, You are requested to) | Regular |
| Question (Who → By whom, Did → Was) | Regular |
| Two objects, phrasal verbs, “known to” type verbs | Occasional |
Voice also turns up inside Spot the Error and Sentence Improvement, where a wrong passive form is the error to find.
What You Will Practice in the Active & Passive Voice Chapter
Tenses and modals
- Simple, continuous and perfect tenses in the present, past and future
- Negative sentences (is not written, did not open → was not opened)
- Modals (can, could, may, must, should, ought to, has to) and modal perfects (should have been done)
Sentence types
- Commands and requests: Let … be + V3, Let … not be + V3, You are requested to
- Wh- questions (Who → By whom, Whom → Who) and yes/no questions (Did → Was, Has → Has … been)
- Two-object verbs (give, send, offer, teach) and factitive verbs (elect, appoint, make, call)
- Phrasal verbs that keep their preposition (looked after, laughed at, called off)
- Verbs that take another preposition: known to, pleased with, surprised at, filled with, interested in
Level 2 extras
- Infinitive and gerund passives: wants it to be done, hates being disturbed
- “It is said that” / “He is said to have”, nobody and no one, that-clauses, used to, going to and about to
The passive formula for every tense
| Active verb | Passive verb |
|---|---|
| writes / write | is / are written |
| is / are writing | is / are being written |
| has / have written | has / have been written |
| wrote | was / were written |
| was / were writing | was / were being written |
| had written | had been written |
| will write | will be written |
| will have written | will have been written |
| can / must / should write | can / must / should be written |
| should have written | should have been written |
Perfect continuous tenses (has been writing) are not turned into the passive in SSC questions.
The three mistakes that cost the most marks
- Changing the tense. The passive must stay in the same tense — only the form of the verb changes.
- Mixing up been and being. Continuous tenses take being; perfect tenses take been.
- Forgetting the new subject. The helping verb agrees with the new subject: “The books were sold”, not “was”.
Solved Examples — SSC CGL Active & Passive Voice
(a) The old bridge is repaired by the workers.
(b) The old bridge is being repaired by the workers.
(c) The old bridge was being repaired by the workers.
(d) The old bridge has been repaired by the workers.
(a) By whom you were taught this song?
(b) By whom are you taught this song?
(c) Who was taught this song by you?
(d) By whom were you taught this song?
(a) Let the fans are switched off.
(b) The fans were switched off.
(c) Let the fans be switched off.
(d) Let the fans be switching off.
(a) Our team has won the match.
(b) Our team had won the match.
(c) Our team won the match.
(d) Our team has been winning the match.
How the Active & Passive Voice Tests Work
- 25 questions per test, with a full question palette — answered, skipped, marked for review, not visited.
- Both directions in every test — about two-thirds active to passive and one-third passive to active, across tenses, modals, commands, questions and special verbs.
- Optional 15-minute timer — with the clock to build exam speed, without it while you are still learning the chapter.
- Marking: +2 correct, −0.5 wrong, 0 unattempted — the same scheme as the real paper.
- Step-by-step solutions and a shortcut trick open after you submit, question by question — the parts of the sentence, the formula, the conversion, why each wrong option fails, and the trap students fall into.
- In English, as in the exam — English Language questions are set in English in SSC CGL and CHSL.
- Free with a TrickySSC account — sign in once with Google or your mobile number, and every test is open to you.
How to Prepare Active & Passive Voice for SSC CGL
- Find the tense first. Before you look at the options, name the tense of the given verb — that alone removes two options in most questions.
- Learn the formula table by heart. Continuous takes being, perfect takes been, modals and future take be.
- Check the helping verb against the new subject. Singular or plural, I or you — is, are, am, was, were, has or have.
- Put pronouns in the object form. by him, by her, by them, by us, by me — never “by he” or “by they”.
- Know the sentence types by heart. Command → Let … be; request → You are requested to; Who → By whom; known → known to.
- Do Level 1 untimed first, then with the 15-minute clock. Move to Level 2 once Level 1 is steady, and then check yourself on a previous year paper.
All SSC CGL Chapter Wise Tests
Every chapter below has its own free Level 1 and Level 2 tests with full solutions.
Browse all 67 chapter tests — Maths (35) · Reasoning (28) · English (4)
- Spot the Error
- Sentence Improvement
- Fill in the Blanks
- Active & Passive Voice
- All English chapters →
- Word Analogy
- Letter Analogy
- Number Analogy
- Number-Set & Triad Analogy
- Mixed Analogy
- Word Classification
- Letter Classification
- Number Classification
- Number-Pair & Triad Classification
- Word-Pair & Mixed Classification
- Series (Number, Letter & Alphanumeric)
- Alphabet Test
- Coding-Decoding
- Blood Relations
- Direction & Distance
- Time Sequence, Number & Ranking
- Seating Arrangement
- Syllogism
- Statement & Conclusion
- Venn Diagram
- Mathematical Operations
- Missing Number
- Puzzle / Data Arrangement
- Calendar & Clock
- Mirror & Water Image
- Paper Folding, Embedded & Figure Completion
- Figure Series, Classification, Analogy & Counting
- Dice, Cube, Cuboid & Dot Situation
- All Reasoning chapters →
- Number System
- Rule of Divisibility
- Remainder Theorem
- Decimal & Fraction
- LCM & HCF
- Square & Cube Root
- Number Series (AP & GP)
- Power, Indices & Surds
- Algebraic Formula
- Algebraic Result
- Algebraic Expression & Identities
- Percentage
- Profit & Loss
- Discount & Marked Price
- Simple Interest
- Compound Interest
- Ratio & Proportion
- Partnership
- Average
- Problems on Ages
- Mixture & Alligation
- Time & Work
- Pipe and Cistern
- Time, Speed and Distance
- Quadratic Equation
- Boat and Stream
- Races
- Trigonometry
- Heights & Distances
- Geometry
- Mensuration
- Coordinate Geometry
- Probability
- Statistics
- Data Interpretation
- All Maths chapters →