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Sentences which cannot be changed into Passive Voice

There are some types of sentences which cannot be converted into passive voice, as explained below.

 Non-convertible Tenses

The sentences of the following four tenses cannot be changed into passive voice.

  1. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
  2. Past Perfect Continuous Tense
  3. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
  4. Future Continuous Tense

 Sentences, having intransitive verb, cannot be converted into Passive Voice

Sentence having intransitive verbs can also not be converted into passive voice. There are two types of verbs:

Transitive Verbs
Intransitive Verbs

Transitive verb is a verb that requires an object in the sentence in order to give complete meaning. For instance, ‘buy’ is a transitive verb. We cannot use it without an object (for it) in the sentence. See the following example.

He bought _____.
He bought a book.

In the above example, it can be seen that without an object, the verb ‘buy’ does not give a complete meaning. There should be an object for it in the sentence such as ‘He bought a book’ or ‘He bought a chair’. A transitive verb must have an object for it in the sentence. 

On the other hand, intransitive verbs do not require object in the sentence and can give complete meaning without an object in the sentence. For instance, laugh, sleep, run, are some intransitive verbs.

He laughs.
She is sleeping.
They are running.

The sentence having intransitive verbs cannot be changed into passive voice. This is because these sentences do not have an object. If a sentence has no object, it cannot be changed into passive voice. Passive voice is basically meant for emphasizing the object of the sentence. Therefore, a sentence must have a clear and known object in order to be converted into passive voice. See the following examples of sentence having intransitive verb which cannot be changed into passive voice.

Examples.

He is laughing.
He has gone.
She is sleeping.
The baby is crying.
The patient is coughing.
They are dancing.
The guests have arrived.
He was standing.
He died.
It is raining.
They disappeared.
The kids were smiling.

Remember, sometimes a few extra words may be added after the intransitive verb which is basically not an object but may confuse the reader and thus, the reader may assume it as the object of the verb. However, such sentences cannot be converted into passive voice. For instance, ‘go’ is an intransitive verb and it may be used as ‘He goes to school’. In this sentence, the word ‘school’ is not an object, it is simply an adverb of place. Therefore, this sentence cannot be converted into passive voice. Adverb of place and time are generally used in this way after an intransitive verb which simply gives more information about the verb with regard to place or time, but these adverbs may not be considered as an object of the sentence.

Sleep, sit, reach, die, go, disappear, talk are some intransitive verbs. See the following example where a few extra words are added after them which are basically not the object of the sentence. Such sentences cannot be converted into passive voice.

He is sleeping in the bed.
She is sitting on a table.
He reached his home.
She died from cancer.
They went to the library.
He disappeared from the scene.
We talked all the night.