ACTIVE / PASSIVE VOICE. In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb. These examples show that the subject is doing the verb's action. Because the subject does or acts upon the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the active voice.OTE: Colorful parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice because the sentence does not have a direct object. To change a sentence from active to passive voice, do the following: 1. Move the active sentence's direct object into the sentence's subject slot. 2.