We use the passive voice to show whether the subject of the sentence performs or just receives the action. If the subject does the action, it is in the active voice. On the other hand, when the subject isn’t the one performing the action and only receiving it, then the verb is in the passive voice.
| Active | Passive |
| Ana served dinner. | Dinner was served by Ana. |
| People in 20 countries speak Spanish. | Spanish is spoken in 20 countries. |
| He has washed the car. | The car has been washed. |
| She will write the biography. | The biography will be written by her. |
Forming Passive Voice
The verb is in passive voice when it uses a verb to be and a past participle.
Subject + Verb To Be + Past Participle
| Affirmative | Negative | Interrogative | Negative Interrogative |
| The car was bought last year. | The car was not bought last year. | Was the car bought last year? | Wasn’t the car bought last year? |
Passive Voice in Different Tenses
For this part, we will be using the verb “to do” as example and see how it is formed in passive voice in different verb tenses.
| Tense | Subject | Conjugated To Be | Past Participle | Rest of the Sentence | Full Sentence |
| Simple Present | The repair | is | done | every week | The repair is done every week. |
| Present Continuous | The repair | is | being done | right now | The repair is being done right now. |
| Simple Past | The repair | was | done | last year | The repair was done last year. |
| Past Continuous | The repair | was being | done | yesterday | The repair was being done yesterday. |
| Present Perfect | The repair | has been | done | since you reported the damage | The repair has been done since you reported the damage. |
| Past Perfect | The repair | had been | done | before the storm came | The repair had been done before the storm came. |
| Future | The repair | will be | done | next month | The repair will be done next month. |
| Future Continuous | The repair | will be being | done | two days from now | The repair will be being done two days from now. |
| Present Conditional | The repair | would be | done | if there are damages | The repair would be done if there are damages. |
| Past Conditional | The repair | would have been | done | if the damage had been severe | The repair would have been done if the damage had been severe. |
| Infinitive | The repair | has to be | done | before the storm hits | The repair has to be done before the storm hits. |
Uses
- The most important thing to remember here is to use passive voice when the focus of the topic is on the action. Consequently, it is not important or not known who or what is performing the action.
My bike was stolen.
In this sentence, the focus is that someone stole my bike and I don’t know who did it.
- Generally, a statement in the passive voice is more polite than the active voice.
A mistake was made.
In this sentence, I focused on the fact that a mistake was made, but I don’t blame anyone. Rather than saying, “You have made a mistake.”.
- Remember the following points when you are rewriting active sentences into passive voice.
- First, the subject of the passive sentence is the object of the active sentence.
- Secondly, the main verb is changed to: to be + past participle.
- Lastly, the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence or is not included anymore.
Converting Active Voice into Passive Voice
Take a look at some examples of active sentences that are converted into passive.
Active: Andy sings the song.
Passive: The song is sung by Andy.
Active: They washed the dishes.
Passive: The dishes were washed by them.
Active: Alfred has bought a car.
Passive: A car has been bought by Alfred.
Active: Tomas will be fishing.
Passive: Fish will be caught by Tomas.
Active: Mary can ride bicycles.
Passive: Bicycles can be ridden by Mary.
Passive Voice Exercise
Answer this exercise on passive voice.
1. I will ________ by my sister.
a. accompany
b. be accompanied
c. accompanied
2. My mother ____________ an award by her company.
a. has been given
b. has given
c. gave
3. The employees are waiting to ____.
a. promote
b. be promoted
c. be promote
4. She ________ to the hospital.
a. took
b. was taken
c. has taken
5. The rat _______ for the experiment.
a. was used
b. used
c. uses
6. The newly-elected officials _______ on 22 November 2019.
a. sworn
b. swore
c. were sworn
7. Mistakes ________.
a. have made
b. were made
c. were make
8. The door _______.
a. been repaired
b. is been repaired
c. is being repaired
9. Some animals _______ on this road every year.
a. are kill
b. are killed
c. was killed
10. The earth ______ in gases.
a. wraps
b. is wrapped
c. are wrapped
Find the answers to this exercise here.
See also: Passive (is done/was done) and Passive (be done/been done/being done).
For additional information on this topic, check out this Grammarly Lesson.
For other English grammar lessons, go to this page.