The passive form is used to change the focus of an action. In this sentence, we are more concerned with or interested in the object that receives the action and not the one who did it. Therefore, the object becomes the subject.
We use to be and the past participle to form questions in passive.
Typically, we use wh and how question words in interrogative sentences. However, with the passive voice, some sentences need not a question word.
Examples:
Passive questions without question words in simple present:
Form of be | subject | past participle | rest of the sentence |
Is | the food | cooked | in the oven? |
Are | euros | accepted | in Switzerland? |
Passive questions with question words in simple present:
Question word | Form of be | subject | past participle | rest of the sentence |
Where | is | the food | cooked? | |
Why | are | euros | accepted | in Switzerland? |
Passive questions without question words in simple past:
Form of be | subject | past participle | rest of the sentence |
Was | the house | built | in the 70’s? |
Were | the students | required | to study from home? |
Passive questions with question words in simple past:
Question word | form of be | subject | past participle | rest of the sentence |
When | was | the house | built? | |
Why | were | the students | required | to study from home? |
Examples of passive questions in other tenses:
Tense | Auxiliary | subject | verb |
Present Perfect | Has | the computer | been fixed? |
Past Perfect | Had | the computer | been fixed? |
will-future | Will | the computer | be fixed? |
going to-future | Is | the computer | going to be fixed? |
Future Perfect | Will | the computer | have been fixed? |
Conditional | Would | the computer | be fixed? |
Conditional Perfect | Would | the computer | have been fixed? |
Progressive forms:
Tense | Auxiliary | subject | verb |
Present Progressive | Is | the computer | being fixed? |
Past Progressive | Was | the computer | being fixed? |