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👈 Just arriving? Start with Part 1: What Is Passive Voice & Why Use It
The Basic Formula
Good news: there's one core formula behind every passive sentence in English. Once you've got this, everything else is just swapping in the right tense.
📐 Subject + BE (correct tense) + Past Participle (+ by + doer)
The be verb does all the heavy lifting — it's what tells you when the action happens. The past participle stays the same regardless of tense. Let's go through each one.
Quick Reminder: Past Participles
Before we dive into tenses, a quick refresher — because the past participle is the engine of every passive sentence.
Regular verbs: just add -ed (same as past simple) → clean → cleaned, paint → painted
Irregular verbs: you need to learn the third form. The most common ones for passive:
- write → written
- take → taken
- make → made
- break → broken
- steal → stolen
- build → built
- speak → spoken
OK — tenses! Let's go one by one. 👇
Passive in Every Tense
Present Simple Passive
📐 am / is / are + past participle
Use this for regular actions, habits, and general facts — the stuff that's always true.
- Someone cleans the office every day. → The office is cleaned every day.
- People speak English here. → English is spoken here.
- They make these cars in Germany. → These cars are made in Germany.
Past Simple Passive
📐 was / were + past participle
For completed actions in the past — something happened, it's done, it's over.
- Someone built this house in 1920. → This house was built in 1920.
- Someone stole my bike. → My bike was stolen.
- They arrested the thief. → The thief was arrested.
Present Perfect Passive
📐 have / has been + past participle
Something happened in the past — but it still matters right now. Think of it as: "the result is still relevant."
- Someone has sent the email. → The email has been sent. ✅
- They have completed the project. → The project has been completed.
- Someone has stolen my wallet! → My wallet has been stolen! 😱
Future Simple Passive
📐 will be + past participle
Something hasn't happened yet — but it will. Very common in announcements and official communication.
- They will announce the results on Friday. → The results will be announced on Friday.
- Someone will deliver your package tomorrow. → Your package will be delivered tomorrow.
- Someone will clean the room. → The room will be cleaned.
Present Continuous Passive
📐 am / is / are being + past participle
It's happening right now — or at least around now. You'll see this a lot when describing ongoing projects or work in progress.
- Someone is repairing the road. → The road is being repaired.
- They are building a new school. → A new school is being built.
Past Continuous Passive
📐 was / were being + past participle
This one's less common, but useful when something was in progress at a specific moment in the past.
- Someone was cleaning the room when I arrived. → The room was being cleaned when I arrived.
Modal Passive
📐 modal + be + past participle
Modals like can, must, should, might, could, would, may all work the same way in the passive — just add be before the past participle.
- You must do the homework. → The homework must be done.
- Someone can fix the computer. → The computer can be fixed.
- You should wash these clothes. → These clothes should be washed.
Other modal passives you'll hear: may be done, might be cancelled, could be improved, would be appreciated.
Quick Reference Table
Here's the full picture at a glance — bookmark this! 🔖
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | clean(s) | is/are cleaned |
| Past Simple | cleaned | was/were cleaned |
| Present Perfect | has/have cleaned | has/have been cleaned |
| Future Simple | will clean | will be cleaned |
| Present Continuous | is/are cleaning | is/are being cleaned |
| Past Continuous | was/were cleaning | was/were being cleaned |
| Modals | can/must clean | can/must be cleaned |
Passive Questions
Forming a passive question is straightforward — just flip the be verb to the front, exactly like you would in any English question.
- The room is cleaned every day. → Is the room cleaned every day?
- The report was written by Sarah. → Was the report written by Sarah?
- The house has been sold. → Has the house been sold?
- The email will be sent tomorrow. → Will the email be sent tomorrow?
You can also use question words at the start:
- What was stolen?
- Who was arrested?
- When was the house built?
- Where was the car made?
- How was it done?
Passive Negatives
Also simple — just add not after the be verb (or use the contraction):
- Present Simple: The room isn't cleaned every day.
- Past Simple: The report wasn't written on time.
- Present Perfect: The email hasn't been sent yet.
- Future: The meeting won't be held tomorrow.
- Modal: The problem can't be solved easily.
Verbs with Two Objects
Some verbs — like give, send, offer, teach, tell, show — can take two objects. That gives you two possible passive sentences, depending on which object you want to focus on.
Active: They gave me a present.
- I was given a present. (focus on the person)
- A present was given to me. (focus on the thing)
Both are correct — you just choose based on what you want to emphasise. A couple more examples:
- Someone sent me an email. → I was sent an email. / An email was sent to me.
- They taught us English. → We were taught English. / English was taught to us.
- Someone told me the news. → I was told the news. / The news was told to me.
That's the full toolkit for forming the passive! In Part 3 we'll look at the most common mistakes students make — and give you plenty of practice exercises to lock it all in. 💪
🎯 Ready to test yourself? Take the interactive quiz!
Part of the LearnFast.life Grammar Series
