Passive Voice

What is the passive voice?

In general we tend to use the active voice. That is when a subject
does an action to an object.
1. Somebody stole my laptop. (subject = Somebody / action(verb) =
stole / object = my laptop)

The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the
verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means
that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that
we don’t know who or what the subject is.

1. My laptop was stolen. (The object – now the subject = My laptop /

action= was stolen)

1. Passive: Napa Valley is known for its excellent wines.

2. Active: [Many people] know Napa Valley for its excellent wines.

1. Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb explosion.

2. Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the bomb explosion.

The passive agent

When we know who the subject is, we put it at the end with by. We
call this an agent.

1. Passive: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (agent

=Leonardo Da Vinci )
2. Active: Leonaro Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.
 Most writing instructors and editors recommend against using the
passive voice, when possible. The reason for this is that when you use
the active voice, your writing is clearer and less complicated.
1. Active: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, a police
officer pulled him over and gave him a speeding ticket.
2. Passive: While Mr. Taylor was driving down Highway 101, he was
pulled over and given a ticket by a police officer.

If it's a long sentence and you know who the subject is, it’s best to
use the active voice. The passive is often used to report something or
to state a fact.

1. Highway 15 was closed yesterday due to a serious road accident.

2. A lot of corn is grown in Iowa.

Forming the passive voice

The passive voice is not a tense in English. Each tense has its own
passive voice which is created by using a form of the auxiliary
verb to be + V3 (past participle) The passive voice in each tense:

Tense Auxiliary verb + Examples

sample V3 (past
participle)

Present am, is, are + made Wine is made from grapes. Many cars
simple are made in Japan.

Present am, is, are + being The document is being sent right
progressiv + sent now. I am being sent to work in the
e London office.
Tense Auxiliary verb + Examples
sample V3 (past
participle)

Past was, were + invited John was invited to speak at the

simple conference. We were invited to
Daniel and Mary’s wedding.

Past was, were + being + The dog was being washed when I
progressiv washed got home. Their cars were being
e washed while they were in the mall
shopping.

Future will be + signed The contract will be signed

(will) tomorrow. The documents will all be
signed by next week.

Future am, is, are + going A bridge is going to be built within

(going to) to be + built the next two years. New houses are
going to be built in our neighborhood.

Present has, have + been + That start-up has been sold for $5
perfect sold million. The rights to his book have
been sold for $250,000.

Past had + been + hired The new manager had been hired
perfect before John left the company. All the
employees had hired before the store
opened.
 Tense Auxiliary verb + Examples
sample V3 (past
participle)

Future will + have been + The car will have been loaded by the
perfect finished time he gets home. The crates will
have been loaded by then.

Modals: can, could + be + A passport can only be issued at the

can/could issued embassy. He said the documents
could be issued within the week.

Modal: have to, has to, had A babysitter has to be arranged for
have to to + be + arranged this evening. Joan's travel plans
have to be arranged by December.

Modal: must + be + stopped Criminals must be stopped before

must they commit crimes.

All of the rules for passive negatives and questions are the same as
for the active voice. Note: Verbs that have no object (no one to
"receive" the action) cannot be put into the passive, such as, arrive,
come, die, exist, go, happen, have, live, occur sleep, etc.

The passive voice with the different tenses

In a passive sentence, the object of an active sentence becomes the subject. Then we
have to use the verb be in the tense we need and add the past participle of the main verb
after it. In a passive voice sentence, the subject is the receiver of the action, not the doer
of the action.
  They take the photos in Africa. (active)
 The photos are taken in Africa. (passive)

You can see how to use the passive voice with different tenses below.

When do we use the passive voice?

In English, we us the passive voice when we don’t know, or we don’t want to talk about
who or what does the action in a sentence. Check the following examples.
  A bank was robbed yesterday. (=We don’t know who robbed the bank.)
 He was arrested last night. (=It’s obvious that the police arrested him.)
 I have been told that you insulted my brother. (=I don’t want to say who told me.)
 Jurassic Park was filmed by Spielberg in 1993. (=I’m talking about Jurassic Park
and not about Spielberg.)

Passive voice to active voice

Sentences written in the active voice are easier to understand than sentences written in the passive voice.
Switching the passive voice into the active voice is straightforward, but it requires a bit of practice. In the
equivalency table below, notice that the tense of the verb to be in the passive voice is always the same as the
tense of the main verb in the active voice. In order to use the active voice, you will have to make the subject
of the action explicit.

To keep, active and passive voice

Tense Active Passive Active sentence Passive equivalent

voice voice

Simple present keep is kept I keep the butter in the fridge. The butter is kept in the fridge.

Present is keeping is being John is keeping my house tidy. My house is being kept tidy.
continuous kept

Simple past kept was kept Mary kept her schedule Mary's schedule was kept
meticulously. meticulously.

Past continuous was was being The theater was keeping a seat for A seat was being kept for you.
keeping kept you.

Present perfect have kept have been I have kept all your old letters. All your old letters have been
kept kept.
Tense Active Passive Active sentence Passive equivalent
voice voice

Past perfect had kept had been He had kept up his training His training regimen had been
kept regimen for a month. kept up for a month.

Simple Future will keep will be kept Mark will keep the ficus. The ficus will be kept.

Conditional would would be If you told me, I would keep your If you told me, your secret
Present keep kept secret. would be kept.

Conditional Past would would have I would have kept your bicycle Your bicycle would have been
have kept been kept here if you had left it with me. kept here if you had left it with
me.

Present to keep to be kept She wants to keep the book. The book wants to be kept.
Infinitive

Perfect to have to have Judy was happy to have kept the The puppy was happy to have
Infinitive kept been kept puppy. been kept.

Present keeping being kept I have a feeling that you may be I have a feeling that a secret may
Participle & keeping a secret. be being kept.
Gerund

Perfect having having Having kept the bird in a cage for The bird, having been kept in a
Participle kept been kept so long, Jade wasn't sure it could cage for so long, might not
survive in the wild. survive in the wild.
Active and Passive Verb Forms
Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive
forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

Active Form

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing
receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]

Examples:

Passive Form

In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing
doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form
if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can
also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to
mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]

Examples:

Active and Passive Overview

Tense Active Passive

Simple Present Once a week, Tom cleans the house. Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.

Present Continuous Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.

Simple Past Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.

The salesman was helping the customer when the thief The customer was being helped by the salesman
Past Continuous
came into the store. when the thief came into the store.

Present Perfect Many tourists have visited that castle. That castle has been visited by many tourists.

Present Perfect Recently, John has been doing the work. Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Continuous

George had repaired many cars before he received his Many cars had been repaired by George before he
Past Perfect
mechanic's license. received his mechanic's license.

Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being
Past Perfect
fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris. prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he
Continuous
moved to Paris.

Simple Future Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM. The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
will

Simple Future Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally
be going to tonight.

Future Continuous At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being
will washed by John.

Future Continuous At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being
be going to dishes. washed by John.

Future Perfect They will have completed the project before the The project will have been completed before the
will deadline. deadline.

Future Perfect They are going to have completed the project before The project is going to have been completed before
be going to the deadline. the deadline.

Future Perfect The famous artist will have been painting the mural for The mural will have been being painted by the
Continuous over six months by the time it is finished. famous artist for over six months by the time it is
will finished.

Future Perfect The famous artist is going to have been painting the The mural is going to have been being painted by
Continuous the famous artist for over six months by the time it is
be going to mural for over six months by the time it is finished. finished.

Used to Jerry used to pay the bills. The bills used to be paid by Jerry.

Would Always My mother would always make the pies. The pies would always be made by my mother.

Future in the Past I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM. I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Would

Future in the Past I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by
Was Going to tonight. Sally tonight.