The Passive Voice - All Tenses — Explanation

Practice the passive voice in all tenses with B1+ level tests and exercises. Improve your English grammar with clear explanations and quizzes.

The Passive Voice in All Tenses Exercises

When we want to talk about the action or the result instead of who did it, we use the passive voice. In formal writing, news reports, instructions, and academic English, this is very common.

Active vs Passive

The subject does the action in an active sentence.
The subject gets the action in a passive sentence.

Example:
Active: The company produces the cars in Germany.
Passive: The cars are produced in Germany.

How to Form the Passive

The passive voice is formed with:
be + past participle

The form of be determines the tense of the sentence.

Passive Voice in Different Tenses

Present Simple Passive

am / is / are + past participle

Example:
Emails are sent every morning.

Present Continuous Passive

am / is / are being + past participle

Example:
The report is being prepared right now.

Past Simple Passive

was / were + past participle

Example:
The bridge was built in 1995.

Past Continuous Passive

was / were being + past participle

Example:
The room was being cleaned when we arrived.

Present Perfect Passive

has / have been + past participle

Example:
The tickets have been sold already.

Past Perfect Passive

had been + past participle

Example:
The work had been finished before noon.

Future Simple Passive

will be + past participle

Example:
The results will be announced tomorrow.

Future with Going to (Passive)

am / is / are going to be + past participle

Example:
A new school is going to be opened next year.

Modal Verbs in the Passive

modal + be + past participle

Example:
The form must be completed today.

Using “by” in Passive Sentences

We use by when the person or thing doing the action is important.

Example:
The novel was written by a famous author.

We usually leave out the agent if it's obvious or not important.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Not remembering the right form of "be" for the time.
• Instead of the past participle, use the past simple.
  Incorrect: The house was build in 2005.
  Correct: The house was built in 2005.