The Passive Voice

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1. What Is the Passive Voice?

In the active voice, the subject performs the action:

• Active: John wrote the letter. (John does the action)

In the passive voice, the subject receives the action:

• Passive: The letter was written by John. (The letter receives the action)

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2. Form of the Passive Voice

Subject + be + past participle + (by + agent)

The verb "be" changes according to the tense:

• Present Simple: am/is/are + past participle
• Past Simple: was/were + past participle
• Present Perfect: have/has been + past participle
• Future Simple: will be + past participle

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3. When Do We Use the Passive Voice?

a) When we don't know who does the action

• My car was stolen yesterday. (We don't know who stole it)
• The window was broken last night. (We don't know who broke it)

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b) When it's not important who does the action

• English is spoken all over the world. (Who speaks it is not important)
• The house was built in 1990. (Who built it is not important)

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c) When we want to focus on the action, not the doer

• The book was written by a famous author. (We focus on the book, not the author)
• The bridge will be completed next year. (We focus on the bridge, not the builders)

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d) In formal writing and scientific texts

• The experiment was conducted in a controlled environment.
• The results were analyzed by the research team.

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4. Passive Voice in Different Tenses

Present Simple Passive

am/is/are + past participle

• The house is cleaned every day.
• These books are written in English.

Past Simple Passive

was/were + past participle

• The letter was sent yesterday.
• The windows were broken by the storm.

Present Perfect Passive

have/has been + past participle

• The work has been completed.
• The documents have been signed.

Future Simple Passive

will be + past participle

• The meeting will be held tomorrow.
• The report will be finished next week.

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5. Common Mistakes

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6. "By" + Agent

We use "by" + agent when we want to mention who does the action:

• The letter was written by Mary.
• The house was built by my father.
• The song was sung by a famous singer.

Note: We often omit "by" + agent when:

• The agent is obvious or not important
• We don't know who did the action
• It's a general statement

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7. Passive with Modal Verbs

Modal + be + past participle

• The work can be done tomorrow.
• The door must be locked at night.
• The letter should be sent today.
• The problem might be solved soon.

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8. Two Objects in Passive

When a verb has two objects, we can make two different passive sentences:

Active: They gave me a book. Passive 1: A book was given to me. Passive 2: I was given a book.

Active: They sent him a letter. Passive 1: A letter was sent to him. Passive 2: He was sent a letter.

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9. Active vs Passive Examples

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Quick Review

• Form: be + past participle + (by + agent).
• Use: When we don't know/need the doer, or want to focus on the action.
• Tenses: Change "be" according to the tense.
• Past participle: Always use V3, not V1 or V2.
• "By" agent: Use when mentioning who does the action.
• Modal passives: Modal + be + past participle.
• Two objects: Can make two different passive sentences.