active voice definition
passage. The subject is “Paul Schimmel,” who is doing
One of the two “voices” of verbs (see also passive voice ).
When the verb of a sentence is in the active voice, the
subject is doing the acting, as in the sentence “Kevin hit
the ball.” Kevin (the subject of the sentence) acts in
relation to the ball.
Active voice describes a sentence where the subject
performs the action stated by the verb.
Definition of Active Voice
In grammar, an active voice is a type of a clause or
sentence in which a subject performs an action and
expresses it through its representative verb. To simply put
it, when a subject performs an action directly, it is in active
voice. It then uses transitive verb to show the action.
Examples of Active Voice in Literature
Example #1: Harold and Maud (by Colin Higgins)
“You know, at one time, I used to break into pet shops to
liberate the canaries. But I decided that was an idea way
before its time. Zoos are full, prisons are overflowing. Oh
my, how the world still dearly loves a cage.”
Active voice in these example sentences is underlined. The
subject “I” is performing an action through the verbs
“break” and “decided.” The subject “world” is performing
an action through the verb “loves.” All the sentences are in
active voice.
Example #2: Hillary’s Once in a Lifetime (by Kathleen
Parker)
“Finally, Hillary swept in and moved down a line of
huggers toward a raised platform centered in the
room…Her positioning meant that she had to keep turning
in order to hug back. Around and around and around she
turned, 360 degrees, over and over, her arms outstretched in
perpetual greeting, like a jewel-box ballerina whose battery
has run low.”
Here the subject “Hillary” is taking action through the
verbs “swept in,” “moved down,” “had,” “turned,” and “has
run.” The verbs are in active mode, the reason that all
sentences are in active voice.
Example #3: Mr. Personality (by Mark Singer)
“Seven days a week, Paul Schimmel ventures into the
subway with his clarinet. In the IND station at Sixth
Avenue and Forty-second Street one recent afternoon, he
paid his fare with a free pass.”
The use of active voice has added directness to this
“ventures,” and has “paid” fare.
Example #4: Heart of Darkness (by Colin Higgins)
“I looked at him, lost in astonishment…’Ah, he talked to
you of love!’ I said, much amused. ‘It isn’t what you think,’
he cried, almost passionately. ‘It was in general.’ “He threw
his arms up…He had his second illness then. Afterwards I
had to keep out of the way; but I didn’t mind. He was living
for the most part in those villages on the lake. When he
came down to the river, sometimes he would take to me,
and sometimes it was better for me to be careful. This man
suffered too much.”
In this passage, the author has written all of the sentences in
active voice, which are direct and clear in meaning. The
verbs of active voice include “looked,” “talked,” “think,”
“threw,” “had,” “living,” “came down,” and “suffered.”
Example #5: The Catcher in the Rye (by J.D. Salinger)
“If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll
probably want to know is where I was born, and what my
lousy childhood was like… They’re nice and all—I’m not
saying that – but they’re also touchy as hell. Besides, I’m
not going to tell you my whole goddam autobiography or
anything. I’ll just tell you about this madman stuff that
happened to me around last Christmas…”
In this excerpt, the author has used the verbs “hear,”
“want,” “saying,” “going,” and “tell” in active voice.
Function
Active voice plays an important role in creative writing and
business reports because these types of writings need to be
to the point, clear, and direct. It adds interest and helps grab
attention of the readers. Not only does it maintain
audience’s interest, it also improves the quality of a written
work. Active voice gives energy and life to a sentence, as it
is less wordy and consequently less difficult. In addition,
active voice maintains focus and attention of the readers on
a single point.
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:

What Is the Active Voice?
We've all heard this before from our English teachers: 'You
should always write in the active voice.' But what exactly
does this mean? Here are two different ways to construct a
similar sentence.
1. Henry threw the ball.
2. The ball was thrown by Henry.
Let's take a look at the first sentence. The subject of the
sentence is 'Henry,' and 'ball' is the object, which receives
the action of the verb 'threw'.
Now moving onto the second sentence, we can see that
'ball' is the subject of the sentence, and 'Henry' is now the
object that receives the action of the verb 'was thrown'.
The grammatical term active voice refers to a sentence in
which the subject performs an action indicated by the verb.
The first sentence is written in active voice, because Henry
is the subject and he is performing the action.
By comparison, the second sentence is written in passive
voice, because Henry is no longer the subject; now, he's
just the object at the end of the sentence. In grammar, the
passive voice refers to sentences in which the verb acts
upon a noun or subject, which receives instead of initiates
the action.
Examples
Here are some more examples of sentences using the active
voice:
 I called Jimmy last night.
 Deborah read the book.
 Bobby dug the ditch.
Now, let's take a look at how those same sentences read in
the passive voice:
 Jimmy was called by me last night.
 The book was read by Deborah.
 The ditch was dug by Bobby.
Did you notice that all the sentences written in the passive
voice used the verb 'to be'?
Importance of the Active Voice
Creative writing and especially business reports need to be
direct and to the point. As a writer, you don't want your
audience and readers to lose interest. Writing in the active
voice not only helps to maintain their interest; it can also
dramatically improve the quality of your work. In
following one of the most basic grammar and writing
principles, you want to make sure you know who is doing
what in a sentence. Sentences written in the active voice
have life and energy in them. They are also cleaner and less
wordy. Sentences written in the passive voice often sound
awkward, almost backwards and convoluted.
Go back and take a look at some of the examples of
sentences written in the active and passive voice shown
earlier in the lesson and read them out loud. Notice how
more energetic and engaging the active voice sentences are
compared to the examples written in passive voice.
Remember, it's one thing to grab your reader's attention; it's
another thing to maintain the reader's focus. Writing
complicated, dull, and wordy sentences in the passive voice
can bore or even confuse your reading audience.
Identifying the Active Voice
When you're done with this lesson, go find a copy of a
paper that you've written in the past. Read through it to see
if there are any instances where you may have written in
the passive voice. They're usually accompanied by two
warning signs:
 While not always true, often times the word 'by'
indicates the passive voice, as in, 'an action was
done by someone!' Whenever you spot the word
'by' in your writing, go back and double-check
your sentence.
 A form of the verb 'to be' typically indicates the
use of the passive voice, as in 'some action was
being done by someone!' Be on the lookout for
all of the verb's tenses: 'am,' 'are,' 'is,' 'was,'
'were,' 'been,' and 'being.'
If you've read over one of your papers and noticed that you
have a few passive voice issues, don't worry! They're an
easy fix. In order to change from passive voice to active
voice, you need to establish the subject of the sentence and
then rewrite it so the subject is doing the action.
Essentially, you'll need to place the subject before the
object and the action
Let's try revising this passive sentence:
  The donuts were eaten by Ron. Forming the passive voice

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.
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:

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

Auxiliary verb +
subject = My laptop / action= was stolen)
Tense sample V3 (past Examples
participle)
1. Passive: Napa Valley is known for its excellent
wines.
2. Active: [Many people] know Napa Valley for its Wine is made from
excellent wines. Present am, is, are + grapes.
simple made Many cars are made in
1. Passive: Twenty civilians were killed in the bomb Japan.
explosion.
2. Active: Someone killed twenty civilians in the The document is being
bomb explosion.
Present am, is, are + sent right now.
progressive being + sent I am being sent to work in
the London office.

The passive agent John was invited to speak

was, were + at the conference.
Past simple
When we know who the subject is, we put it at the end with invited We were invited to Daniel
by. We call this an agent. and Mary’s wedding.

1. Passive: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo The dog was being
Da Vinci. (agent =Leonardo Da Vinci ) washed when I got home.
2. Active: Leonaro Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa. Past was, were +
Their cars were being
progressive being + washed
washed while they were
Most writing instructors and editors recommend against in the mall shopping.
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. The contract will be
signed tomorrow.
Future (will) will be + signed
1. Active: While Mr. Taylor was driving down The documents will all be
Highway 101, a police officer pulled him over signed by next week.
and gave him a speeding ticket.
2. Passive: While Mr. Taylor was driving down A bridge is going to be
Highway 101, he was pulled over and given a
built within the next two
ticket by a police officer. am, is, are +
Future years.
going to be +
(going to) New houses are going to
If it’s a long sentence and you know who the subject is, it’s built
best to use the active voice. be built in our
neighborhood.
The passive is often used to report something or to state a
fact. That start-up has been
sold for $5 million.
1. Highway 15 was closed yesterday due to a Present has, have + been
The rights to his book
serious road accident. perfect + sold
have been sold for
2. A lot of corn is grown in Iowa.
$250,000.
 Auxiliary verb + 2. Statements ______ from all the witnesses at this
Tense sample V3 (past Examples moment. (take)
3. Whales ______ by an international ban on
participle)
whaling. (must protect)
4. Both weddings _______ by Good Taste. (cater)
The new manager had 5. A Picasso ____ from the Metropolitan Museum
been hired before John of Art.(steal)
had + been + left the company. 6. ____ this washing machine ______in Germany?
Past perfect (make)
hired All the employees had
7. Tea _____ in China. (grow)
hired before the store
8. When we reached the airport, we found that all
opened.
the flights____ due to the storm. (cancel)
9. The fax _____ until tomorrow morning. (not
The car will have been send)
loaded by the time he 10. The soundtrack of a movie _____ always _____
Future will + have been after the filming is finished. (is/add)
gets home.
perfect + finished
The crates will have been
loaded by then. Answers:

A passport can only be 1. was discovered

2. are being taken
issued at the embassy.
Modals: can, could + be + 3. must be protected
He said the documents 4. were catered
can/could issued
could be issued within the 5. was stolen
week. 6. Was/made
7. is grown
A babysitter has to be 8. had been cancelled
have to, has to, 9. won’t be sent
Modal: have arranged for this evening.
had to + be + 10. is/added
to Joan’s travel plans have to
arranged
be arranged by December.
PASSIVE VOICE FOR ALL TENSES RULES
Criminals must be
must + be +
Modal: must stopped before they
stopped  The places of subject and object in sentence are
commit crimes. inter-changed in passive voice.
 3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used
only (as main verb) in passive voice.
All of the rules for passive negatives and questions are the  Auxiliary verbs for each tense are given below in
same as for the active voice. the table.

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. Present Simple Tense (passive Voice)
Auxiliary verb in passive voice: am/is/are
Passive Voice – Exercises
Active voice: Passive voice:
Fill in the correct passive form of the verb in parentheses. He sings a song. A song is sung by him.
He does not sing a A song is not sung by him.
song.Does he sing a song? Is a song sung by him?
1. After the earthquake, aid was sent to the people
of Haiti. (sent)
2. The electricity was cut off because the bill hadn’t
been paid. (not pay) Present Continuous Tense (passive Voice)
Auxiliary verb in passive voice: am being/is being/are
1. Penicillin ______ by Alexander Fleming in 1928. being
(discover)
Active voice: Passive voice:
I am writing a letter
I am not writing a letter.
Am I writing a letter?
A letter is being written by
me.
A letter is not being written
by me.
Is a letter being written by
me?
Active voice: Passive voice:
She will buy a car. A car will be bought by her.
She will not buy a car. A car will not be bought by her.
Will she buy a car? Will a car be bought by her?

Future Perfect Tense (passive Voice)

Auxiliary verb in passive voice: will have been
Present Perfect Tense (passive Voice)
Auxiliary verb in passive voice: has been/have been
Active voice: Passive voice:
You will have started the The job will have been started
Active voice: Passive voice: job. by you.
She has finished his Her work has been finished by You will have not started The job will not have been
work her. the job. started by you.
She has not finished her Her work has not been finished Will you have started the Will the job have been started
work. by her. job? by you?
Has she finished her Has her work been finished by
work? her?
Note: The following tenses cannot be changed into passive
voice.

Past Simple Tense (passive Voice) 1. Present perfect continuous tense

Auxiliary verb in passive voice: was/were 2. Past perfect continuous tense
3. Future continuous tense
Active voice: Passive voice: 4. Future perfect continuous tense
I killed a snake A snake was killed by me. 5. Sentence having Intransitive verbs
I did not kill a snake. A snake was not killed by me.
Did I kill a snake? Was a snake killed by me? Fundamental Rules

 The places of subject and object in sentence are

Past Continuous Tense (Passive Voice) inter-changed in passive voice.
Auxiliary verb in passive voice: was being/were being  3rd form of verb (past participle) will be used
only (as main verb) in passive voice.
Active voice: Passive voice:  Auxiliary verbs for each tense are given below in
He was driving a car. A car was being driven by him. the table.
He was not driving a A car was not being driven by
car. him.
Was he driving a car? Was a car being driven by him?
Click on the following links to study each aspect of
active and passive voice.
Past Perfect Tense (Passive Voice)
Auxiliary verb in passive voice: had been Active and Passive Voice
Passive voice for all TENSES - Rules, use of auxiliary
verbs and examples.
Active voice: Passive voice:
They had completed the The assignment had been Passive voice for Present Modals like “CAN, MAY,
assignment. completed by them. MIGHT, SHOULD, MUST, OUGHT TO” and Past
They had not completed The assignment had not been Modals like “MAY HAVE, MIGHT HAVE, SHOULD
the assignment. complete by them. HAVE, MUST HAVE, OUGHT TO HAVE”
Had they completed the Had the assignment been Passive voice of imperative sentences (command and
assignment? completed by them? request)
Sentences which cannot be changed into passive voice –
Intransitive verbs.

Future Simple Tense (Passive Voice)

Auxiliary verb in passive voice: will be
Use of Passive Passive: A letter will be written

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is Active: Rita can write
not important or not known, however, who or what is Hilfsverben
performing the action.
Passive: A letter can be written

Example: My bike was stolen.

Examples of Passive
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike
was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it. Tense Subject Verb

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active Active: Rita is writing
voice, as the following example shows: Present Progressive
Passive: A letter is being written
Example: A mistake was made.
Active: Rita was writing
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, Past Progressive
but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.). Passive: A letter was being written

Form of Passive Active: Rita had written

Past Perfect
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column Passive: A letter had been written
of irregular verbs)
Active: Rita will have written
Example: A letter was written. Future II
Passive: A letter will have been written
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the
following: Active: Rita would write
Conditional I
 the object of the active sentence becomes the Passive: A letter would be written
subject of the passive sentence
 the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + Active: Rita would have written
past participle) Conditional II
 the subject of the active sentence becomes the Passive: A letter would have been writte
object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Tense Subject Verb Object
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive
Active: Rita writes voice means that one ofathe two objects becomes the
letter.
subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to
Simple Present transform into a subject depends on what you want to put
Passive: A letter is written the focus on. by Rita.

Active: Rita wrote a letter.

Subject Verb Object 1
Simple Past
Passive: A letter was written Active: Rita by Rita. wrote a letter

Active: Rita has written Passive: A letter a letter. was written to me

Present Perfect
Passive: A letter has been written
Passive: I by Rita. was written a letter

Future I Active: Rita will write . a letter.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not Passive
sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Voice
Personal and Impersonal Passive
:
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active
sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So In the passive voice, the verb takes an object.
every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a
personal passive. All men are loved by God.
Nests are built by birds.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built. Bones are eaten by dog.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot These sentences are in passive voice. The Passive voice is
form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that used in English
can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you (a) To stress the action done rather than the doer of the
want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need action
an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called (b) If the doer is unknown
Impersonal Passive. (c) When it is more convenient.

Example: he says – it is said

How
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some
other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, to
Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of
perception (e. g. say, think, know). convert

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is active
said that women live longer than men.
voice
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal
Passive is more common.
sentences
Example: They say that women live longer than men. –
Women are said to live longer than men. into

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the passive

beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into
passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an voice:
infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and
that are dropped). First move the object in the active voice to the subject
position. Use the appropriate ‘be’ verb
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English (is/am/are/was/were/has been/have been/shall be/will be)
lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to To learn more about ‘Be’ Verbs Click here.
become the subject of the passive sentence.
Active Voice Passive Voice
When using the active voice, the subjects are the ones
performing the action.
Columbus discovered America was discovered by
God loves all men. America. Columbus
Birds build nests.
Dog eats bones. By whom was this work
In these three sentences the subject does the action. Hence Who did this work?
done?
they are in the active avoice.

Open the window Let the window be opened

 A letter is being written by Past Perfect
He is writing a letter had been going No Passive Voice
him Continuous Tense

The work will be finished by shall have been

I will finish the work
me Future Perfect going
No Passive Voice
Continuous Tense will have been
Somebody cleaned the room The room was cleaned going
yesterday yesterday.
Changes of Pronouns:
How to form passive forms of verbs?
Active Voice Passive Voice
Tense Active Passive
I me
is gone (Singular)
Present Tense go, goes
are gone (Plural) we us

was went you you

(Singular)
Past Tense went
were went he him
(Plural)
she her
will / can / may / will / can etc. =>
Future Tense
must => go be gone it it

is being going they them

Present Continuous am going (Singular)
Tense is going are being going Rules for changing Active Voice into Passive Voice:
(Plural)
 Identify the subject, the verb and the object:
was being gone SVO
are going
Past Continuous (Singular)  Change the object into subject
was going
Tense were being gone  Put the suitable helping verb or auxiliary verb. In
were eating
(Plural) case helping verb is given, use the same. But
note that the helping verb given agrees with the
Future Continuous will be going object.
Tense shall be going
No Passive Voice  Change the verb into past participle of the verb.
 Add the preposition "by"
 Change the subject into object.
have been gone
have gone (Plural)
Present Perfect Tense Active Voice Passive Voice
has gone has been gone
(Singular)
I write a letter A letter is written by me
Past Perfect Tense had gone had been gone
We must keep the rule The rule must be kept by us
shall have gone will have been
Future Perfect Tense You bought a book A book have been bought by you
will have gone gone

Present Perfect has been going He closed the window The window was closed by him
No Passive Voice
Continuous Tense have been going
She was writing letters
Letters were being written by
 her letter? by you?

I had posted a letter A letter had been posted by me Where can you hide this Where can this box be hidden
box? by you?
I do not drink tea Tea is not drunk by me

She does not eat a Sentences

A mango is not eaten by her
mango
with
He will have finished his The work will have been finished
work by him two

They are digging a well A well is being dug by them objects

Imperative Sentence : :
If the given sentence in the active voice is in the
If a sentence contains two objects namely Indirect Object
imperative, to get the passive voice use ‘Let’. Hence
and Direct Object in the Active Voice, two forms of Passive
Passive Voice = Let + Object + be + Past Participle
Voice can be formed.
Active Voice Passive Voice

Help me Let me be helped  She brought me a cup of coffee. (AV)

I was brought a cup of coffee by her. (PV) (or)
A cup of coffee was brought [to] me by her. (PV)
Sing a song Let a song be sing
 The teacher teaches us grammar. (AV)
Open the door Let the door be opened We are taught grammar by the teacher. (PV) (or)
Grammar is taught [to] us by the teacher. (PV)
Don’t eat this fruit Let not this fruit be eaten
Beware

of
Questions in the Passive :
If the question in the Active Voice begins with a Helping
verb the Passive voice must also begin with a suitable Complement
helping verb. Supposing the question begins with ‘Wh or
How’ form (what, when, how ...) the Passive Voice must :
begin with the same.
 They made him king. (AV)
Active Voice Passive Voice He was made king by them. (PV)

Is a letter being written by Infinitive and Gerund :

Are you writing a letter?
Is she beating the child?
Will you accept the
position?
you?
 I want to shoot the tiger. (AV)
Is the child beaten by her? I want the tiger to be shoot. (PV)
 I remember my father taking me to the theatre.
Will the position be accepted (AV)
by you? I remember being taken to the theatre by my
father. (PV)

By whom was the window

Who broke the window?
Why did you write such a
Passive Voice into Active Voice
broken?
While changing Passive Voice into Active Voice, we must
keep in mind all the rules of the Active Voice in the reverse
Why was such a letter written
order. We come across sentences in the Passive Voice
without subject or agent. In this case, supply the
appropriate subject.  One finds mosquitoes everywhere.
To decide whether the given passive voice sentence is in Mosquitoes are found everywhere.
passive voice, any one of the following constructions  He gave us a cheque.
should be present. A cheque was given to us.

 1. is, was ,are, were, am + past participle

 2. be + past participle
 3. being + past participle
 4. been + past participle
 5. Let ...be + past participle
Changing Passive Voice to Active Voice.
Passive Voice
Passive Voice
Mice are eaten by cats.
Although the passive voice is less common than the active
voice, there are several good reasons to sometimes use the
passive. On this page we look at how to construct the
passive voice and when and why to use it. (For a basic
explanation of the difference between active and passive,
Active Voice
please see voice.)

The thief was finally
arrested
We were taught grammar
My purse has been stolen Somebody has stolen my purse
The police finally arrested the How do we make the passive?
thief
The basic structure of a passive clause is very simple:
The teacher taught us
grammar
auxiliary verb main verb
subject + + + by + agent
be past participle

optional
The patients were looked The doctor looked after the
after patients

The auxiliary be is conjugated in all tenses. The main verb

is always the past participle. The agent is the original
PASSIVE VOICE / IMPERSONALPASSIVEDifferences
"doer" of the action.
between passive voice with ‘by’- phrase and
Look at some examples:
impersonal passive:Compare these two sentences:

main verb
 Last year, the Green-India scheme was subject auxiliary verb be by
announced by the Government. past participle
 Rare plants are found in Silent Valley.
I am employed by Apple.
In the first sentence, the doer/agent is explicitly
mentioned because the doer is important in that sentence. You will be woken at 6.
But in the second sentence it is not so, because either the
agent or doer of the action is too obvious or unknown. It will have been finished by then.

The passive construction is quite common in scientific / We have been notified by Head Office.
technical / business writing. In these types of objective
writing the emphasis is usually on the action or process or You are being transferred next week.
thing that is described. So the ‘by’ phrase is generally
omitted in these writings. It is called Impersonal They will be paid.
Passive.Converting the following sentences into
imperative passive.
Notice above↑:
 They say that might is right.
It is said that might is right.  auxiliary be can be conjugated for all persons
and tenses
  main verb is invariable: past participle main
 if there is an agent (Apple, Head Office), it is auxilia verb
introduced by by subje
ry verb past
ct
be participl
Agentless passive e

The subject of an active sentence "does" the action. In a

Haven forgotte
passive sentence, we express the doer (or agent) through a they been
by phrase (the long passive) or, very often, we remove it 't n?
completely (the short passive). In the following example,
the agent is "the Allies":
Notice above↑:
active The Allies firebombed Dresden.
 position of auxiliary be or first auxiliary for
passive long Dresden was firebombed by the Allies. questions
 possible positions of not, n't, never to create
short Dresden was firebombed. negation

Use of the passive

The short passive is also known as the "agentless passive".
Soon you will see how useful it can be. When and why do we use passive voice?

Negatives and questions
The table below shows examples of the passive with
negative sentences, question sentences and negative-
question sentences:
There are several times when the passive voice is useful,
and usually the decision has to do with the "doer" (agent)
or the "receiver" of the action. For example, we use the
passive when:
1. we want to emphasize the receiver of the action:

main
auxilia verb  President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey
subje Oswald.
ry verb past
ct cf: Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy.
be participl
e 2. we don't know who did the action (the agent):

no to watch
You are paid  My wallet has been stolen.
t YouTube. cf: Somebody has stolen my wallet.
-
wil nev employe 3. we think the agent is not important or interesting:
They be by us.
l er d
 Our house is being painted.
Are they cleaned regularly? cf: XYZ Company is painting our house.

?
your 4. the agent is obvious:
Has been stolen?
wallet
 I am paid weekly.
no immediatel cf: My company pays me weekly.
Is he notified
t y?
- 5. we are making general statements or announcements:
?
dismisse
Will they not be
d?  Passengers are reminded to fasten their
seatbelts.
 cf: The Captain reminds passengers to fasten infinitives and participles, can be produced in the passive
their seatbelts. voice. Some of the more complicated tenses (mostly perfect
continuous) are rarely used in the passive, but they are
possible.
6. the agent is everyone:

Here are some examples of the passive voice with many of

 The emergency services can be called by dialling the possible forms using the verb sing:
999.
cf: The public can call the emergency services by
dialling 999. infinitive to be sung

7. we are writing formal or scientific texts: perfect infinitive to have been sung

 Potassium was added and mixed in. The solution participle sung
was heated to 80°C and then allowed to cool.
cf: The technician added potassium and mixed it perfect participle having been sung
in. The technician heated the solution to 80°C
and then allowed it to cool.
gerund being sung

8. we want to avoid responsibility for our own actions

(typically found in government reports): Simple Continuous Perfect

 Mistakes were made and unfortunately never Present

am, are, is am, are, is being have, has been
rectified. sung sung sung
cf: The Prime Minister made mistakes and
unfortunately never rectified them. was, were was, were being
Past had been sung
sung sung
Look at this sentence:
will have been
Future will be sung will be being sung
 He was killed with a gun. sung

Normally we use by to introduce the agent. But the gun is

not the original doer of the action. The gun did not kill
him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active
voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun.
Somebody is the agent. The gun is the instrument.

The get-passive

Although we normally construct the passive with be + past

participle, it is also possible (in informal language) to use
get + past participle. So if France beat England at football,
we could turn this to passive and say "England were beaten
by France" (be-passive) or "England got beaten by France"
(get-passive). And we might also add: "But France will get
thrashed by Russia."

For formal English and exams you should use the be-
passive, but in informal language people sometimes use the
get-passive.

Forms of passive

The passive voice is not a tense itself. But for transitive

verbs each tense, as well as other verb forms such as