The Passive Voice in English (A2)
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The passive voice (be + past participle) focuses on the action rather than who does it. This lesson introduces how to form the passive and when it is more natural than the active.
The passive voice changes the focus of a sentence. In the active voice the subject does the action — Builders constructed the bridge. In the passive, the thing receiving the action becomes the subject — The bridge was constructed. The event is identical; what changes is what the sentence is about.
You form the passive with the verb be in the appropriate tense plus the past participle. That means you need to know your irregular participles well, because they appear in every passive sentence: is made, was written, has been sent, will be built.
The passive is used when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious from context. My bike was stolen does not tell you who stole it, because you do not know. English is made in factories would be odd; The cars are made in Germany is natural, because the manufacturer is not the point. When you do want to name the doer, add by: The report was written by our team.
How to form The Passive Voice
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | They make the cars here. | The cars are made here. |
| Past simple | Someone stole my bike. | My bike was stolen. |
| Present continuous | They are repairing the road. | The road is being repaired. |
| Present perfect | They have sent the letters. | The letters have been sent. |
| Future with will | They will announce the results. | The results will be announced. |
| Modal | They must complete the form. | The form must be completed. |
The Passive Voice: the key rules
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The passive = be + past participle; the object becomes the subject.
Leonardo painted it → It was painted by Leonardo.
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Use the passive when the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant.
My bike was stolen last night.
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The tense lives in be: is made (present), was made (past), will be made (future).
These phones are made in Vietnam.
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Add by + agent only when the doer matters.
The novel was written by a teenager.
When to use The Passive Voice
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The doer is unknown
You cannot name who did it, so the passive lets you report the event anyway.
My car was broken into last night.
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The doer is obvious or unimportant
Naming the agent would add nothing, so English leaves it out.
The suspect was arrested. English is spoken here.
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Processes and instructions
Very common in technical, scientific and procedural writing, where the process matters more than the person.
The mixture is heated to 80 degrees and then cooled.
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Formal announcements and rules
The passive sounds impersonal and official, which suits notices and regulations.
Bags must be left at the entrance. Visitors are asked to sign in.
Active vs. passive
Neither is better in general. Choose according to what you want the sentence to be about.
Active — focus on the doer
Shorter, more direct, and preferred in most everyday writing and speech.
The chef prepared the meal. Someone has taken my seat.
Passive — focus on the receiver
Used when the doer is unknown, irrelevant, or when you want an impersonal tone.
The meal was prepared by the chef. My seat has been taken.
The Passive Voice in example sentences
- This bridge was built in 1890.Past simple passive; the builder is unknown.
- The rooms are cleaned every morning.Present simple passive for a routine process.
- Your order has been dispatched.Present perfect passive — very common in business English.
- The road is being resurfaced this week.Present continuous passive.
- The results will be published on Friday.Future passive with will.
- All forms must be signed.Modal passive — must + be + participle.
- The novel was written by a teenager.by names the agent when it is worth mentioning.
- I was given a second chance.With two-object verbs, the person can become the subject.
The Passive Voice in a real conversation
Notice how often the agent is simply left out because nobody needs to know who did it.
Customer:Has my order been sent yet?
Agent:It was dispatched this morning. You'll be notified by email.
Customer:The last parcel was damaged when it arrived.
Agent:I'm sorry. Was a claim submitted at the time?
Customer:No. I was told to wait for a replacement.
Agent:That should have been handled differently. It will be refunded today.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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My wallet stolen yesterday.
My wallet was stolen yesterday.
The passive collapses without be — the participle alone is not a verb.
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The room was clean by the staff. (meaning the action)
The room was cleaned by the staff.
The passive needs the participle cleaned; clean here is just an adjective.
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English is speak all over the world.
English is spoken all over the world.
Be + past participle — speak must become spoken.
Check yourself: 10 The Passive Voice questions
Answer these and see the reason for each one. They are 10 of the 60 exercises in the full The Passive Voice practice set.
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This bridge ___ in 1974.
- were built
- was built
- built
- is build
Show answer
was built — A singular subject in the past passive takes was plus the participle.
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Which sentence is passive?
- My bike disappeared.
- I lost my bike.
- My bike was stolen.
- Somebody stole my bike.
Show answer
My bike was stolen. — Was plus a past participle is the passive structure.
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The museum ___ every Monday.
- are closed
- closing
- close
- is closed
Show answer
is closed — A singular subject in the present passive takes is.
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Which word introduces the doer of a passive action?
- by
- from
- with
- of
Show answer
by — The by phrase names the agent: written by a composer.
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English ___ in more than sixty countries.
- speaks
- is spoken
- is speaking
- was spoke
Show answer
is spoken — The present passive of speak is is spoken.
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Make this passive sentence active: The cake was made by my sister.
- The cake made my sister.
- My sister is made the cake.
- My sister made the cake.
- My sister was made the cake.
Show answer
My sister made the cake. — The by phrase becomes the subject of the active sentence.
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This house ___ built in 1890.
Show answer
was — A singular subject in the past passive takes was.
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That novel was written ___ a Turkish author.
Show answer
by — The by phrase introduces the agent of a passive sentence.
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The results will be ___ by email.
Show answer
announced — The participle follows will be in the future passive.
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The building is ___ used as a school.
Show answer
still — An adverb can sit between be and the past participle in a passive sentence.
Practise The Passive Voice today
Convert in both directions — turning passives back into actives teaches the structure just as well.
- Rewrite six active sentences as passives, keeping the tense the same.
- Rewrite four passive sentences as actives, inventing an agent where needed.
- Write four sentences about how a product in your home is made or delivered.
- Find three passive sentences in any news article and identify the tense of be.
The Passive Voice: frequently asked questions
How do I keep the tense right when I make a passive?
The tense moves onto be, and the main verb becomes a fixed past participle. So they write becomes it is written, they wrote becomes it was written, and they have written becomes it has been written. A useful check is to identify the tense of the active sentence first, put be into that exact tense, then add the participle. The participle itself never changes.
When should I include by?
Only when the agent adds real information. The novel was written by Orwell is worth saying; The bread was baked by a baker is not. Research suggests around eighty per cent of passive sentences in English omit the agent entirely, which reflects the main reason the passive exists — to let you talk about an event without naming who caused it.
Can every verb be made passive?
No — only transitive verbs, meaning verbs that take an object. You can say The letter was sent because send takes an object. You cannot make a passive from arrive, happen, sleep, come or go, because there is no object to promote to subject. If you cannot answer the question what? after the verb, the verb has no passive.
Is the passive bad style?
Not inherently, despite what many writing guides suggest. It is the right choice when the doer is genuinely unknown or unimportant, and it is standard in scientific, legal and technical writing. The advice to avoid it targets overuse — long chains of passives make prose vague and evasive. Use it deliberately for a reason, and prefer the active when you have a clear subject.