The Passive Voice in English (B1)
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The passive voice moves the focus from who does an action to the action itself, and at B1 you use it across several tenses. This lesson shows how to form and choose the passive naturally.
At B1 the passive moves beyond simple tense transformation into the structures that make it genuinely useful: passives with modal verbs, passives with two objects, and the impersonal reporting passive used constantly in news and academic writing.
The core mechanics stay the same — be in the appropriate tense plus the past participle — but the range of tenses widens. You now need present perfect passives (has been sent), past perfect passives (had been completed) and modal passives (must be signed, might have been lost).
The most distinctively B1 structure is the reporting passive: It is said that the company is expanding, or The company is said to be expanding. This lets you report information without committing to its source, which is exactly why journalism and academic writing rely on it so heavily.
How to form The Passive Voice in Every Tense
| Tense or form | Passive structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | am/is/are + participle | The forms are checked daily. |
| Past simple | was/were + participle | The forms were checked. |
| Present continuous | is/are being + participle | The forms are being checked. |
| Past continuous | was/were being + participle | The forms were being checked. |
| Present perfect | has/have been + participle | The forms have been checked. |
| Past perfect | had been + participle | The forms had been checked. |
| Future | will be + participle | The forms will be checked. |
| Modal | modal + be + participle | The forms must be checked. |
| Modal perfect | modal + have been + participle | The forms should have been checked. |
The Passive Voice in Every Tense: the key rules
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At B1 the passive spreads across tenses: is being repaired (continuous), has been sold (perfect), will be announced (future).
The bridge is being repaired, so the road has been closed.
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Use the passive to keep the topic in subject position and to sound objective — the register of news and reports.
Two suspects were arrested and are being questioned.
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Verbs with two objects allow two passives; English prefers the person as subject.
I was given a second chance. (rather than: A second chance was given to me.)
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Modals form the passive with be: must be signed, can be seen, should be checked.
This form must be signed by a parent.
When to use The Passive Voice in Every Tense
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Reporting without naming a source
The impersonal passive lets you present information as widely held without attributing it.
It is believed that the talks will resume next month.
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Formal rules and procedures
Modal passives are the standard register for regulations and instructions.
All applications must be submitted before the deadline.
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Focusing on the affected party
With two-object verbs, either object can become the subject, changing the emphasis.
I was offered the job. / The job was offered to me.
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Describing processes
Technical and scientific writing uses the passive to keep attention on the procedure.
The samples are heated, filtered and then analysed.
Two ways to build the reporting passive
Both structures report an unattributed claim, but they place the emphasis differently.
It is said that…
Impersonal it as subject, followed by a full that clause. Neutral and very common in news.
It is thought that the fire started in the kitchen.
Subject + is said to…
The real subject comes first, followed by an infinitive. Slightly more formal and compact.
The fire is thought to have started in the kitchen.
The Passive Voice in Every Tense in example sentences
- The results have been published online.Present perfect passive.
- The road was being resurfaced when we drove past.Past continuous passive.
- All bags must be left at reception.Modal passive for a rule.
- The message should have been sent yesterday.Modal perfect passive expressing criticism.
- She was given a second interview.The person becomes the subject with a two-object verb.
- It is said that the building is haunted.Impersonal reporting passive.
- The company is reported to be closing two sites.Subject-first reporting passive.
- The documents had been destroyed before the audit.Past perfect passive.
The Passive Voice in Every Tense in a real conversation
Notice how the passive keeps the focus on the process while leaving the agent unnamed.
Auditor:When were these records last checked?
Manager:They were reviewed in March. Nothing has been changed since.
Auditor:Were any files removed during the move?
Manager:Two boxes are believed to have been lost, but they've been reconstructed.
Auditor:That should have been reported at the time.
Manager:Agreed. New procedures are being introduced this quarter.
Common mistakes (and how to fix them)
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The house is building at the moment.
The house is being built at the moment.
The continuous passive needs being — is building would mean the house is doing the building.
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The email was send yesterday.
The email was sent yesterday.
The passive requires the past participle sent, not the base form.
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It can be happen to anyone.
It can happen to anyone.
Happen has no object, so it can never be passive — a very common overcorrection.
Check yourself: 10 The Passive Voice in Every Tense questions
Answer these and see the reason for each one. They are 10 of the 60 exercises in the full The Passive Voice in Every Tense practice set.
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My bicycle ___ last night from outside the library.
- has stolen
- is stealing
- stole
- was stolen
Show answer
was stolen — The past simple passive is was or were plus the past participle.
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The results ___ by the end of the week.
- will be announced
- will announced
- are announcing
- will announce
Show answer
will be announced — The future passive is will be plus the past participle.
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English ___ in more than fifty countries.
- has spoken
- is spoken
- speaks
- is speaking
Show answer
is spoken — The present simple passive states a general fact where the doer is everybody.
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Which sentence is in the active voice?
- The cake has been eaten.
- The cake was eaten.
- Someone ate the cake.
- The cake is being eaten.
Show answer
Someone ate the cake. — Only the third names the doer as the grammatical subject.
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The machine ___ serviced every six months.
- should to be
- should
- should being
- should be
Show answer
should be — Modal plus be plus the past participle is the standard modal passive.
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We ___ that the delay was caused by a signal failure.
- are told
- told
- are telling
- tell
Show answer
are told — Be told is the passive of a reporting verb, used when the source of the information is unimportant.
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The office ___ cleaned every evening after six.
Show answer
is — The present simple passive uses is or are plus the past participle for a routine.
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The winners ___ be announced at the ceremony tonight.
Show answer
will — The future passive is will be plus the past participle.
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Our flight ___ cancelled without any explanation.
Show answer
was — The airline is not named, which is exactly what the passive allows.
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Every application ___ reviewed by two assessors.
Show answer
is — A standard procedure takes the present simple passive, and here by adds real information.
Practise The Passive Voice in Every Tense today
Work through the tenses systematically — the participle never changes, only be does.
- Convert one active sentence into all nine passive forms in the table.
- Write five rules for a workplace using modal passives.
- Rewrite four news claims using both reporting-passive structures.
- Correct these: The letter was send. — It has been sent by yesterday. — She was give a prize.
The Passive Voice in Every Tense: frequently asked questions
How do I form a passive with a modal verb?
Put be between the modal and the participle: must be completed, can be seen, should be avoided. The modal itself never changes. For the past, use modal plus have been plus the participle: should have been completed, might have been lost. This modal-perfect passive is common in complaints and criticism, which is why it appears so often in professional English.
Which object becomes the subject with verbs like give?
Either can, and English usually prefers the person. Give, send, offer, show, tell and teach take two objects, so They offered Maria the job can become Maria was offered the job or The job was offered to Maria. The first is far more common because English tends to put people in subject position. Note that the second version needs to before the person.
When should I use the reporting passive?
When you want to convey information whose source is unknown, unimportant or something you do not wish to endorse. Journalism uses it constantly — It is understood that talks have collapsed — because it reports without asserting. Academic writing uses it to summarise prevailing views. In everyday conversation it sounds formal, so people say they say or apparently instead.
Is the passive overused in academic writing?
It has been, historically, and many style guides now push back. The passive is genuinely appropriate when the agent is irrelevant or unknown, and when the process matters more than the person. It becomes a problem when it hides responsibility — mistakes were made — or when it produces long, agentless chains that are hard to follow. Use it deliberately rather than by default.