Passive Voice

What is the passive voice?

• The passive voice in English grammar allows us to make

the recipient of the action the focus of the sentence;
the person or thing performing the action is unknown,
unimportant or obvious.

• The passive is formed as follows: form of be + past

participle.
When to use the passive in English
grammar

• Active sentences usually follow the subject-verb-

object word order and focus on the person or thing
performing the action.
Example:
A criminal stole my bike.

• In contrast, the passive voice focuses on the action itself.

Passive sentences tell us what happens to the recipient of
the action.
Example:
My bike was stolen.
When to use the passive in English
grammar

• We use the passive when the person or thing performing

the action (known as the agent) is unknown, unimportant
or obvious.

Examples:

My bike was stolen. → unknown agent

An investigation is being conducted. → obvious agent (the police)

A mistake has been made. → avoids naming the agent

Any information should be reported to the police. → people in general

When to use the passive in English
grammar

• If we want to include the agent of a passive sentence, we

use the preposition by.

Example:
My bike was stolen by a criminal.
They had already been informed by my neighbour.
How to form the passive in English
grammar

• Passive sentences are formed as follows:

form of be + past participle of the main verb

• Only the form of the verb be changes depending on

the tense that we are using; the past participle remains the
same in every tense.
 Tense Example
Simple Present The thief is arrested.
Present The thief is being arrested.
Progressive
Present Perfect The thief has been arrested.
Simple Past The thief was arrested.
Past Progressive The thief was being arrested.
Past Perfect The thief had been arrested.
Will Future The thief will be arrested.
Future with The thief is going to be arrested.
going to
Future Perfect The thief will have been arrested.
The thief should be arrested.
Infinitive
The thief would be arrested.
Info The thief should have been arrested.
Perfect Infinitive
The thief would have been arrested.
The present perfect progressive and the past perfect progressive do not exist in the passive. Instead, we use the
simple forms (present perfect simple and past perfect simple).
Exercise

• She planted a seed.

How to change a sentence from active
to passive
• Step 1: identify the object of the sentence and bring it to
the front
active: Someone stole my bike.
passive: My bike …

• Step 2: identify
the tense and conjugate the verb be accordingly
active: Someone stole my bike. = simple past
passive: My bike was …

• Step 3: find the past participle of the main verb

active: Someone stole my bike. → steal – stole – stolen
passive: My bike was stolen.
How to change a sentence from active
to passive
• Step 4: decide if you need to include the agent
active: Someone stole my bike. → Who stole the bike? We don’t know.
The agent is unknown and therefore unnecessary in this
case.

• Step 5: if the agent is important, we introduce it using

the preposition by.
active: A cyclist caused the crash.
passive: The crash was caused by a cyclist.
This sentence does not make sense without the agent.
 Exercise
Tense Active Passive
Simple Present Someone steals my bike.
Present Someone is stealing my bike.
Progressive
Present Perfect Someone has stolen my bike.
Simple Past Someone stole my bike.
Past Progressive Someone was stealing my bike.
Past Perfect Someone had stolen my bike.
Will Future Someone will steal my bike.
Future with Someone is going to steal my bike.
going to
Future Perfect Someone will have stolen my bike.
Someone would steal my bike.
Infinitive
Someone can steal my bike.
 Exercise
Tense Active Passive
Simple Present Someone steals my bike. My bike is stolen.
Present Someone is stealing my bike. My bike is being stolen.
Progressive
Present Perfect Someone has stolen my bike. My bike has been stolen.
Simple Past Someone stole my bike. My bike was stolen.
Past Progressive Someone was stealing my bike. My bike was being stolen.
Past Perfect Someone had stolen my bike. My bike had been stolen.
Will Future Someone will steal my bike. My bike will be stolen.
Future with Someone is going to steal my bike. My bike is going to be stolen.
going to
Someone will have stolen my bike. My bike will have been
Future Perfect
stolen.
Someone would steal my bike. My bike would be stolen.
Infinitive
The passive in sentences with two
objects

• Certain verbs like ask, give, offer, pay, send, show etc. are
used with two objects. Usually, one is a person (indirect
object) and the other is a thing (direct object).

• In the active voice, these sentences can be expressed in

two different ways:
Example:
Someone gave Josie this calendar.
Someone gave this calendar to Josie.

• indirect object (IO): Josie; direct object (DO): this calendar

The passive in sentences with two
objects

• This is the same in the passive voice; either object can

become the subject of the passive sentence.

Example:
Josie was given this calendar.
indirect object (Josie) → subject (Josie)

This calendar was given to Josie.

direct object (this calendar) → subject (this calendar)
Changing object pronouns to
subject pronouns

• When the indirect object of an active sentence is an object

pronoun (me, you, him, her …), we must change it to a
subject pronoun in the passive voice.

Object
Subject
Active Voice Pronou Passive Voice
Pronoun
n
They told me about the
me I I was told about the crime.
crime.
They told you about the You were told about the
you you
crime. crime.
They told her about the She was told about the
her she
crime. crime.
Exercise

Subjec
Object t
Active Voice Passive Voice
Pronoun Pronou
n
They told him about the
him he
crime.
They reported it to the
it it
police.
They told us about the
us we
crime.
They told them about the
Personal & Impersonal Passive

• In formal situations such as news reports or academic articles, we use

reporting verbs and verbs of speech and thought in the passive voice to
express information in a neutral, unbiased way.

• Common verbs: agree, announce, assume, believe, claim, consider, declare,

expect, feel, find, know, mention, say, suppose, think, and understand.

• Such sentences can start with it (impersonal passive) or with

the subject (personal passive).

Example:
It is said that this area has a high crime rate. (impersonal passive)
This area is said to have a high crime rate. (personal passive)
= They say that this area has a high crime rate.
Impersonal Passive

• Sentences in the impersonal passive begin with it: it is

said/believed/agreed etc. + that + clause.
Examples:
It is believed that the suspect has blonde hair.
It is said that the neighbourhood is a hotspot for crime.
It is assumed that the thief is local to the area.
• Note: in the impersonal form, only the reporting verb is
formed in the passive voice; the rest of the sentence stays
the same.
Personal Passive

• Sentences in the personal passive begin with the subject and contain
an infinitive clause: subject + is said/believed/thought etc. + to +
infinitive.

Examples:
The suspect is believed to have blonde hair.
The neighbourhood is said to be a hotspot for crime.
The thief is assumed to be local to the area.

• We use the perfect infinitive (have + past participle) after the reporting
verb to refer to the past.

Example:
The theft is believed to have occurred at midnight last night.
The thief is said to have acted alone.
have/get something done

• We can also form the passive with have/get + object + past

participle. (Note: get is more informal than have).
• We use this form when someone else does something for
us, particularly in the context of paid services.

• Active:
I do my hair.
I do this myself
• Passive:
I have/get my hair done.
I pay someone else to do this for me
have/get something done

• Like with a standard passive, the agent of the action is unknown or

unimportant; the focus is on the action itself.
Example:
Tom has/gets his car cleaned at the garage.

• If we want to include the agent, we use by.

Example:
He had his suit made by a tailor.

• We can use this structure in every tense:

Examples:
I’m getting my hair done tomorrow. (present progressive)
We had our kitchen renovated last year. (simple past)
They’ve had the dishwasher repaired several times. (present perfect simple)
Exercises

Complete the sentences with the correct form of the

passive.

• I don’t have to buy the paper because it (deliver) to our house

every day.
• When Kylie went to school, she (pick up) by her parents every day.
• You don’t have to clean the bathroom. It (clean/already) by
someone else.
• Relax! From now on, I promise that everything (do) for you.
• When I came home, dinner (cook/not) yet.
Exercises

Rewrite the sentences in the passive voice. Use the

same tense as in the active sentence. Only use by if
necessary.

• They offer free trials twice a year.

• Someone is cutting the grass next door.
• All parties have signed the contract.
• A car hit the traffic light.
Exercises

Rewrite the sentences in two ways: once in the

impersonal passive and once in the personal passive.
Example:
They think that he earns a lot of money.
→ It is thought that he earns a lot of money.
→ He is thought to earn a lot of money.
Exercises

• Visitors say that these museums have wonderful exhibits.

It ____________ these museums have wonderful exhibits.
These museums ____________ wonderful exhibits.

• Everybody agrees that this sculpture is the artist’s greatest work.

It ____________ this sculpture is the artist’s greatest work.
This sculpture ____________ the artist’s greatest work.

• Experts assume that the diamond is priceless.

It ____________ the diamond is priceless.
The diamond ____________ priceless.

• Experts believe that this jewellery belonged to Cleopatra.

It ____________ this jewellery belonged to Cleopatra.
This jewellery ____________ to Cleopatra.
Sandra is reading today’s newspaper
Change this stories in passive voice
Change this stories in passive voice
Change this stories in passive voice
Change this stories in passive voice
Complete the sentences
Complete the passage