The Passive Voice - Ticket to English - PDF Download

 (PDF file below contains exercises)

Take a look at these examples to understand how the passive voice is formed:

• English is taught in many schools around the world.

• The pyramids were built by ancient Egyptians.

• A decision will be announced later today.

• The vaccine has been approved by the authorities.

Grammar Breakdown
We use the passive voice when we want to shift the focus of the sentence.

The windows were broken. (passive – focus on the windows)
Someone broke the windows. (active – focus on someone)

The passive is commonly used:

• when we don’t want to mention who did the action (maybe we don’t know, it’s obvious, or we prefer not to say)

• when starting with the most important or logical part of the sentence sounds better

• in formal or academic contexts

How to Form the Passive
The passive is created by using the verb "to be" + the past participle. The sentence begins with the object of the active sentence.

The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand.
↓ ↓ ↓

• It's not always necessary to mention who or what performed the action.

Dinner is served.
↓ ↓ ↓
Object + to be + past participle

• Only the form of to be changes to reflect the tense. The past participle remains unchanged.
  Below are examples of the passive voice in some of the most frequently used tenses

Tense	Example	Structure
Present simple	Emails are sent every morning.	is/are + past participle
Present continuous	A new road is being built near the school.	is/are being + past participle
Past simple	The phone was stolen during the meeting.	was/were + past participle
Past continuous	The decorations were being removed when we arrived.	was/were being + past participle
Present perfect	The documents have been signed by the manager.	has/have been + past participle
Past perfect	She realized her keys had been taken.	had been + past participle
Future simple	The report will be submitted tomorrow.	will be + past participle