Active / Passive Verb Forms

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms"
and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully
speak English.

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:

Passive Form
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence
and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence.
You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more
important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do
not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the
action.
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing
action]
Examples:

Active / Passive Overview

Active

Passive

Simple
Present

Once
a
week,
Tom cleans the house.

Once a week, the house is

cleaned by Tom.

Present
Continuous

Right
now,
writing the letter.

Right now, the letter is being

written by Sarah.

Simple Past

Sam repaired the car.

The car was repaired by Sam.

Past
Continuous

The
salesman was
helping the customer when
the thief came into the store.

The
customer was
being
helped by the salesman when
the thief came into the store.

Present
Perfect

Many
tourists have
visited that castle.

That
castle has
been
visited by many tourists.

Present
Perfect
Continuous

Recently, John has

doing the work.

been

Recently, the work has been

being done by John.

Past Perfect

George had repaired many

cars before he received his
mechanic's license.

Many
cars had
been
repaired by George before he
received
his
mechanic's

Sarah is

license.
Past Perfect
Continuous

Chef
Jones had
been
preparing the
restaurant's
fantastic dinners for two
years before he moved to
Paris.

The
restaurant's
fantastic
dinners had
been
being
prepared by Chef Jones for
two years before he moved to
Paris.

Simple
Future

Someone will
work by 5:00 PM.

finish the

The work will be finished by

5:00 PM.

Sally is going to make a

beautiful dinner tonight.

A beautiful dinner is going to

be made by Sally tonight.

At 8:00 PM tonight, John will

be washing the dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the

dishes will
be
being
washed by John.

At 8:00 PM tonight, John is

going to be washing the
dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the

dishes are going to be being
washed by John.

They will
have
completed the project before
the deadline.

The project will have been

completed before
the
deadline.

They are going to have

completed the project before
the deadline.

The project is going to have

been completed before the
deadline.

The famous artist will have

been painting the mural for
over six months by the time it
is finished.

The mural will have been

being painted by the famous
artist for over six months by
the time it is finished.

The famous artist is going to

have been painting the
mural for over six months by
the time it is finished.

The mural is going to have

been being painted by the
famous artist for over six
months by the time it is
finished.

WILL

Simple
Future
BE GOING TO

Future
Continuous
WILL

Future
Continuous
BE GOING TO

Future
Perfect
WILL

Future
Perfect
BE GOING TO

Future
Perfect
Continuous
WILL

Future
Perfect
Continuous
BE GOING TO

Used to

Jerry used to pay the bills.

The bills used to be paid by

Jerry.

Would
Always

My mother would
make the pies.

always

The pies would always be

made by my mother.

Future in the
Past

I
knew
John would
finish the work by 5:00 PM.

I knew the work would be

finished by 5:00 PM.

I thought Sally was going to

make a
beautiful
dinner
tonight.

I
thought
a
beautiful
dinner was going to be
made by Sally tonight.

WOULD

Future in the
Past
WAS

GOING

TO

Passive Voice

The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is
the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this
lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and
how to conjugate it.

Construction of the Passive Voice

The structure of the passive voice is very simple:

subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)

The main verb is always in its past participle form.

Look at these examples:

subject

auxiliary verb
(to be)

main verb
(past participle)

Water

is

drunk

by everyone.

100 people

are

employed

by this company.

am

paid

in euro.

We

are

paid

in dollars.

Are

they

paid

in yen?

Use of the Passive Voice

not

We use the passive when:

we want to make the active object more important

we do not know the active subject

give importance to active

object
(President
Kennedy)
active subject unknown

subject

verb

object

President
Kennedy

was killed

by Lee
Harvey
Oswald.

My wallet

has been
stolen.

Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are
eaten by cats).

Look at this sentence:

He was killed with a gun.

Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not
the active subject. 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. The gun is the instrument. Somebody
is the "agent" or "doer".
Conjugation for the Passive Voice

We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in

the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past
participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required
tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:

present simple: It is made

present continuous: It is being made
present perfect: It has been made

Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:

infinitive
simple

continuous

perfect simple

to be washed
present

It is washed.

past

It was washed.

future

It will be washed.

conditional

It would be washed.

present

It is being washed.

past

It was being washed.

future

It will be being washed.

conditional

It would be being washed.

present

It has been washed.

past

It had been washed.

future

It will have been washed.

conditional

It would have been washed.

perfect continuous

present

It has been being washed.

past

It had been being washed.

future

It will have been being washed.

conditional

It would have been being washed.

Active and passive voice exercise

1. The problem . to the children. (explained / was explained)

2. Those pyramids . around 400 AD. (built / were built)
3. All the trouble .. by your mother. (has caused / was caused)
4. The visitors . (were shown / have shown) a collection of old
manuscripts.
5. I . him ten thousand pounds last year. (lend / lent / was lent)
6. She of spiders. (frightened / is frightened)
7. That picture . by my grandmother. (painted / was painted)
8. I .. by his attitude. (shocked / have shocked / was shocked)
9. Excuse the mess. The house (is painting / is being painted / has
painted)
10. I knew why I . (had chosen / had been chosen)
Answers

1. The problem was explained to the children.

2. Those pyramids were built around 400 AD.
3. All the trouble was caused by your mother.
4. The visitors were shown a collection of old manuscripts.
5. I lent him ten thousand pounds last year.
6. She is frightened of spiders.
7. That picture was painted by my grandmother.
8. I was shocked by his attitude.
9. Excuse the mess. The house is being painted.
10. I knew why I had been chosen.