In this lesson we will examine a very complex grammatical topic - Active and Passive Voice in English. Simply put, voice is an indicator of whether the subject is performing the action or the action is being performed on it.
There are two forms of voice in English: the Active Voice and the Passive Voice.
In the active voice, the verb denotes an action that is performed by the subject:
- I read twenty pages yesterday.
- Yesterday I read twenty pages.
In the passive voice, the verb denotes an action that is performed on the subject:
- Twenty pages were read by me yesterday.
- Yesterday I read twenty pages.
Compare the following examples:
- They usually sing such songs in class. (Active Voice)
- They usually sing such songs in class.
- Such songs are usually sang by them in class. (Passive Voice)
- Such songs are usually sung by them in class.
- Has the manager checked up your report? (Active Voice)
- Did the manager check your report?
- Has your report been checked up by the manager? (Passive Voice)
- Has your report been reviewed by the manager?
If you have reached the topic of voices in English, then by now you have already learned the tense forms of the verb in Active Voice. You already know that there are a total of 12 main active tenses in the English language. Each tense is formed in its own way, using endings and auxiliary verbs. What does the system of tenses in the passive voice look like?
The passive voice also has a tense system. But unlike the active voice, there are only 8 tense forms in it. All Perfect Continuous tenses, as well as the Future Continuous tense, are not used in Passive Voice.
To form tenses of the passive voice, we need the auxiliary verb to be, which must have the appropriate form of the active voice, and the past participle of the semantic verb. You already know that the past participle is formed using the -ed ending for regular verbs, or use the III form of irregular verbs from the table, which you need to know by heart.
The passive voice formation scheme for all tenses is as follows: How are tense forms of the passive voice formed?
Below, as examples, are tables of conjugation of the verbs to promote and to choose in the passive voice (affirmative form).
Simple Tenses in the Passive Voice −
Simple tenses in passive voice
| Present Simple Passive | Past Simple Passive | Future Simple Passive |
| I am promoted/chosen You are promoted/chosen He/ She/ It is promoted/ chosen |
I was promoted/chosen You were promoted/chosen He/ She/ It was promoted/ chosen |
I shall/ will be promoted/ chosen You will be promoted/chosen He/ She/ It will be promoted/ chosen |
| We are promoted/chosen You are promoted/chosen They are promoted/chosen |
We were promoted/chosen You were promoted/chosen They were promoted/chosen |
We shall / will be promoted / chosen You will be promoted/chosen They will be promoted/chosen |
Continuous Tenses in the Passive Voice -
Long tenses in passive voice
| Present Continuous Passive | Past Continuous Passive |
| I am being promoted/ chosen He/ She/ It is being promoted/ chosen |
I was being promoted/ chosen He/ She/ It was being promoted/ chosen |
| We are being promoted/chosen You are being promoted/ chosen They are being promoted/ chosen |
We were being promoted/chosen You were being promoted/ chosen They were being promoted/ chosen |
Perfect Tenses in the Passive Voice -
Perfect tenses in passive voice
| Present Perfect Passive | Past Perfect Passive | Future Perfect Passive |
| I have been promoted/chosen He/ She/ It has been promoted/ chosen |
I had been promoted/chosen He/ She/ It had been promoted/ chosen |
I shall/ will have been promoted/ chosen He/ She/ It will have been promoted/ chosen |
| We have been promoted/chosen You have been promoted/chosen They have been promoted/chosen |
We had been promoted/chosen You had been promoted/ chosen They had been promoted/chosen |
We shall / will have been promoted / chosen You will have been promoted/ chosen They will have been promoted/ chosen |
What verbs form Passive Voice forms?
All verbs in English have Active Voice forms. Not all verbs can form Passive Voice forms, mainly only Transitive Verbs.
Transitive verbs express an action directed at some object and take a direct, indirect or prepositional object.
Examples of transitive verbs in active and passive voices:
- Active: The pioneers have done much useful work on the collective farm.
- Passive: Much useful work has been done by the pioneers on the collective farm.
- Active: Jane’s friends gave her many presents for her birthday.
- Passive: Jane was given many presents for her birthday.
- Active: We shall build Communism in this country within the next twenty years.
- Passive: Communism will be built in this country within the next twenty years.
- Active: Everybody listened to the lecturer with great attention.
- Passive: The lecturer was listened to with great attention.
Intransitive Verbs express an action that characterizes the subject, but is not directed at any object. Intransitive verbs do not take objects. As a rule, they do not have passive voice forms or have them only in some cases.
Examples with intransitive verbs:
- We live in Russian Federation.
- I am a teacher.
There are verbs in English that, depending on their meaning, can be either transitive or intransitive. For example, the verb to grow meaning “to grow” is intransitive and does not form a passive voice form. In the meaning of “to grow” it is transitive and forms forms of the passive voice. Compare:
- Barley grows very fast - Barley grows very quickly (intransitive meaning, Active Voice)
- We grow many beautiful flowers in our small garden - We grow a lot beautiful flowers in our little garden (transitional meaning, Active Voice)
- Many beautiful flowers are grown in our garden - Many beautiful flowers are grown in our garden (transitive meaning, Passive Voice)
Constructions with verbs in Passive Voice
If a verb in Active Voice takes direct and indirect objects, then any of these objects can act as the subject of a sentence with a verb in Passive Voice.
Compare the following sentences:
- My parents told me many interesting facts about our family’s past. (verb to tell in Active Voice; indirect object - me, direct object - facts)
- I was told many interesting facts about our family’s past by my parents. (verb to tell in Passive Voice; the subject in sentence 2 corresponds to the indirect object in sentence 1 (I − me)
- Many interesting facts about our family’s past were told to me by my parents. (verb to tell in Passive Voice; the subject in sentence 3 corresponds to the direct object in sentence 1 (facts - facts)
Type 2 sentences in Passive Voice use the following verbs: to allow - to allow, to ask - to ask, to award - to assign, to forbid - to prohibit, to forgive - to forgive, to give - to give, to offer - to offer, to pay - to pay, to present - to give, to show - to show, to teach - to teach, to tell - to speak.
- My big brother was given many presents for his birthday - My older brother was given many gifts for his birthday
- They were asked some questions at the enter-exams - They were asked a couple of questions at the entrance exams
- We will be taught Spanish next year - We will be taught Spanish in next year
- I was shown the way by a small girl - The little girl showed me the way
In Russian, sentences of type 2 are not used in Passive Voice. Instead, indefinite personal sentences or personal sentences with a verb in Active Voice are used. Compare:
- We were told many interesting stories − We were told a lot interesting stories(vague personal sentence)
- We were told many stories by our teacher − Our teacher told us many stories (personal sentence with a verb in Active Voice)
If a verb in Active Voice takes a prepositional object, then the prepositional object can act as the subject of a sentence with a verb in Passive Voice (with the preposition placed after the verb). Compare:
- People speak much about that film - People talk a lot about that film (Active Voice)
- That film is much spoken about - They talk a lot about that film (Passive Voice)
- Olga liked to wear very short dresses, and she was often made fun of by her classmates - Olga liked to wear very short dresses, which is why her classmates often laughed at her
Sentences of this type are not found in Russian. Instead, indefinite personal sentences or personal sentences with a verb in Active Voice are used:
- He is waited for − They are waiting for him
- He is waited for by his friends − His friends are waiting for him
Using Passive Voice Forms
Sentences with a Passive Voice predicate are used in English when the main interest is the object undergoing the action (the object of the action) rather than the one doing the action (the subject of the action), as in sentences with the Active Voice verb.
In sentences with Passive Voice, the object of the action is the subject, and the subject of the action is either expressed by a prepositional object with the prepositions by/with, or is not mentioned at all.
Examples of sentences with a verb in Passive Voice, in which the subject of the action is not mentioned:
- Tennis is played all over the world − Tennis is played all over the world
- The wounded were flown to hospital − The wounded were sent to the hospital by plane
- I am told you’re a bad player − I was told that you are a bad player
- Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14 - Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14
- A new building is being built in my street - A new building is being built on my street
As you have probably already noticed, sentences of this type are translated into Russian as indefinite-personal sentences, or less often, sentences with a verb in the passive voice.
Examples of sentences with a verb in Passive Voice, in which the subject of the action is expressed by a prepositional object with the prepositions by/with:
- Many flowers were planted by our children last spring - Our children grew many flowers last spring
- The sky wasn’t covered with dark clouds - The sky was not covered with dark clouds
- The radio was invented by Popov In 1895 - Popov invented the radio in 1895
Tenses in the passive voice have the same meanings as the corresponding tenses in the active voice. Passive voice in English it is used much more often than in Russian, where the same meaning is conveyed by indefinitely personal, impersonal or personal sentences with a verb in the active voice.
No matter how difficult the topic “Active and Passive Voice in English” may seem to you, you simply must master it, because The passive voice is very often used in both spoken and written English.
Watch the following video lessons on the topic: “Active and Passive Voice in English” (9
Votes: 4,11
out of 5)
Our speech in Russian is quite diverse. We use different designs: simple and complex, active and passive. And we don’t even think about it. If you want to raise your English speaking to the same "intuitive level", then you should definitely use our Passive Voice table.
When you started studying tenses, you probably came across such a grammatical phenomenon as active and passive voice. Let's remember what their difference is. Most time periods can be used in two cases. If the subject of the sentence itself performs the action (I am walking, he is drawing, we bought, they will fly), then we need an active form. If something is done to the subject, he is subjected to influence (trees are planted, water is poured, I was invited, we will be taken), then we use the passive construction. That's the last one we'll talk about.
Education
Each tense uses different auxiliary verbs and predicate forms. The Passive Voice table will tell us about this.
Present |
Past |
Future |
|
Formula Simple |
is/am/are + V ed (V 3) | was/were + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + be + V ed (V 3) |
| Letters are sent every day. — Letters are sent every day. | Letters were sent yesterday. — The letters were sent yesterday. | Letters will be sent tomorrow. — The letters will be sent tomorrow. | |
Formula Continuous |
is/am/are + being + V ed (V 3) | was/were + being + V ed (V 3) | ————————— |
| Letters are being sent now. — Letters are being sent now. | Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. — Letters were sent at 5 o’clock yesterday. | ————————— | |
Formula Perfect |
has/have + been + V ed (V 3) | had + been + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + have/has+ been +V ed (V 3) |
| Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent. | Letters had been sent before he phoned. — The letters were sent before he called. | Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. — Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o’clock. | |
| Perfect Continuous | ———————————— | ———————————- | ————————— |
Note that the Perfect Continuous is not used at all in the passive voice. And Continuous time has no future segment. The interrogative and negative forms are identical in all tenses.
? - Recall. verb + mean + predicate
- Subject + auxiliary. verb + not + predicate
Were you invited to the party yesterday? — Were you invited to a party yesterday?
I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday. — I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday.
Are the flowers being planted now? —Are they planting flowers now?
The trees are not being planted now. — Trees are not being planted now.
Let's compare Active and Passive
The use of different tenses fully corresponds to their counterparts in the active voice. That is why it is recommended to study all the elements of this group, and then look in detail at. Let's look at a few examples to make it easier for you to understand everything and remember it at the right time.
Active |
Passive |
|
Present Simple |
She writes a new play for the theater every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. | A new play for the theater is written by her every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. |
Past Simple |
He stole food from the shop. — He stole food from the store. | Food was stolen from the shop by him. — The food was stolen from the store. |
Future Simple |
They will show a new musical on TV next month. — They will show a new musical on television next month. | A new musical will be shown on TV next month. — The new musical will be shown on television next month. |
Present Continuous |
My dad is repairing the car now. — My dad is repairing the car now. | The car is being repaired by my dad now. — The car is now being repaired by dad. |
Past Continuous |
At 9 my brother was loading the truck. — At 9 o’clock my brother was unloading the truck. | At 9 o’clock the truck was being loaded by my brother. — At 9 o’clock the truck was unloaded by my brother. |
Present Perfect |
My daughter has already translated the whole text. — My daughter has already translated the entire text. | The whole text has already been translated by my daughter. — The entire text has already been translated by my daughter. |
Past Perfect |
When we came to the kitchen, he had eaten the pie. — When we entered the kitchen, he had already eaten the pie. | When we came to the kitchen, the pie had been eaten. — When we entered the kitchen, the pie had already been eaten. |
Future Perfect |
We will have finished the work by 6 tomorrow. — Tomorrow we will finish work by six. | The work will have been finished by 6 tomorrow. — The work will be finished by six tomorrow. |
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this element of the language. First of all, determine the role of the subject: it acts or on him. Then determine the time (you can use hint words). If you need to use the passive construction, then our passive voice table is at your service. Choose the tense, auxiliary verb, predicate ending, and you're done. It is better to consolidate all this in exercises that can be completed online on our website.
To say that an action is performed on an object or person, English uses the passive voice.
For example:
“The car has been repaired. The door is closed. Children are punished. The documents have been signed."
As you can see, in such sentences we focus on the action itself, and not on who performed it.
In English, the passive voice is used very often. I think you have come across such sentences more than once in films, books, news, and newspapers in English.
In this article we will look at when the passive voice is used and how to form such sentences in all tenses.
From the article you will learn:
- General rules for using the passive voice in English
- Table of the use of passive voice in all tenses
What is active and passive voice in English?
First, let's look at what voice is and why it is needed in the English language.
Pledge expresses an attitude towards action, that is, it shows:
- the person/object itself performs the action (I brought a letter)
- a person/object experiences the effect of someone on himself (the letter was brought)
Accordingly, in English there are two types of collateral:
1. Active voice- the actor himself performs actions.
For example:
Clients signed an agreement (clients are an actor and they performed a certain action).
2. Passive voice- the actor experiences the action of another person.
For example:
The contract is signed (the contract was not signed by himself, the action was performed on him).
When do we use passive voice?
3 Uses of Passive Voice in English
As I said, the passive voice is used when an action is performed on something/someone. In such sentences, the main emphasis is always on the action itself.
These may be the following cases:
1. When we do not know who performed the action.
For example: The bank was robbed (we don’t know who did it).
2. When it is not important to us who performed the action, but the action itself is important.
For example: This house will be built next year (it doesn’t matter to us who does it, it’s important to us that it will be built).
3. When we don't want to say who exactly did it(if something bad happened and we don't want to blame anyone).
For example: The holiday is ruined (we don’t want to say who ruined it).
Now let's look at the rules for constructing such sentences in English.
General rules for constructing the passive voice in English
I’ll say right away that constructing such sentences in English is not difficult. To do this you need:
1. Put the object/person on whom the action is performed in first place in the sentence.
For example:
A letter….
Letter…
A car...
Car…
Children….
Children…
2. Put the verb to be in second place in the right tense.
Let's look at this through the three most used tenses in English:
- Present Simple (simple present tense) - am, are, is
- Past Simple (simple past tense) - was, were
- Future Simple (simple future tense) - will be
For example:
A letter is….
Letter….
A car was….
The car was...
Children will be….
Children will...
3. The action itself (verb) that was performed on the actor should be put in the past tense.
There are regular and irregular verbs in English. You can find out whether a verb is correct or not by looking it up in the dictionary.
Depending on the verb we:
- add the ending -ed if the verb is correct (prepare - prepared)
- put it in the 3rd form if the verb is not regular (send - sent)
For example:
A letter is delivered.
The letter is being delivered.
A car was sold.
The car has been sold.
Children will be punished.
Children will be punished.
If we want to add that an action is performed by someone or with the help of something, we can use prepositions by and with.
UsagebyAndwithin passive voice
1. We use by to say that an action will be performed by someone. We put it at the end of the sentence, and after it the character (by Tom, by Mary).
For example:
The documents were sent by his secretary.
The documents were sent by his secretary
2. We use with to say that an action will be performed using some tool. We put with at the end of the sentence, and after it the tool itself (with a knife, with a pen)
For example:
The picture will be painted with a pencil.
The picture will be drawn in pencil.
We talked in detail about how to construct passive voice in 3 simple tenses in these articles:
- Future Simple Passive - simple future tense in the passive voice in English
However, in some cases the passive voice is also used in other tenses.
Let's see what such proposals look like.
Table of the use of the passive voice in all tenses of the English language
Since the passive voice is most often used in 3 simple tenses, we will not dwell in detail on the rest, but will consider a general table of use.
As you can see from the three simple tenses, the principle of construction remains the same in all tenses.
Everything that changes - this is the verb to be. We put it on at the right time.
Here's how it happens.
| Time | Use case | How the verb to be changes | Examples | |
| Present Simple Present simple |
We are talking about a regular action that occurs in the present tense. |
Dinner is cooked by mom. The rooms are cleaned every day. |
||
| Present Continuous Present continious |
We are talking about an action that is currently being performed and is a process. |
|
Dinner is being cooked. The rooms are being cleaned now. |
|
| Present Perfect Present completed |
Speak m about an action that happened in the past but has meaning now. However, now we can see the result of this action. |
|
Dinner has been cooked. The rooms have been cleaned recently. |
|
| Past Simple Past simple |
We are talking about a fact that happened in the past. |
Dinner was cooked by mom. The rooms were cleaned yesterday. |
||
| Past Continuous Past continuous |
We say that some process occurred in the past (usually used when this process was interrupted by another action). |
|
Dinner was being cooked when he came. The rooms were being cleaned when they arrived. |
|
| Past Perfect Past completed |
We say that the action was completed (we received the result) by a certain period in the past. Typically used when we show the order of actions in the past (one action was performed before the second). |
had been |
Dinner had been cooked before he came. The rooms had been cleaned before they arrived. |
|
| Future Simple Future Simple |
We are talking about a fact that will happen in the future. |
will be |
Dinner will be cooked. The rooms will be cleaned tomorrow. |
|
| Future Perfect Future completed |
We are talking about an action that will end (we will get a result) by a certain point in the future. | will have been | Dinner will have been cooked by 9 o'clock. Dinner will be prepared at 9 o'clock. The rooms will have been cleaned by morning. |
|
As you may have noticed, there are some difficult tenses missing from the table. Why? They're just never used in the passive voice. We replace them with simpler times.
So, we have looked at the use of the passive voice in English. Now let's move on to the practical task.
Reinforcement task
Translate the following sentences into English. Leave your answers in the comments.
1. The door is open.
2. The letter will be delivered by evening.
3. Job done.
4. The car is being washed now.
5. The house will be sold.
6. The fence was painted yesterday.
There is an active and passive voice - Active Voice and Passive Voice, respectively. In the first option, you perform an action or someone else performs it, that is, an active action. For example: Masha goes to school - Masha goes to school. Petya drives a car - Petya drives a car.
-
In the passive voice it would be different - Masha is taken to school. That is, an action is performed on a subject or inanimate object. I was invited - I was invited - that is, I did not invite, but I was invited.
How is Passive Voice formed?
Let's see how the Passive voice is formed according to the scheme: Creatures. + Be (am, is, are) + V3. That is, the verb to be and the third form of the verb are placed.
Examples
Affirmative sentences
-
I'm invited- action above animate object and present time Simple. In English it would be like this: I am invited.
You are invited— You are invited.
She's invited— She is invited.
He is invited— He is invited.
Important to remember that in Passive Voice only the third form is always used - V3. Or the ending –ed is added to the verb if it falls into the category of regular ones. For convenience, we have a table of irregular verbs - Irregular Verbs, which you can view here:. The third form, V3, is located in the Participle II column.
Also important that in the passive voice the pronouns do not change. For example, her invite - she is invited. That is, here it is not HER, but SHE.
Interrogative sentences
To ask a question in the passive voice, you need to use the following formula:
To be + Creatures. + V3 ?
Are the houses built every year? – Are houses built every year?
Are you invited everywhere? Are you invited everywhere?
Negative sentences
Creatures + Be + not + V3
German is (to be) not spoken (V3) everywhere. German is not spoken everywhere.
It is important to know that Future Perfect Continuous Passive, Present Perfect Continuous Passive and Past Perfect Continuous Passive do not exist - Perfect forms are used instead. And instead of Future Continuous Passive, Future Simple is used.
Table of tenses in Passive Voice
For convenience, we suggest you look at the table using tenses in the passive voice.
Lots of examples to reinforce:
Present Simple Passive
He is called every day. They call him every day.
Homework is done. Homework done
Tickets are bought. Tickets are being reserved.
Present Progressive Passive: to be (is, are, am) + Ving + V3
A new big house is being built now. A new large house is currently under construction.
I am being given a glass of milk now. Now they give me a glass of milk.
Present Perfect Passive: Have/has + been + V3
This work has just been started - The work has just begun
I have just been invited - I have just been invited
Past Simple Passive: Was/were + V3
The book was written by Alisa. – The book was written by Alice.
These apples were bought by Julia. These apples were bought by Julia.
Past Continuous Passive: Was/were + being + V3
I was being asked a question when you came home - I was asked a question just
when you came home.
The car was being washed when I arrived. The car was washed just when I arrived.
Past Perfect Passive: Had + been + V3
When we came home breakfast had been cooked already. When we got home, tomorrow was already ready.
Had the song been sung by the time she returned? Was the song written by the time she arrived?
Future Passive: Will + have/has + V3
They will be met by me. They will be met by me.
I will be thinking. I'll be surprised.
Future Perfect Passive:
By the time we return the shop will have been opened yet. - By the time we arrive, the store will already be open.
Will everything have been prepared by 7 p.m.? – Will everything be ready by 7 pm?
"" is used to express an obligation coming from the speaker. Those. when the speaker says that he understands what he needs to do.
“ ” is an indispensable modal verb used in situations where we are talking about present or future obligations that cannot be violated.
“” is a well-known and frequently used verb that means “to be able to”, “to be able to”.
“ ” is a synonym for the verb “should”, its more polite version.
« Be supposed to" is a modal verb whose function is to tell what people need to do in accordance with the rules. Moreover, it is used when we talk about what is expected to happen.
Passive voice formula
What is the above mentioned: (to) be + V3? The answer is simple. When we change a sentence from "active" to "passive", we must change the predicate of the sentence. First, you need to put the verb “ to be" at the time used in the main sentence. Secondly, put the main verb in the third form (Past Participle).
So, to compose a sentence with a modal verb, we need to put the verb “ be" in combination with a modal verb. It will look like this:
Must be(it should be)
Have to be(it should be)
Ought to be(should be)
Can be(May be)
Should be(should be)
Be supposed to be(it is believed that; it is assumed that;)
The second stage is the same placement of the main verb into the third form.
A little practice
The secretary must write a letter. / Secretary must write letter.
The letter must be written by the secretary. / Letter must be written secretary.
He has to do this test. / He must perform this test.
This test has to be done by him. / This test must be completed them.
He was supposed to send an email an hour ago. /It was assumed, What He will send letter hour back.
The email was supposed to be sent by him an hour ago. / It was assumed, What electronic letter will sent hour back.
Try to change the sentences given in the article yourself from active voice ( Active Voice) to passive voice ( Passive Voice). This will allow you to remember the rule, as well as work out its transformation scheme in practice step by step.