What is passive voice in English?

Passive voice is a grammatical structure where the focus is on the receiver of the action, rather than the doer of the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action, and the performer of the action is either omitted or included after the word "by."

For example:
- Active voice: The chef cooked the meal.
- Passive voice: The meal was cooked (by the chef).

How to form passive voice

1. Identify the object of the active sentence. This becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Use the correct form of the verb to be, matching the tense and subject.
3. Add the past participle of the main verb.
4. Optionally, include the actor after "by."

Examples of passive voice in all 12 tenses

To better understand passive voice, here are examples in all 12 English tenses. Let’s use the verb to write and the noun a letter for consistency.

Present tenses:

1. Present simple:

   • Active: She writes a letter.
   • Passive: A letter is written (by her).

2. Present continuous:

   • Active: She is writing a letter.
   • Passive: A letter is being written (by her).

3. Present perfect:

   • Active: She has written a letter.
   • Passive: A letter has been written (by her).

4. Present perfect continuous:

   • Active: She has been writing a letter.
   • Passive: A letter has been being written (by her). ⚠️

Past tenses:

1. Past simple:

   • Active: She wrote a letter.
   • Passive: A letter was written (by her).

2. Past continuous:

   • Active: She was writing a letter.
   • Passive: A letter was being written (by her).

3. Past perfect:

   • Active: She had written a letter.
   • Passive: A letter had been written (by her).

4. Past perfect continuous:

   • Active: She had been writing a letter.
   • Passive: A letter had been being written (by her).⚠️

Future tenses:

1. Future simple:

   • Active: She will write a letter.
   • Passive: A letter will be written (by her).

2. Future continuous:

   • Active: She will be writing a letter.
   • Passive: A letter will be being written (by her). ⚠️

3. Future perfect:

   • Active: She will have written a letter.
   • Passive: A letter will have been written (by her).

4. Future perfect continuous:

   • Active: She will have been writing a letter.
   • Passive: A letter will have been being written (by her). ⚠️

Using "get" in the passive voice

In English, "get" can sometimes replace "be" in the passive voice. It is typically used in informal or conversational contexts to describe actions or events, often when the focus is on something happening to the subject.

Key differences:

1. Tone and context

   • Using "get" adds a more casual, dynamic, or sometimes emotional tone.
   • "be" is more formal and neutral.

2. Usage with certain verbs

   • "get" is often used with verbs that describe actions or changes, such as married, hurt, stuck, lost, or promoted.
   • It’s less common with stative or less dynamic verbs (e.g., known, understood).

Examples

Key notes 🗒️

1. The object of the active voice becomes the subject of the passive voice.

   Example: The chef cooked the meal. → The meal was cooked by the chef.

2. Passive voice is useful when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or obvious.

   Example: The windows were broken last night. (Focus on the action, not the doer.)

3. It is often used in formal writing or scientific contexts to emphasize the action rather than the doer.

   Example: The experiment was conducted in a controlled environment.

4. ⚠️ Some tenses (especially perfect continuous tenses) sound awkward in passive voice and are rarely used. Mainly because the focus of perfect continuous tenses is the duration of the ongoing action instead of the receiver of the action. When converted into passive voice, they become even longer and more complicated.

   Example: The house had been being cleaned is grammatically correct but unnatural.

Practice questions

Determine whether a sentence is in active or passive voice.