PASSIVE - OVERVIEW

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 entity doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the entity receiving/suffering the
action is the object. Most sentences are active.
Examples:

Passive Form
In passive sentences, the entity receiving the action becomes the subject of the sentence and the entity doing the
action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the entity
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 the actor.
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, Sarah is 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

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

Present Perfect

Many tourists have visited that castle. That castle has been visited by many

tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous

Recently, John has been doing the

work.

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 license.

Simple Future
will

Someone will finish the work by 5:00

PM.

The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.

Simple Future
be going to

Sally is going to make a beautiful

dinner tonight.

A beautiful dinner is going to be made by

Sally tonight.

Future Continuous
will

At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be

washing the dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be

being washed by John.

Future Continuous
be going to

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.

Used to

Jerry used to pay the bills.

The bills used to be paid by Jerry.

Would

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

When can you use the passive

If the verb can be followed by a direct object (a direct object answers the question who or what after the verb),
it can be made passive.
These difficulties may delay the completion of the project.
But the verb occur, for example, cannot take a direct object.
A solution occurred to him.
Some verbs which can be used only in the active are: occur, rise, happen, arise, fall, exist, depend (on), result
(from), seem, appear, sleep.

PRACTICE
I) Rewrite the sentences in passive voice.
1.
The agency collects money.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
The politician opened the discussion.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
We have completed Phase 1 of the project.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
The president will ask some important questions.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
5.
The new solution can annul the effect of the crisis.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
6.
The company does not receive tax returns.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
7.
Will the president ask that question?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
8.
Has the team finished the contract?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
9.
Did she buy the stock?
____________________________________________________________________________________________
2) Correct these sentences.
1.
This house built 100 years ago.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2.
Football plays in most countries of the world.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3.
Why did the letter send to the wrong address?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
A garage is a place where cars repair.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5.
How many languages are speaking in Switzerland?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
6.
Somebody broke into our house but nothing stolen.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
7.
When was invented the bicycle?
___________________________________________________________________________________________
3) Change the verbs in the following text into the passive.
Yesterday afternoon, a volcanic eruption destroyed an entire village. Mount Sirius, which experts thought was
________________________________________________________________________________________
dormant erupted at 3 pm. Tourists had seen smoke rising from the mouth of the volcano two days before. The police
________________________________________________________________________________________
moved the villagers away from the area for their own safety. Tons of lava and rock came out of the volcano and

____________________________________________________________________________________________
wrecked houses, roads and trees. Although the blast physically injured only a few people, doctors are treating many
____________________________________________________________________________________________
for shock. The authorities are keeping the area surrounding Mount Sirius clear in case of further activity
____________________________________________________________________________________________
4) Choose the correct answer.
1.
2.

5.
6.
7.
8.

Was Tom pleased with the newspaper article about him? No. He was angry because his name ...0... wrong.
A spelt
B had been spelt C is spelt
Did you buy that picture? No, it _____________ to me for my birthday.'
A was given
B gave
C is given
3. Are you going to buy a wedding dress? No. My dress _____________________ by my mother.
A is being made
B is made
C made
4. Have you arranged the party yet? Yes. All the invitations ______________________ '
A are sent
B have been sent C sent
So, have you had your book published? Yes. It ______________ in all bookshops from June 1st.
A will be
B is
C is being
Did you hear about the burglary last week? Yes. The thieves _________________ now, haven't they?'
A have been caught B caught
C are caught
Where does that lady keep her jewellery? It _______________________ in a safe somewhere in her house.
A is kept
B are kept
C was kept
What is happening over there? A new cinema ____________________________
A is being built
B is built
C was built

5) Put the verbs in the brackets in the correct active or passive tense.
A) Floods 1) _____________________________ (cause) when a river 2) _____________________ (overflow) its banks.
This can happen if there 3) ____________________________ (be) an unusual amount of rain, or if snow
4)___________________ (melt) and the river 5) ______________________________ (overflow). When a flood
6)_____________________ (take place), crops 7) ______________________________ (destroy) and homes
8)_______________________________(damage).

B) Tony O'Connell 1) ______________________________ (work) for a large company. Last year, he 2) _______________
_________________ (promote) to the position of manager. He 3) ______________________ (give) a large office and a
company car. He now 4) _______________________________ (have) a secretary who (answer) his calls, and he
5)______________________ (pay) a lot more money than before.