Grammar The passive

Use
• We use the passive when we are more interested in an action than the
person doing the action:

This photo was taken by me last year.

I entered it for a competition. The competition is held
every year and it has been won by several famous people.
This year, I was the winner! The award will be presented
next month by a famous photographer. The photo might
be used on the cover of a magazine!

Tip

If we want to mention the person doing the action, we use by:

That window was broken by one of the students.

Form
• We form the passive with be + past participle.
• We form the present simple passive like this:
Subject + is / are + past participle.

Present simple passive

Subject is / are past participle
Rice is
sold in this supermarket.
Apples are

• We form the past simple passive like this:

Subject + was / were + past participle.

Past simple passive

Subject was / were past participle
This car was
made in Italy.
These shoes were

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 Grammar The passive

• We form the present perfect passive like this:

Subject + has been / have been + past participle.

Present perfect passive

Subject has been / have been past participle
My homework has been
checked by the teacher.
Our essays have been

• We form the future passive like this:

Subject + will be + past participle.

Future passive
Subject will be past participle
The prize will be given to the best student.

• We form the passive with modal verbs like this:

Subject + modal verb + be + past participle.

Modal passive
Subject modal verb be past participle
can
might
The answer be found online.
must
should

Tip Tip

To form negative passive sentences, we add not to the To form passive questions, we put the auxiliary verb before
auxiliary verb. We usually use the short form of the negative: the subject:
This car wasn’t made in Italy. Was this car made in Italy?
My homework hasn’t been checked by the teacher. Has your homework been checked by the teacher?
The answer can’t be found online. Can the answer be found online?

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