Passive

Present simple

Active verb: Tom drives a car.

Passive verb: A car is driven by Tom.

The object in active (a car) corresponds to the subject in passive.

In active we say what the subject does and in passive we say what happens to the subject.

Examples:

Active: My mum does all the cooking.

Passive: All the cooking is done by our mum.

Active: Stephen writes a book.

Passive: A book is written by Stephen.

Form:

is/are + past participle (told, swam, made…etc.) or regular verb + ed

Examples:

The car is driven by my dad.

My homework is done by my older brother.

Important decisions are made by the whole family.

Some people don’t like to be told what to do.

Men are usually paid more than women.

Present continuous

Active: We are playing football at the moment.

Passive: Football is being played at the moment.

Form:

is/ are being + verb in past participle (irregular verbs) or verb + ed

Examples:

Cars are being driven all over the world.

People are being killed while the politicians are arguing.

Children are being exploited and nobody cares.

Environment is being polluted by man’s actions every day.

Past simple:

Active: They built this house in 1848.

Passive: This house was built in 1848.

Form:

was/were + past participle or regular verb + ed.

Examples:

Active: Our common friend introduced us to each other.

Passive: We were introduced by a common friend.

Active: Sheila ordered a book on birds in the library.

Passive: A book on birds was ordered by Sheila.

Past continuous

Active: My wife was cooking dinner when I arrived.

Passive: The dinner was being cooked by my wife when I arrived.

Form:

was/were + being + past participle or regular verb + ed

Examples:

The house was being built when they lost their jobs.

The children were being watched by a teacher when the incident happened.

He was being guided across the road when the lorry drove past fast.

Future

Active: Our representative will meet you at the airport.

Passive: You‚ll be met by our representative at the airport.

Form:

will be + past participle or regular verb + ed

Examples:

You’ll be asked to leave if you keep interrupting.

We’ll be notified by the letter soon.

I’ll be told when I arrive to the convention.

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