Mastering the Passive Voice: Structure and Examples
Passive Voice: Key Concepts
Active and passive sentences usually have the same meaning, but the focus is different.
In the active voice, the subject performs the action, and the focus is on the agent that does the action.
Adam cleaned the kitchen.
SUBJECT ACTION OBJECT
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action expressed in the verb. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. We use a passive verb to say what happens to the subject. The focus of the sentence is on the subject that receives the action.
The passive verb is formed by the verb to be (am, is, are, was, were, being, been) + the past participle of the verb.
The kitchen was cleaned by Adam.
SUBJECT ACTION OBJECT
The person who performs the action is introduced by the preposition by in the passive sentence. However, in some cases, the subject of the passive sentence is omitted. This happens when who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant. Look at the examples:
Active – Passive
- Mary bought a book. – A book was bought by Mary.
- A thief stole my car. – My car was stolen (by a thief).
- I read the message. – The message was read (by me).
- Someone has opened the window. – The window has been opened.
- They are building a house. – A house is being built.
- They are building three houses. – Three houses are being built.
Sentence Structure in Active and Passive Voice
Look at the position of the different parts of the sentence:
ACTIVE: Alan wrote a letter to me.
PASSIVE: A letter was written to me by Alan.
ACTIVE: My colleague has just told me the news.
PASSIVE: I have just been told the news by my colleague.
ACTIVE: Someone showed him how to use the mobile phone.
PASSIVE: He was shown how to use the mobile phone.
Active and Passive Voice Tenses
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| Present Simple She does the homework. | am/are/is + past participle The homework is done (by her). |
| Past Simple He did the homework. | was/were + past participle The homework was done (by him). |
| Present Continuous She is doing the homework. | am/are/is + being + past participle The homework is being done (by her). |
| Past Continuous He was doing the homework. | was/were + being + past participle The homework was being done (by him). |
| Present Perfect She has done the homework. | have/has + been + past participle The homework has been done (by her). |
| Past Perfect He had done the homework. | had + been + past participle The homework had been done (by him). |