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Unit 05
Passive Voice (Full System)
all forms, simple to advanced
The Complete Passive System
The passive voice focuses on the action or result rather than who performs it. This unit gives the full tense system from present simple to modal passives — the complete reference. The basic formula is subject + be + past participle (+ by + agent).
Active: The chef cooked the meal. → Passive: The meal was cooked by the chef.
Passive Across All Tenses
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | writes | is / are + pp |
| Past Simple | wrote | was / were + pp |
| Present Continuous | is writing | is / are being + pp |
| Past Continuous | was writing | was / were being + pp |
| Present Perfect | has written | has / have been + pp |
| Past Perfect | had written | had been + pp |
| Future Simple | will write | will be + pp |
| Going To | is going to write | is going to be + pp |
| Modals | must / can / should write | must / can / should be + pp |
When to Use the Passive
| Use | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Focus on action | doer unknown/unimportant | My phone was stolen. |
| Formal/academic | objective tone | The results were analysed carefully. |
| Diplomatic | avoid blaming | A mistake was made. |
| Official reports | impersonal style | The samples were tested in the lab. |
The Agent — "By + Someone"
Use by + agent only when it is important to say who did the action.
- ✅ Keep it: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
- ❌ Omit (obvious): The thief was arrested (by the police).
- ❌ Omit (unimportant): English is spoken all over the world.
- ❌ Omit (unknown): The car was stolen last night.
Passive with Two Objects
When a verb takes two objects, either can become the passive subject.
| Active | Passive options |
|---|---|
| The teacher gave the students homework. | The students were given homework. |
| Homework was given to the students. | |
| Someone gave me a gift. | I was given a gift. / A gift was given to me. |
Modals in the Passive
| Modal | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| must | You must do it. | It must be done. |
| can | They can repair the car. | The car can be repaired. |
| should | Someone should help you. | You should be helped. |
| may | They may open a store. | A store may be opened. |
C1 Details: Verbs That Can't Be Passive & "To" After Perception Verbs
| Point | ✅ Example | ❌ Wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Intransitive verbs have no passive | The plane arrived late. · The accident happened at night. | The plane was arrived. · It was happened. |
| Some state verbs rarely go passive | She resembles her mother. · This dress suits you. | Her mother is resembled by her. |
| Ergative verbs: same form, no "be" | The door opened. · Sales increased. (no agent) | The door was opened by itself. |
| see / hear / make + object + bare verb → passive needs to | He was seen to leave. · We were made to wait. | He was seen leave. |
| Mediopassive (feels like the subject "acts") | This book sells well. · The shirt washes easily. | This book is sold well. (different meaning) |
Annotated Examples
Subject
Verb
Auxiliary
Object
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Hover over any word to see its role.
subjectA new hospitalverbis being builtprepositionin the city.
↳ Present continuous passive: is being + past participle.
subjectThe studentsverbwere givenobjecthomework.
↳ Two-object passive — the person becomes the subject.
subjectItauxiliarymust beverbdoneadverbtoday.
↳ Modal passive: modal + be + past participle.
Common Mistakes
It is built by last year.
→
It was built last year.
Wrong tense — past event needs "was built".
The car repaired yesterday.
→
The car was repaired yesterday.
Missing "be": was repaired.
The homework is doing by me.
→
The homework is done by me.
Use the past participle: done.
The door was open by him.
→
The door was opened by him.
Verb form: opened (open is an adjective here).
People is invited.
→
People are invited.
Plural subject → are.
She was heard sing.
→
She was heard to sing / singing.
Perception verb passive → to + verb or -ing.