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18. The Passive Voice

Learning Outcomes

After completing chapter 18, students will know how to:

  • form the Passive Voice.
  • apply the Passive Voice.

Function of The Passive Voice

The Active Voice is what we use most of the time in English speaking and writing. We know that a sentence usually has the pattern of:

Subject    +   Verb   +   Object

↓                  ↓              ↓

Somebody    fixed     my car.

Somebody fixed my car. vs. My car was fixed by somebody. Note the words “somebody” switches from first in the sentence to last, and my car switches from last to first in the second sentence. Source: Virginia McHardy, CC BY-NC 4.0

The Passive Voice is used in formal writing when the subject of the sentence is not important. Sometimes we don’t even know who or what the subject is. What becomes important is the object or the action of the statement. In order to do this, we must switch the places of the subject and the object.

When we switch the subject and the object, we then must change the form of the verb:

Active voice: Subject + Verb (whatever tense) + object. Passive voice: Subject (former object) + “Be” (whatever tense) + Past participle + by Object (former subject). Source: Virginia McHardy, CC BY-NC 4.0

In the sentence “Somebody fixed my car”, somebody is not really important. Therefore, we can remove somebody from the sentence like this: My car was fixed (by somebody). → My car was fixed.

Now the focus changes. What becomes important is my car, not the person who fixed it.

Form of the Passive Voice

Affirmative Statements

Affirmative Statements Table
Subject + “be” + past participle + by + object.
I am supported by my parents.
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
My house has been bought by a nice family.

Negative Statements

Negative Statements Table
Subject + “be” + not + past participle + by + object.
My car hasn’t been washed by the staff.
The students are not being heard by administration.

                                                   

Verb Tenses in Active & Passive voice
Verb Tense Active Passive
The Simple Present Somebody washes the car every month. The car is washed (by somebody) every month.
The Present Continuous Somebody is washing the car right now. The car is being washed right now.
The Simple Past Somebody washed the car yesterday. The car was washed yesterday.
The Past Continuous Somebody was washing the car at 10pm. The car was being washed at 10pm last night.
The Simple Future Somebody will wash the car tomorrow. The car will be washed tomorrow.
“Be Going to” Somebody is going to wash the car tomorrow. The car is going to be washed tomorrow.
The Present Perfect Somebody has washed the car. The car has been washed.
The Past Perfect Somebody had washed the car before noon. The car had been washed before noon.
The Future Perfect Somebody will have washed the car by then. The car will have been washed by then.

Exercises

Exercise 1

Are these sentences in the active or passive voice?

Exercise 1 (text version)
  1. The boy picked apples off the fruit tree.
  2. Apples were picked off the fruit tree.
  3. English is spoken all around the world.
  4. We were excited by the news.
  5. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.
  6. The chairs have been moved.
  7. Tesla cars were invented by Elon Musk.
  8. Instructors are always teaching the importance of being on time.
  9. The lesson was taught by a supply teacher.
  10. The winner will be chosen by 5 judges.

Check your Answers in footnote[1]


Activity source: Exercise 1 by Virginia McHardy, CC BY-NC 4.0.

Exercise 2

Exercise 2 (text version)

Use the words provided to complete the sentences.

Words:

  • robbed
  • speak
  • is spoken
  • was robbed
  • fixed
  • was stolen
  • has broken
  • is being fixed
  • gave
  • has been broken
  • stole
  • is given

Sentences:

  1. People _________[Blank A] French, German, Romansh and Italian in Switzerland.
  2. My house _________[Blank A] last night and my car _________[Blank B].
  3. Our furnace _________[Blank A] right now because the storm blew out the thermostat.
  4. Our Dean _________[Blank A] gave* a lovely speech at the Academic Awards ceremony yesterday.
  5. Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 895 goals _________[Blank A] has been broken* by Alex Ovechkin.
  6. The thieves _________[Blank A] robbed  the gun store and ________[Blank B] several firearms last week.
  7. Sultan _________[Blank A]  a new world record in long distance running.
  8. English _________[Blank A] in 67 different countries.
  9. Our mechanic _________[Blank A] the brakes on our car over the weekend.
  10. A scholarship _________[Blank A] to any high school student who maintains a 95-percent average over 4 years.

Check your Answers in footnote[2]


Activity source: Exercise 2 by Virginia McHardy, CC BY-NC 4.0.

Exercise 3

Exercise 3 (text version)

Fill in the missing words to change the active voice to the passive voice and finish the sentence.

  1. Someone cleans the office every week. The office ________[Blank 1] every week.
  2. People are painting the old townhouses downtown to revitalize the area. The old townhouses downtown ________[Blank 2] to revitalize the area.
  3. I have blocked my ex-boyfriend on my phone. My ex-boyfriend ________[Blank 3] on my phone.
  4. The store is playing Taylor Swift songs over the speakers. Taylor Swift songs ________[Blank 4] over the speakers.
  5. The students finished the tests very quickly. The tests ________[Blank 5] very quickly.
  6. The government swears in new Canadians in person 52 times a month. New Canadians ________[Blank 6] in 52 times a month in person.
  7. The company should have published that book sooner. The book ________[Blank 7] sooner.
  8. The city is going to close the park for renovations. The park ________[Blank 8] for renovations.
  9. The restaurant was holding the birthday party after hours. The birthday party ________[Blank 9] after hours.
  10. The company approached Samira about a job opportunity abroad. Samira ________[Blank 10] about a job opportunity abroad.

Check your Answers in footnote[3]


Activity source: Exercise 3 by Virginia McHardy, CC BY-NC 4.0.

Communicative Activities:

1. Mystery Story Swap

Write a short mystery story (150–200 words) using at least 5 passive voice sentences. Then, swap stories with a classmate to guess “Who did it?”

  • Include passive sentences like:
    • “The window was broken.”
    • “A note was left on the table.”
  • Focus on describing what was done, not who did it.
  • The classmate will read it and write a brief explanation of who they think committed the crime and why.

2. “How It’s Made” Video Summary

Watch a short video (3–5 minutes) from the “How It’s Made” series (or any instructional video showing a process) and write a step-by-step summary using the passive voice.

  • “How chocolate is made” or “How glass bottles are produced.”
  • Write 6–10 steps using passive structures:
    • “First, the ingredients are mixed.”
    • “Then, the mixture is heated to 300 degrees.”

Verb Tenses in Music

For a fun activity, search the web and find the following songs:

  • You Were Loved by Whitney Houston
  • All You Need is Love by The Beatles

Can you hear the Passive Voice in the lyrics?

Attribution & References

Except where otherwise noted, “The Passive Voice” by Virginia McHardy is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

  1. 1. Active voice. 2. Passive voice. 3. Passive voice. 4. Passive voice. 5. Active voice. 6. Passive voice. 7. Passive voice. 8. Active voice. 9. Passive voice. 10. Passive voice. ↵
  2. 1. a) speak, 2. a) was robbed, b) was stolen, . 3. a) is being fixed 4. a) gave, 5. a) has been broken, 6. a) robbed, b) stole, 7. a) has broken, 8. a) is spoken, 9. a) fixed, 10. a) is given ↵
  3. 1. is cleaned, 2. are being painted, 3. has been blocked, 4. are being played, 5. were finished, 6. are sworn, 7. should have been published, 8. is going to be closed, 9. was being held, 10. was approached. ↵

License

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Verb Tenses for English for Academic Purposes Copyright © 2019 by Sari Martin and Virginia McHardy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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