- Level
- Intermediate
- Used in
- Reading, Build a Sentence, Discussion
How to form it
Use a form of be + past participle. The tense lives in "be"; the main verb never changes.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | Farmers grow rice here. | Rice is grown here. |
| Past simple | Engineers built the dam in 1960. | The dam was built in 1960. |
| Present perfect | They have cancelled the class. | The class has been cancelled. |
| Future | The office will announce results. | Results will be announced. |
| With a modal | You must submit the form. | The form must be submitted. |
| Continuous | Workers are repairing the road. | The road is being repaired. |
When the passive is the better choice
- The doer is unknown or obvious: "The museum was robbed last night."
- The action is the focus, as in science: "The samples were heated to 90 degrees."
- You want to keep the same topic at the start of each sentence, which makes a paragraph easier to follow.
Passive word order in Build a Sentence
Order the words: was / by / the report / the committee / approved
Answer
The report was approved by the committee.
Subject first, then was + approved, and the doer comes last after "by".
Common mistakes
Not quite
Better
- The bridge was build in 1890.The bridge was built in 1890.
- The results announced yesterday.The results were announced yesterday.
- English is speak in many countries.English is spoken in many countries.
- The problem has been solve.The problem has been solved.
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