A sentence is usually constructed in the ‘active voice’ in English, that is in Subject, Verb, Object order, but sometimes a sentence is constructed in the ‘passive voice’, that is in Object, Verb, Subject order. When a sentence is constructed in the passive voice the verb forms appear differently. The following is a guide to how to construct the passive voice in English in the various tenses.
In languages such as Japanese, the passive voice is used very often and is very natural, especially when what is done is of greater relevance than who or what did it. However, some language families outside the Indo-European group do not have a passive voice at all. Furthermore, in many languages, such as German and Norwegian, it is used more sparingly; French uses it yet more sparingly and in Spanish it is usually avoided altogether.
An introduction to the active and the passive voice in the simple tense
- Active past simple: Jane wrote a book
- Passive past simple: A book was written by Jane
- Active past simple: The dog ate the bone
- Passive past simple: The bone was eaten by the dog
- Active present simple: The dog eats the bone
- Passive present simple: The bone is eaten by the dog
- Active future simple: The dog will eat the bone
- Passive future simple: The bone will be eaten by the dog
Each of the examples above appear in the active construction as Subject Verb Object, and in the passive construction as Object Verb Subject. Because the object in the passive construction is now being placed before the verb, the form of the verb needs to change to reflect this.
If you need to revise your verb tenses, please consult this post on the English tenses.
As you can see, the main verbs used in these examples are all in the simple tenses, whether present simple, future simple or past simple, but every time the passive construction is used the main verb takes the past participle form of the verb, regardless of the tense being used, and is clarified by the auxiliary verb ‘to be’. An auxiliary verb is a helping verb that appears along with a main verb in a sentence.
‘Written’ is the past participle of the verb ‘to write’:
- Active: Jane writes a book – present simple tense
- Passive: A book is written by Jane – past participle form of ‘to write’ + the verb ‘to be’ in the present tense
- Active: Jane wrote a book – past simple tense
- Passive: A book was written by Jane – past participle form of ‘to write’ + the verb ‘to be’ in the past tense
- Active: Jane will write a book – future simple tense
- Passive: A book will be written by Jane – past participle form of ‘to write’ + the verb ‘to be’ in the future tense
Now, bear this in mind while looking at the coming sections on using the passive voice in the continuous tense or the perfect tense, because this is where students become confused. The main verb still takes the past participle form, but the verb ‘to be’ must reflect the perfect or continuous form used in the active voice.
For a deeper understanding of the various English tenses, please see the relevant article.
When the passive voice is used
The passive voice is often used when the ‘agent’ is unknown. The agent is the grammatical subject, or better said, the person or thing that is ‘doing’ the verb.
- This book was written in 2019
- That house was built last century
We are not told who built the house, or who wrote the book, and at times it is also the case that the agent is not of interest or relevance to the sentence. It may alternatively be the case that the ‘author’ or ‘builder’ have been named previously, and so using the passive voice enables the writer or speaker to avoid a tedious style of writing in which an agent or a subject already known to the reader is repeated over and over again.
The passive voice is also used when the agent is very general:
- More information can be found online
Using the passive construction is often used in academic work, and it is useful when the object of the sentence, or what is done, is the point of focus and not the agent that did it:
- This research was carried out over thirty consecutive years.
The passive voice with the continuous tense
As with the simple tense, the continuous tense can be used in the past, present or future form:
- Active present continuous: Peter is making lots of cakes today
- Passive present continuous: Lots of cakes are being made by Peter today
- Active past continuous : The teacher was shouting at the students
- Passive past continuous: The students were being shouted at by the teacher
- Active present continuous: The teacher is shouting at the students
- Passive present continuous: The students are being shouted at by the teacher
- Active future continuous: The teacher will be shouting at the students
- Passive future continuous: The students will be being shouted at by the teacher*
*Note: While grammatically correct, the future form of the continuous tense is unlikely to be used in this construction, as it would be unnatural both to say and to write.
Otherwise, note that in each instance the verb ‘to shout’ takes its past participle form ‘shouted’ regardless of whether the tense is past, present or future, and it is the added auxiliary verb ‘to be’ that takes the -ing continuous form.
It is also important to be aware when using the continuous tense that it is already formed with the verb ‘to be’ in its active construction, so when the auxiliary verb ‘to be’ is added to form the passive construction there are then two forms of the verb ‘to be’ in the continuous passive construction. This is why the continuous passive voice is a source of great confusion; many students forget to use the ‘to be’ form twice!
The passive voice with the perfect tense
As with the simple tense, the perfect tense can be used in the past, present or future form:
- Active present perfect: Peter has made lots of cakes today
- Passive present perfect: Lots of cakes have been made by Peter today
- Active present perfect : The teacher has shouted at the students
- Passive present perfect: The students have been shouted at by the teacher
- Active past perfect: The teacher had shouted at the students
- Passive past perfect: The students had been shouted at by the teacher
- Active future perfect: The teacher will have shouted at the students
- Passive future perfect: The students will have been shouted at by the teacher
Otherwise, note that in each instance the main verb ‘to shout’ retains its past participle form ‘shouted’ regardless of whether the tense is past, present or future.
The passive voice as a question
Finally, not all active sentences are statements in Subject Verb Object order; a sentence can also be a question, in which case the passive construction will alter as follows:
- Active: Will Bobby feed the cat?
- Passive: Will the cat be fed by Bobby?
- Active: Will Bobby have fed the cat?
- Passive: Will the cat have been fed by Bobby?
Nevertheless, the above rules still apply, with the modal verb that characterises the question moving to the front of the sentence as is customary with structuring an interrogative sentence; that is to say: a question.
Conclusion
The most important thing to understand about the passive voice is the first section of this article for using the passive construction with the simple tenses, and of course the guidelines on when the passive voice tends to be used. Some of the more advanced tenses will need getting to grips with in the active voice in their own right before students can convert them to a passive construction.
Please do post any questions or comments below.
Exercises to practise
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Börjars, Kersti, and others. Introducing English Grammar, 2nd edn (Routledge, 2010)
Burton-Roberts, Noel. Analysing Sentences: An Introduction to English Syntax, 4th edn (Routledge, 2016)
Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 3rd edn (Cambridge University Press, 2019)
Dreyer, Benjamin. Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style (Penguin Random House, 2020)
Gwynne, N. M. Gwynne’s Grammar: The Ultimate Introduction to Grammar and the Writing of Good English (Ebury Press/Random House, 2013)
Hewings, Martin, and others. Cambridge English Grammar and Vocabulary for Advanced (Cambridge University Press, 2015)
Huddleston, Rodney, and others. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Parrott, Martin. Grammar for English Language Teachers, 2nd edn (Cambridge University Press, 2011)
Quirk, Randolph, and others. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, reprint edn (Pearson, 2011)
Seely, John. Oxford A – Z of Grammar & Punctuation (Oxford University Press, 2020)
New Hart’s Rules: The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors (Oxford University Press, 2005)
Hi, there! I have always struggled with grammar and have learned that English is in fact the hardest language to learn because of things just like this! This is a great article discussing in detail how our language is different from others and how to speak properly. This can be helpful to a wide variety of the population, including myself! I enjoyed reading it and also gained some knowledge from your expertise. Great job!
Hi Steph. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. I’m so glad you enjoyed reading this and that it has been of some use to you.