Active and Passive Verb Forms

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active

forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference
to successfully speak English.

Active Form

In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the
sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences
are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]

Examples:

Passive Form

-the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the
sentence.
-use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is
more important or should be emphasized.
-use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you
do not want to mention who is doing the action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing

doing action]

Examples:
 When should we use the Passive?

1. When we want to change the focus of the sentence:

o The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more
interested in the painting than the artist in this sentence)

2. When who or what causes the action is unknown or

unimportant or obvious or 'people in general':
o He was arrested (obvious agent, the police).
o My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
o The road is being repaired (unimportant agent).
o The form can be obtained from the post office (people in general).

3. In factual or scientific writing:

o The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the
computer.

4. In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they

(these can be used in speaking or informal writing):
o The brochure will be finished next month.

5. In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence

to improve style:
o Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by
Dr. Bell. ('Dr. Bell wrote the books' sound clumsy)

6. When the subject is very long:

o I was surprised by how well the students did in the test. (More natural
than: 'how well the students did in the test surprised me')
 Active and Passive Overview

Tense Active Passive

Once a week, Once a week, the house is
Tom cleans the house. cleaned by Tom.
She sings songs. Songs are sung by her.
Simple
S+V+e/es+O S (receiving action) + is/are +V3 + O
Present
Does Tom clean the (doing action)
house? Is the house cleaned by Tom?

Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.

He wrote a letter. A letter was written by him.
Simple
S (receiving action) + was/were +V3 +
Past
Suman did not eat O (doing action)
breakfast. Breakfast was not eaten by Suman.
Someone will finish the The work will be finished by 5:00
Simple work by 5:00 PM. PM.
Future He will break the window. The window will be broken by him.
will S (receiving action) + will be +V3 + O
(doing action)
Present Right now, Sarah is Right now, the letter is being
Continuous writing the letter. written by Sarah.
The salesman was The customer was being helped by
Past helping the customer the salesman when the thief came
Continuous when the thief came into into the store.
the store.
Present Many tourists have That castle has been visited by
Perfect visited that castle. many tourists.
Present Recently, John has been Recently, the work has been being
Perfect doing the work. done by John.
Continuous
George had Many cars had been repaired by
Past repaired many cars before George before he received his
Perfect he received his mechanic's mechanic's license.
license.
 Chef Jones had been The restaurant's fantastic dinners had
Past preparing the restaurant's been being prepared by Chef Jones
Perfect fantastic dinners for two for two years before he moved to
Continuous years before he moved to Paris.
Paris.
Simple Sally is going to make a A beautiful dinner is going to be
Future beautiful dinner tonight. made by Sally tonight.
be going to
Future At 8:00 PM tonight, At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be
Continuous John will be washing the being washed by John.
will dishes.
Future At 8:00 PM tonight, John is At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are
Continuous going to be washing the going to be being washed by John.
be going to dishes.
Future They will have The project will have been
Perfect completed the project completed before the deadline.
will before the deadline.
Future They are going to have The project is going to have been
Perfect completed the project completed before the deadline.
be going to before the deadline.
Future The famous artist will The mural will have been being
Perfect have been painting the painted by the famous artist for over
Continuous mural for over six months six months by the time it is finished.
will by the time it is finished.
Future The famous artist is going The mural is going to have been
Perfect to have been painting the being painted by the famous artist for
Continuous mural for over six months over six months by the time it is
be going to by the time it is finished. finished.
Used to Jerry used to pay the bills. The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would My mother would always The pies would always be made by
Always make the pies. my mother.
Future in I knew John would I knew the work would be
the Past finish the work by 5:00 finished by 5:00 PM.
Would PM.
Future in I thought Sally was going I thought a beautiful dinner was
the Past to make a beautiful dinner going to be made by Sally tonight.
Was Going tonight.
to
 The passive in subordinate clauses
You can make the passive in a subordinate clause that has a subject and a
normal conjugated verb. This is really the same as a normal passive.

 Active: I thought that Mary had scolded John.

 Passive: I thought that John had been scolded by Mary.

 Active: He knew that people had built the church in 1915.

 Passive: He knew that the church had been built in 1915.

You can also make the passive using a passive gerund or a passive
infinitive in the same place as a normal gerund or infinitive.

 The child loves being cuddled.

 She would like to be promoted.