The passive voice puts the action and the receiver in front, and moves the doer to the back or out of the sentence. "They clean the office every day" becomes "The office is cleaned every day." The office is now the subject, and nobody needs to name the cleaners.
The form never changes: a form of be plus the past participle. What changes is the tense of be. Is cleaned is present, was cleaned is past, is being cleaned is present continuous, and was being cleaned is past continuous.
This page works through those four tenses, adds the agent with by, and covers questions and negatives. The 20-question drill at the end explains the form under every answer.
The rule
Present simple passive
- Form: am, is or are plus the past participle.
- Use it for routines and general facts: "The office is cleaned every evening."
- The subject decides be: the room is cleaned, the rooms are cleaned.
- A negative adds not after be: "The windows are not cleaned on Sundays."
Past simple passive
- Form: was or were plus the past participle.
- Use it for finished actions when the doer is unknown, obvious or unimportant: "The bridge was built in 1990."
- The subject decides was or were: the letter was sent, the letters were sent.
- Questions put was or were first: "Was the letter sent yesterday?"
Continuous passives
- Present continuous passive: am, is or are being plus the past participle: "The road is being repaired."
- Past continuous passive: was or were being plus the past participle: "The road was being repaired when we drove past."
- The -ing sits on be, not on the main verb: is being repaired, never is repairing been.
- Continuous passives describe an action in progress, not a finished result.
The agent with by
- Name the doer with by when the information matters: "The song was written by a student."
- Drop the agent when it is unknown, obvious or general: "My phone was stolen."
- People, someone and they often disappear from passive sentences.
- A pronoun after by takes the object form: by me, by him, by them.
Why choose the passive
- The doer is unknown: "The window was broken during the night."
- The doer is obvious: "The suspect was arrested."
- The receiver of the action is the topic of the sentence: "This bridge was designed by a famous engineer."
- The active voice is usually clearer, so choose the passive for a reason, not by habit.
Examples
- The office is cleaned every evening.Present simple passive: is plus the past participle cleaned.
- The letters were sent yesterday.Past simple passive: were plus the past participle sent.
- The road is being repaired this week.Present continuous passive: is being plus the past participle.
- The song was being played when we arrived.Past continuous passive: was being plus the past participle.
- This bridge was built in 1990.The agent is unknown or unimportant, so it disappears.
- The novel was written by a teenager.By names the agent when the information matters.
- My phone was stolen on the train.Nobody knows who took it, which is a classic reason for the passive.
- Are these rooms cleaned every day?A passive question puts are before the subject.
- The windows were not opened during the storm.The negative places not after the form of be.
- The results are published every Monday.A present routine with an unnamed agent.
Common mistakes
- Wrong: The office cleaned every evening. Right: The office is cleaned every evening.
- The passive needs a form of be. Without is, cleaned looks like the past simple active.
- Wrong: The bridge was build in 1990. Right: The bridge was built in 1990.
- The passive needs the past participle built, not the base form build.
- Wrong: The letter was wrote by Maria. Right: The letter was written by Maria.
- Write has the past participle written. Wrote is the past simple.
- Wrong: The road is repairing at the moment. Right: The road is being repaired at the moment.
- An action in progress needs is being plus the past participle.
- Wrong: The room was cleaned by someone people. Right: The room was cleaned by someone.
- By takes one agent. Someone already means an unnamed person.
Practice drill
Answer all 20 questions. Each answer is marked at once, and the rule is explained under the question.
The office ___ every evening.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. is cleaned The present simple passive takes is plus the past participle cleaned.
The letters ___ yesterday.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. were sent The past simple passive of a plural subject takes were plus the past participle sent.
The road ___ at the moment.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. is being repaired The present continuous passive takes is being plus the past participle repaired.
The song ___ when we arrived.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. was being played The past continuous passive takes was being plus the past participle played.
My phone ___ on the train last week.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. was stolen The past simple passive takes was plus the past participle stolen for the unknown thief.
The novel ___ by a teenager.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. was written The agent follows by, and the verb takes was plus the past participle written.
This bridge ___ in 1990.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. was built The past simple passive takes was plus the past participle built.
___ these rooms ___ every day?
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Are ... cleaned A passive question starts with are and keeps the past participle cleaned.
The windows ___ during the storm.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. were not opened The negative passive puts not after were and keeps the past participle opened.
The results ___ every Monday.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. are published The plural subject results takes are plus the past participle published.
The wall ___ by my grandfather.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. was painted The past simple passive takes was plus the past participle painted before the by-agent.
Dinner ___ in the kitchen right now.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. is being cooked The present continuous passive takes is being plus the past participle cooked for an action in progress.
The emails ___ before I left the office.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. were sent The past simple passive takes were plus the past participle sent.
The suspect ___ outside the bank.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. was arrested The agent is obvious, so the past simple passive was arrested is used.
The trees ___ by the storm last night.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. were damaged The past simple passive takes were plus the past participle damaged.
Breakfast ___ from seven to ten.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. is served The present simple passive takes is plus the past participle served.
The car ___ when the police arrived.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. was being moved The past continuous passive takes was being plus the past participle moved.
The homework ___ by all the students.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. was finished The past simple passive takes was plus the past participle finished.
This song ___ all over the world.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. is played The present simple passive takes is plus the past participle played.
The tickets ___ online last month.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. were sold The past simple passive takes were plus the past participle sold.
Drill complete
You answered every question.
Next topic: Passive voice with modal verbsTake the level test
Questions learners ask
How do I know which form of be to use?
Match be to the tense of the active sentence and to the subject. Present simple uses is or are, past simple uses was or were, and the continuous forms add being. The past participle never changes.
When can I leave out the agent?
Leave it out when the doer is unknown, obvious, general, or simply not the point of the sentence. If the reader genuinely needs to know who did it, add by plus the agent. Otherwise the passive sentence is cleaner without it.
Is the passive bad writing?
No, but it is easy to overuse. The active voice is usually shorter and clearer, so choose the passive when the receiver deserves the spotlight or the doer is unknown. Science, news and official writing use the passive for exactly those reasons.
More grammar topics
Passive voice with modal verbs
A modal passive keeps the modal in front and puts be plus the past participle after it. For the past, be becomes have been.
Past perfect vs past simple: which came first
When one past event happens before another, the earlier event takes had plus the past participle. The later event stays in the past simple.
Phrasal verbs with look: after, for, forward to and more
Look keeps its basic idea of attention or eyes, and the particle decides what happens next: caring, searching, waiting, investigating or resembling.
Take the free A1 to C2 level test to find your starting point.