Passive Voice in English
A simple guide to how passive voice works in American English—plus a tense cheat sheet, real-life examples, and quick practice.
Passive voice isn’t “bad.” It’s a tool. Use it when the result matters more than who did it, or when you don’t know who did it.
By the end, you’ll be able to spot passive voice fast, build it in any tense, and choose passive vs active without guessing.
Yak Box (Tiny Truth): If your sentence has “be + past participle” (like is made, was broken, will be delivered), you’re probably looking at passive voice.
What Passive Voice Means
Passive voice means the receiver of the action becomes the subject of the sentence.
Active Voice
Meaning: The subject does the action.
Example: The chef cooked the meal.
Passive Voice
Meaning: The subject receives the action.
Example: The meal was cooked (by the chef).
When Passive Voice Is Useful
- When the doer is unknown: My bike was stolen last night.
- When the doer is obvious or unimportant: The office is cleaned every morning.
- When you want to focus on the result: The report was finished on time.
- In formal, academic, or scientific writing: The samples were tested twice.
- When you’re being polite (or avoiding blame): A mistake was made.
How To Form Passive Voice
Basic formula: Subject (receiver) + be + past participle (+ by + agent optional)
| Pattern | Meaning | Example | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| be + past participle | Passive action | The door is locked. | Locked is the past participle. |
| be + past participle + by + agent | Includes the doer | The door was locked by the manager. | Use by only when the doer matters. |
| get + past participle | More casual, often “something happened” | He got fired yesterday. | Common in spoken American English. |
Tense Cheat Sheet
In passive voice, the tense lives on the verb be (or get). The past participle stays the same.
| Tense | Active | Passive | Real-Life Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | They make cars here. | Cars are made here. | These phones are sold online. |
| Past Simple | Someone painted the wall. | The wall was painted. | The tickets were emailed to me. |
| Present Continuous | They are repairing the road. | The road is being repaired. | Your order is being prepared now. |
| Past Continuous | They were interviewing her. | She was being interviewed. | The file was being uploaded when it failed. |
| Present Perfect | They have finished the job. | The job has been finished. | The results have been posted. |
| Past Perfect | They had shipped the package. | The package had been shipped. | The decision had been made already. |
| Future (Will) | They will announce it. | It will be announced. | The winner will be contacted soon. |
| Modal (Can/Should/Must) | You must submit the form. | The form must be submitted. | Payments can be made by card. |
Agent Or No Agent?
Agent = the doer of the action (often added with by).
Skip “By…” When It’s Not Helpful
- The window was broken last night.
- My password was changed again.
- The meeting was canceled.
Use “By…” When The Doer Matters
- The novel was written by Toni Morrison.
- The error was caused by a server outage.
- The plan was approved by the director.
Passive Vs Active: Quick Choice Guide
| If You Want To Emphasize… | Choose… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Who did it | Active | Our team fixed the bug. |
| What happened / the result | Passive | The bug was fixed. |
| You don’t know who did it | Passive | My laptop was taken. |
| Formal process (reports, research) | Passive (often) | The data were analyzed. |
Mini Vocabulary Note: Past participle = the “third form” of a verb. Regular: work → worked. Irregular: write → written, break → broken, do → done.
Practice Time
Turn these active sentences into passive sentences. (Don’t worry—answers are below.)
- Someone stole my phone.
- They will deliver the package tomorrow.
- The team is reviewing your application.
- Someone has canceled our flight.
- You must sign the form.
- They were building the bridge in 2010.
Show Answer Key
- My phone was stolen.
- The package will be delivered tomorrow.
- Your application is being reviewed.
- Our flight has been canceled.
- The form must be signed.
- The bridge was being built in 2010.
Common Mistakes And Fixes
Mistake 1: Missing “Be”
Wrong: The email sent yesterday.
Fix: The email was sent yesterday.
Mistake 2: Using The Wrong Past Participle
Wrong: The window was broke.
Fix: The window was broken.
Mistake 3: Passive When Active Is Clearer
Clunky: The meeting was attended by us.
Cleaner: We attended the meeting.
Mistake 4: Confusing Passive With Adjectives
Passive action: The door was locked by security. (Someone locked it.)
Adjective/state: The door is locked. (It’s in the locked state; doer not important.)
Quick Reference Summary
- Passive formula: subject + be + past participle (+ by + agent)
- Use passive when: doer is unknown, unimportant, obvious, or you want the result
- Tense lives on “be”: is/was/has been/will be/being
- Common spoken option: get + past participle (got promoted, got stuck)
Final Yak
Passive voice is like a spotlight: you aim it at the result, not the actor. Use it on purpose, and it sounds professional—not “wrong.”
Quick self-check: Can you add “by someone” to the end? If yes, it’s probably passive. (“The package was delivered (by someone).”)
