SPI English · Grammar
Passive Voice by Tense
In the passive voice the thing that receives the action becomes the subject, and the verb becomes a form of be plus the past participle in the same tense as before.
Why this matters
Fourteen questions in the bank, 12 EASY and 2 MODERATE, and every mock paper has some. The wrong options almost always keep the meaning but change the tense, so the whole skill is matching the form of be to the tense of the active verb.
Concept 1 of 3: The three steps from active to passive
Turn the sentence round: the object moves to the front, the verb becomes 'be + past participle', and the doer moves to the end after 'by'. The tense never changes.
Definition
- Step 1: the object of the active sentence becomes the subject.
- Step 2: the verb becomes a form of be in the same tense + the past participle (written, made, given). The form of be agrees with the new subject.
- Step 3: the old subject goes after by, in its object form: I to me, we to us, he to him, she to her, they to them.
- A vague doer such as people, someone or they is usually dropped: 'Hindi is spoken in Bihar.'
- Keep every other word (not, all over the world, in the morning) in place.
Worked example
Change to the passive voice: Ravi waters the plants.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a practice question:
Practice questionEasy
Example 1 · Grammar · Passive Voice by Tense
Select the option which best expresses the same sentences in Passive/Active Voice.
Siva guides me.
Changing the tense while changing the voice
A simple present active stays simple present in the passive: 'is given', not 'has been given' or 'is being given'. Only the voice changes.
Putting 'not' in the wrong place
In a negative passive, not comes straight after the first helping verb: 'is not eaten', not 'is eaten not' or 'is being not eaten'.
Dropping a phrase while changing the voice
Every phrase of place or time stays: 'English is spoken all over the world'. An option that drops 'all over the world' has changed the sentence.
Concept 2 of 3: The passive form of be in each tense
The past participle never changes; only the form of be in front of it changes, and it copies the tense of the active verb exactly. Continuous tenses add 'being', perfect tenses add 'been'.
Definition
- Simple tenses: is, are, was, were, will be + past participle.
- Continuous tenses: is being, are being, was being, were being + past participle.
- Perfect tenses: has been, have been, had been, will have been + past participle.
- The form of be agrees with the new subject: 'The town has been ...', 'The towns have been ...'.
- A verb with its own preposition keeps it: 'They laughed at him' becomes 'He was laughed at.'
| Active tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | She cleans the room. | The room is cleaned by her. |
| Present Continuous | She is cleaning the room. | The room is being cleaned by her. |
| Present Perfect | She has cleaned the room. | The room has been cleaned by her. |
| Simple Past | She cleaned the room. | The room was cleaned by her. |
| Past Continuous | She was cleaning the room. | The room was being cleaned by her. |
| Past Perfect | She had cleaned the room. | The room had been cleaned by her. |
| Simple Future | She will clean the room. | The room will be cleaned by her. |
| Future Perfect | She will have cleaned the room. | The room will have been cleaned by her. |
Continuous adds being, perfect adds been. The perfect continuous tenses have no everyday passive.
Practice this conceptself-check · 5 quick reps
The same idea in a practice question:
Practice questionEasy
Example 2 · Grammar · Passive Voice by Tense
Find suitable active/passive voice. The enemies have destroyed the 'AJooba' town.
Leaving out 'being' in a continuous tense
'He was driving the car' becomes 'The car was being driven'. 'The car was driven' is the simple past and changes the tense.
Letting the old subject choose has or have
'They have built a wall' becomes 'A wall has been built by them'. The form of be agrees with the new subject, a wall, so it is has, not have.
Dropping the preposition of a prepositional verb
'Laugh at', 'look after' and 'send for' keep their preposition in the passive: 'The baby was looked after by her aunt.'
Concept 3 of 3: Turning a passive sentence back into the active
Run the three steps backwards: the doer after 'by' becomes the subject, the form of be is dropped and the verb goes into the same active tense, and the old subject becomes the object.
Definition
- Find the doer after by and make it the subject in its subject form: by us to we, by him to he.
- Read the tense from the form of be: is or are used means simple present, had been used means past perfect, is being used means present continuous.
- If no doer is named, take one from the sentence (our to we, his to he) or use a sensible subject such as someone.
- The verb must agree with the new subject: 'We use', never 'We uses'.
Worked example
Change to the active voice: The letter was posted by my sister.
Practice this conceptself-check · 4 quick reps
The same idea in a practice question:
Practice questionEasy
Example 3 · Grammar · Passive Voice by Tense
Find suitable active/passive voice. Our task had been completed before sunset.
Reading 'had been' as the simple past
'Had been + past participle' is the past perfect passive, so the active keeps had: 'had finished', not 'finished'.
Breaking agreement in the new active sentence
When the new subject is we, they or I, the present verb has no -s: 'We use this room', not 'We uses this room'.
Summary — formulas & gotchas at a glance
A revision cheat-sheet for the formulas and gotchas above. Click any concept name to jump back to its full explanation.
Reference tables (1)
The passive form of be in each tense8 rows
| Active tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | She cleans the room. | The room is cleaned by her. |
| Present Continuous | She is cleaning the room. | The room is being cleaned by her. |
| Present Perfect | She has cleaned the room. | The room has been cleaned by her. |
| Simple Past | She cleaned the room. | The room was cleaned by her. |
| Past Continuous | She was cleaning the room. | The room was being cleaned by her. |
| Past Perfect | She had cleaned the room. | The room had been cleaned by her. |
| Simple Future | She will clean the room. | The room will be cleaned by her. |
| Future Perfect | She will have cleaned the room. | The room will have been cleaned by her. |
Continuous adds being, perfect adds been. The perfect continuous tenses have no everyday passive.
Watch out for (8)
- Changing the tense while changing the voice→ The three steps from active to passive
- Putting 'not' in the wrong place→ The three steps from active to passive
- Dropping a phrase while changing the voice→ The three steps from active to passive
- Leaving out 'being' in a continuous tense→ The passive form of be in each tense
- Letting the old subject choose has or have→ The passive form of be in each tense
- Dropping the preposition of a prepositional verb→ The passive form of be in each tense
- Reading 'had been' as the simple past→ Turning a passive sentence back into the active
- Breaking agreement in the new active sentence→ Turning a passive sentence back into the active
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