Look at these examples to see how the passive voice is used.
A lot of olive oil is produced in Italy.
This book was written by Angela Davis.
The suspect will be released tomorrow.
This product has not been tested on animals.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.
My bike was stolen. (passive – focus on my bike)
Someone stole my bike. (active – focus on someone)
We often use the passive:
- when we prefer not to mention who or what does the action (for example, it's not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say)
- so that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information
- in more formal or scientific writing.
How we make the passive
We make the passive using the verb be + past participle. We start the sentence with the object.
| Avatar | was | directed by James Cameron. |
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| Object | + be + | past participle |
It is not always necessary to add who or what did the action.
| My flight | is | cancelled. |
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| Object | + be + | past participle |
Only the form of be changes to make the tense. The past participle stays the same. Here are examples of the passive in its most common tenses.
| Tense | Example | Structure |
| Present simple | Alioli is made from oil, garlic and salt. | is/are + past participle |
| Present continuous | The hall is being painted this week. | is/are being + past participle |
| Past simple | John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. | was/were + past participle |
| Past continuous | The signs were being put up last week. | was/were being + past participle |
| Present perfect | Oranges have been grown here for centuries. | has/have been + past participle |
| Past perfect | When he got home, he found that his flat had been burgled. | had been + past participle |
| Future simple | The work will be finished next week. | will be + past participle |
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Hello CGL
I'm afraid that the verb 'have not put out' is active, not passive. You could make it passive by saying something like 'The fire still hasn't been put out by the fire service.'
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Jenny,
Yes, that's perfectly correct. It's quite a common form when we don't know or don't want to say who or what is performing the action.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello H_L,
We don't have a page focusing on transformation from one voice to the other, but we do have pages on active and passive voice with plenty of pairs of examples and explanations of the rules:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/active-and-passive-voice
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team