Passives

Do you know how to use the passive voice to change the focus of a sentence?

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: Grammar B1-B2: Passives: 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: Grammar B1-B2: Passives: 2

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Language level

B1 English level (intermediate)

Hello, I would like to know if this PV example is correct: "the kids were taught by my favorite teacher."

Hello Jamil Harumi,

Yes, that is grammatically correct.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

I think both the below sentences are correct. Do they convey the same meaning? If not, correct me where I go wrong, and explain to me the details. 1.It is bad being robbed(in this case, is being robbed acting as a complement to bad.) 2. Being robbed is a bad experience.

Hi Mussorie,

Yes to all your questions :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Teacher, "The changes to the tax system proved impracticable as they were impossible to enforce." I wonder if "they were" refers to "the changes", is it correct to change "to enforce" to "to be enforced" (become "The changes to the tax system proved impracticable as they were impossible to be enforced.")? Thanks

Hello Kaisoo93,

Yes, I understand 'they' to mean 'the changes to the tax system'; I don't see any other possibility in this specific sentence.

It wouldn't be correct to say 'to be enforced' here. The basic structure of the clause is an extremely common one in English: subject + 'be' + adjective + infinitive. In this case: subject ('they') + 'be' ('were') + adjective ('impossible') + infinitive ('to enforce'). Very often, such sentences begin with 'it': 'It's impossible to know the future'.

As far as I can think, the infinitive is always active in such sentences.

Hope this makes sense.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Kirk, Thank you for the explanation. Are the following sentences correct? 1) These new discipline is difficult for the teachers to enforce. 2) The new discipline will be enforced by the teachers. 3) The teachers will enforce the new discipline. Thank you

Hello Kaisoo93,

Yes, except for 'These' in 1 (which should be 'The'), those sentences are all correct. Good work!

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi there, thanks for the helpful lessons you always share with us. In exercise1, there is a question saying " The fire service still ___ the fire". with those options 1- wasn't put out 2- is put out 3- haven't put out. as i found out in the answer sheet, the correct answer option 3. so my question is, can we use "have" with singular?. I mean here we are talking about fire service which i think it's a singular. I hope you understood my question.

Hi Maahir,

Yes, you can use a plural verb here. You can also use a singular verb, so 'hasn't put out' would also be correct.

We can see institutions and organisations as single entities (with a singular verb) or as collections of people (with a plural verb). It's really just about how the speakers sees things.

Examples of institutions like this are: the army, the navy, the air force, Parliament, the health service, sports teams, the government, the police, the European Union, the United Nations etc.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

-they did not come to the party, they were on a trip -a storm is coming, it will be harder to get out -i haven't been out , it has been raining all day -we weren't in the house, when he broke in -i can't stand him, he is being rude -my phone died, but she fixed it -i missed you, i haven't seen you in awhile -she was watching TV, while i was cooking dinner hi can you please tell me if those sentences correct?

Hello wasan0909,

We're happy to help you with specific questions about a sentence or two, but I'm afraid our support doesn't include checking our users' texts or homework.

Except for sentences 4, 6 and 8, all of these are run-on sentences and need to be broken into two sentences where the comma is. That is more of a punctuation error than a grammar error, though.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Which sentence in passive is correct? Active: There have been reports of children stealing from the school cafeteria Passive 1: Children have been reported to be stealing from the school cafeteria Passive 2: Children have been reported stealing from the school cafeteria. Thank you.

Hello Laura Olivia,

I think the first sentence is the best option, but the reason is rather complex.

First of all, we should note that the question here is not really about passive forms, but rather about the difference between these two constructions:

1. report sb to be + verbing

2. report sb verbing

You could rewrite your examples using 'People have reported...' and still use either form; the fact a passive form is used in your examples does not change the question of which of these forms is used.

I'm going to use a different context for the sake of clarity, and then we'll go back to your context for comparison.

The form report sb to be + verbing has the meaning 'we have information about the person's activity'. For example:

Someone reported him to be working on a new book.

He was reported to be working on a new book.

> There is information that he is working on a new book.

The form report sb + verbing has the meaning 'officially complain about someone while they are engaged in an activity'

For example:

Someone reported him working on a new book.

He was reported working on a new book.

> Someone complained (to the police, for example) while he was writing a new book. This complaint could be about anything - it does not have to be related to the book-writing activity.

Now, it is possible to see the form report sb + verbing as simply omitting 'to be', but I think this leads to ambiguity, which we generally try to avoid. This is why I think example 1 is the best option.

With reference to your context, I think the context is sufficiently clear that there is very little chance of ambiguity. Reporting theft is an expected action, so the sentence would be immediately understood. Thus, while the first example is better in my view, in this particular context I think the second is also acceptable.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

hello, With the tense Present Simple the structure is is/are + past participle. What is the structure of the past perfect? i have to know the passive past perfect for my test but i don't know how to form it. thanks for the grammar tests already they help a lot.

Hi aattttuujj,

The passive in the past perfect is: had been + past participle. Good luck with your test :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Teachers, Are all verbs in sentence with structure like "how/how long/what/whether/who + to-infinitive" can be replaced with passive form without restructuring the sentence? For example: 1) Who "to hire" is decided by the management = Who "is hired" is decided by the management = Who "to be hired" is decided by the management 2) How much money "to allocate" to housing depends on various factors. =How much money "to be allocated" to housing depends on various factors. =How much money "is allocated" to housing depends on various factors. Thanks

Hello Kaisoo93,

You can reformulate sentences such as these to have a subject and a finite verb form, but it is not always passive. Depending on the context, an active form may be required:

Where to go is your decision

> Where you go is your decision

Your second example also likely requires an active form:

How much money we/they/the government should allocate depends on...

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi there, thank you for the informative posts as ever. I think that the table should be updated so that it says "have/has been + past participle" in the present perfect row. One of my students read it and got confused. Many thanks

Hi danohara,

I've updated the table now. Thanks so much for letting us know about the correction :)

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Sir, Bicycles are made here since the year 2000. Bicycles have been made here since the year 2000. Which sentence is correct and if both are correct then what is the difference ?

Hello SonuKumar,

The second sentence is correct as you are describing an action which began in the past and continues to the present.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

To ask a following question about what I asked before, Another similar usage came up to me was that, why that we more often say “things have changed” but not “things are changed”?

Hello Fiona,

Both forms are possible, depending on the context, of course.

The present perfect (have changed) is used when we are talking about the present result of a past action or event.

The present simple passive (are changed) tells us about the current situation. Normally, it does not necessarily mean that there is something different about the present as compared to the past. However, the verb 'change' already contains this meaning, so we have a situation in which the lexical item (the word) carries meaning which is normally part of the verb form. Even so, the present perfect is more common, with change as much as with other verbs.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Dear Team, "are/is called" or "have/has been called" What is the difference? When to use each? Thanks

Hello DaniWeebKage,

The first form is a present simple form and the second is a present perfect form. There's an explanation of the different uses of these forms in the Present tense section of our English grammar.

If you have any other specific questions, please let us know.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi, I have a question and I hopes the learnEnglish team to answer me. In grammar test 2, in the example which it says, someone _ my wallet and left at reception, here the correct answer is " had found" ok, although the structure here is had been+ past participle, then how it used had found. Thanks for you.

Hello Pola,

This page is about how to correctly form and also use the passive voice. It's not correct to use it in a sentence like this one, and that's what this question is testing.

If you already knew this, that's great! It shows that you understand this important point.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hi! What’s the difference between A lot of time is wasted on pointless meetings in this company. VS. A lot of time have been wasted on pointless meetings in this company.

Hello Fiona,

The difference is the difference between the present simple ('is') and the present perfect ('has been' -- notice that 'have been' is not correct because 'time' takes a singular verb). The first one is a more general statement that could refer to a long period of time and the second one refers to a more specific time that began sometime in the past and is still happening now.

I'd suggest you read more a bit more about this on our Present simple and Present perfect pages.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Thanks for replying! Your explanation is helpful!

Another similar usage came up to me was that, why that we more often say “things have changed” but not “things are changed”?

Hello, e.g, The work will be finished next week. Could I rewrite the sentence as: e.g, The work will have finished next week. My appreciations.

Hello Via,

Yes, that is grammatically correct and the two sentences effectively mean the same thing. The first one is much more commonly used.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

This is the course that I try to capture very well and I enjoy learning passive voice.

Hello, I have a very simple question Can I say Nobody saw the cup And how to change into passive. Can I say " The cup wasn't seen by anybody. " or " The cup was seen by nobody "

Hi abo omar,

Yes! Nobody saw the cup is fine, and both of your passive sentences are fine too.

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello! Could you add lesson about impersonal passive too?

Hi Kee_Fos,

Thanks for your suggestion! We'll consider that next time we review this page.

In the meantime, you can find some explanation and examples of the impersonal passive here: https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/active-and-passive-voice

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello! I am not able to get this two sentences: 1) Flights to Sanya, the holiday hotspot in the South China Sea, has seen strong recovery helped by a new duty-free policy. This sentence should be in passive, they haven't mentioned who has seen it. Again it can't be "has been seen" as per passive rules. 2) All the children, gathered in that group, were ready to perform a traditional dance.(non-finite clause) Over here it should be readied.But again it sounds wrong. Kindly help.

Hi Shreya,

These are interesting examples. Let me try to help.

1) The sentence is correct in the active voice. In this sentence, see doesn't mean 'see with your eyes'. It's a different meaning. Here, it means 'to be the time or place when something happens', and the subject is Flights to Sanya (i.e. it means something like 'Flights to Sanya have experienced or witnessed ...'). This is the third meaning of see listed on this page in the Cambridge Dictionary. Have a look there for more examples.

But one correction is needed: Flights to Sanya have seen ...

2) There's no need to use a passive in this sentence. It's fine to use the adjective ready.

As you point out, ready is also a verb so the passive form would be: All the children were readied to perform ... . But, using the passive means specifically that the children were readied by someone (e.g. by a teacher, or a group leader). That is, the children didn't get themselves ready. But there's no other information about that in this sentence, so there's no reason to prefer the passive.

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Thank you so much Jonathan for your help.

Hello Could you please help me with the following quassi-passive voice change? Active : Cheese is a milk product. Passive : Cheese is a product which is made of milk. Am I correct ?

Hello admins, Please tell me the difference between 'I have no story to be told' and 'I have no story to tell'. Does it depend on how the speaker see the story??

Hi Smiley1,

Interesting examples! Their meanings are very similar. But:

The first one (no story to be told) focuses more on the story, since be told is a passive verb referring to the story ('a story is told').
The second one (no story to tell) focuses more on the speaker, since tell is an active verb and the doer of the verb is the speaker.

Does that make sense?

Best wishes,

Jonathan

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello! I've never quite understood how to use passive with "be going to do smt" form. I've seen both "will be done" and "be going to be done". Which of them is more correct and why? Thanks in advance

Hello alekanka,

Both of those can work -- it really depends on how you see the future. You can see an explanation of this on our Talking about the future page.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

I have been got good mark by test although I have some doubt many people who use these sentence passive voice like I am tired, I was gone market yesterday and I will be opened my new shop by tomorrow. These sentence meaning whether passive or active voice can u explain it.

Hello Karan Narang,

Although it looks like a passive sentence, 'I am tired' is simply the pronoun 'I' + the verb 'be' + the adjective 'tired'. Some past participles are routinely used as adjectives, and of course we can use the verb 'be' with them. It can sometimes be tricky to know when a sentence is passive or simply 'be' + an adjective, but especially in informal situations, it's probably not a passive verb.

I'm afraid the other two sentences you mention are not grammatically correct.

All the best,

Kirk

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello ! I found some difficulty with this two sentences please : - The fire service still have not put out. - I don't know who stole my bike. thank you.