The passive voice focuses on who or what is affected by an action, not on who does the action.
The active voice highlights who or what performs the action.
Passive voice: 👉 Robert painted the wall yesterday (= we are interested in Robert who performed the action of painting, not the wall).
Active voice: 👉 The wall was painted by Robert yesterday (= the focus is on the wall, not on Robert).
| Active voice sentences | Passive voice sentences |
|---|---|
| Present simple | |
|
Subject + verb + object |
Object + am/is/are + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 The gardener mows the lawn every week. |
👉 The lawn is mowed by the gardener every week. |
| Present continuous | |
|
Subject + am/is/are + verb + -ing + object |
Object + am/is/are + being + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 The gardener is mowing the lawn. |
👉 The lawn is being mowed by the gardener. |
| Past simple | |
| Subject + verb + object
|
Object + was/were + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 Robert painted the wall. |
👉 The wall was painted by Robert. |
| Past continuous | |
|
Subject + was/were + verb (base form) + -ing + object |
Object + was/were + being + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 A local contractor was building the house. |
👉 The house was being built by a local contractor. |
| Future simple | |
|
Subject + will + verb (base form) + object |
Object + will + be + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 The courier will deliver the package tomorrow. |
👉 The package will be delivered by the courier tomorrow. |
| be going to | |
|
Subject + am/is/are + going to + verb (base form) + object |
Object + am/is/are + going to + be + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 The courier is going to deliver the package tomorrow. |
👉 The package is going to be delivered by the courier tomorrow. |
| Present perfect | |
|
Subject + has/have + past participle + object |
Object + has/have + been + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 The courier has delivered the package. |
👉 The package has been delivered by the courier. |
| Past perfect | |
|
Subject + had + past participle + object |
Object + had + been + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 A local contractor had constructed the new building. |
👉 The new building had been constructed by a local contractor. |
| Future perfect | |
|
Subject + will + have + past participle + object |
Object + will + have + been + past participle + by + subject |
|
👉 The chef will have baked the cake by the time the party starts. |
👉 The cake will have been baked by the chef by the time the party starts. |
| Modals | |
|
Subject + modal verb + verb (base form) + object |
Object + modal verb + be + past participle |
|
👉 You should repair the fridge. |
👉 The fridge must be repaired. |
There are situations when the passive voice is the better option. Here are some situations:
👉 The dog was chased by the cat
makes the dog, and what happened to it, the main focus. An active version, 👉 The cat chased the dog
, puts more emphasis on the cat.
👉 The TV was broken
, if it’s not important (or known) who broke the TV, this passive sentence is appropriate. But, if it’s relevant who broke it, an active sentence like 👉 John broke the TV
would be better.
This can sometimes be tricky to decide. Imagine the two sentences:
A new park was opened in the city yesterday,
The mayor opened a new park in the city yesterday.
The first sentence might be more suitable for a local news report where the main interest is the new park. The second might be more suitable for a political news piece where the mayor’s actions are under scrutiny.
