Passive Voice

1. Formation and uses

	Simple	Continuous	Perfect
Present	am/is/are+PP e.g. Cars are repaired.	am/is/are+being+PP e.g. The car is being repaired.	have/has+been+PP e.g. The car has been repaired.
Past	was/were+PP e.g. The car was repaired.	was/were+being+PP e.g. The car was being repaired.	had been + PP e.g. The car had been repaired.
Future	will be + PP e.g. The car will be repaired.	—	will have been + PP e.g. The car will have been repaired.

Note: PP = Participle Two or Past Participle (regular verbs + -ed; irregular verb – see the third column of the table)

The passive is used:

1. When the agent (the person who does the action) is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context.

^{e.g. My car was stolen yesterday. (unknown agent)}

The road repairs were completed last week. (unimportant agent)

The kidnappers have been arrested. (by the police – obvious agent)

2. When the action is more important than the agent – as in news reports, formal notices, instructions, processes, headlines, advertisements etc.

e.g. Taking pictures is not allowed. (written notice)

The local bank was robbed this morning. (news report)

Bread is baked in an oven for about 45 minutes. (process)

^{3. To put emphasis on the agent.}

e.g. The Tower of London was built by William the Conqueror.

4. To make statements more polite or formal.

e.g. My new suit has been burnt. (It’s more polite than saying “You’ve burnt my new suit.”)

1.1 Complete the sentences with a Present Simple Passive. Use the following verbs:

Ship, pick, drink, take, dry, roast, prepare, sell, sort, plant Growing and preparing coffee.

1. The soil is prepared.

2. The seeds ____.

3. The berries ____ by hand.

4. They ____ to a factory.

5. They ____ in the sun.

6. They ____ by hand.

7. They ____ all over the world.

8. They ____ in ovens at the factory.

9. The coffee ____ in the shops.

10. It ____ in offices and homes everywhere.

1.2 Complete these sentences in the passive using is, are, was or were and a word from the box:

Grown, cut, taught, locked, sent, explained, killed, given, built, driven

1. His father was killed in the war.

2. The grass is never cut in the winter.

3. When ____ these houses ____?

4. You can't go into the school. The gates ____ always ____ at 4.30.

5. ____ these potatoes ____ in your garden?

6. I ____ a beautiful gold watch.

7. We take the bus to work during the week so the car ____ only ____ at weekends.

8. The problem ____ to us very clearly.

9. This letter ____ never ____.

10. Children ____ not ____ any languages at primary school now.

1.3 Rewrite these sentences, putting the verbs in the passive:

1. My car / damage / last night. (past) – My car was damaged last night.

2. This computer / make / in the USA. (present) – This computer is made in the USA.

3. The machines / make / in Scotland. (present)

4. The President / kill / last night. (past)

5. The money / change into dollars / at the bank. (present)

6. The parcel / post / yesterday. (past)

7. Cheese / make / from milk. (present)

8. The children / give / some food. (past)

9. The house / paint / every year. (present)

^{10. Several people / hurt / in an accident last night. (past)}

^{1.4 Complete the sentences using one of these verbs in the correct form – Present Simple or Past Simple:}