The passive voice
What it is
In an active sentence, the subject does the action. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action.
Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.
Passive: Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
How it is built
The passive is formed with to be + past participle. The tense is shown by the form of to be:
Present passive
am / is / are + past participle
English is spoken in many countries.
These cars are made in Germany.
Past passive
was / were + past participle
The book was written in 1950.
The pyramids were built thousands of years ago.
Future passive
will be + past participle
The meeting will be held tomorrow.
The results will be published next week.
Present perfect passive
have / has been + past participle
The report has been finished.
Three people have been hired this month.
By + agent
When we want to say who did the action, we use by:
The painting was created by Picasso.
The email was sent by the director.
Often, we don't include the agent because it is unknown, obvious, or unimportant:
My phone was stolen. => We don't know who did it.
The road was repaired last year. => It doesn't matter who.
When to use the passive
We use the passive when:
-
We don't know who did the action: My car was stolen.
-
The action is more important than the person: The bridge was built in 1920.
-
In formal or scientific writing: The experiment was conducted in three phases.
Questions
Was the book written in English?
Where was the movie filmed?
Has the email been sent?
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