Passive Voice

 

Tense	Auxiliary verb + sample V3 (past participle)	Examples
Present simple	am, is, are + made	Wine is made from grapes. Many cars are made in Japan.
Present progressive	am, is, are + being + sent	The document is being sent right now. I am being sent to work in the London office.
Past simple	was, were + invited	John was invited to speak at the conference. We were invited to Daniel and Mary’s wedding.
Past progressive	was, were + being + washed	The dog was being washed when I got home. Their cars were being washed while they were in the mall shopping.
Future (will)	will be + signed	The contract will be signed tomorrow. The documents will all be signed by next week.
Future (going to)	am, is, are + going to be + built	A bridge is going to be built within the next two years. New houses are going to be built in our neighborhood.
Present perfect	has, have + been + sold	That start-up has been sold for $5 million. The rights to his book have been sold for $250,000.
Past perfect	had + been + hired	The new manager had been hired before John left the company. All the employees had hired before the store opened.
Future perfect	will + have been + finished	The car will have been loaded by the time he gets home. The crates will have been loaded by then.
Modals: can/could	can, could + be + issued	A passport can only be issued at the embassy. He said the documents could be issued within the week.
Modal: have to	have to, has to, had to + be + arranged	A babysitter has to be arranged for this evening. Joan’s travel plans have to be arranged by December.
Modal: must	must + be + stopped	Criminals must be stopped before they commit crimes.

 

 

Passive Voice – Exercises

Fill in the correct passive form of the verb in parentheses.

1.   After the earthquake, aid was sent to the people of Haiti. (sent)

2.   The electricity was cut off because the bill hadn’t been paid. (not pay)

1.   Penicillin ______ by Alexander Fleming in 1928. (discover)

2.   Statements ______ from all the witnesses at this moment. (take)

3.   Whales ______ by an international ban on whaling. (must protect)

4.   Both weddings _______ by Good Taste. (cater)

5.   A Picasso ____ from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.(steal)

6.   ____ this washing machine ______in Germany? (make)

7.   Tea _____ in China. (grow)

8.   When we reached the airport, we found that all the flights____ due to the storm. (cancel)

9.   The fax _____ until tomorrow morning. (not send)

10.                The soundtrack of a movie _____ always _____ after the filming is finished. (is/add)

Answers:

1.   was discovered

2.   are being taken

3.   must be protected

4.   were catered

5.   was stolen

6.   Was/made

7.   is grown

8.   had been cancelled

9.   won’t be sent

10.                is/added