This document discusses the passive voice in English and provides examples of how to form passive sentences in different tenses. It begins by defining active and passive sentences, then presents a table showing how to form the passive voice for simple present, present continuous, present perfect, simple past, past continuous, past perfect, simple future, future continuous, and future perfect tenses. It also discusses using modal verbs and the causative form in passive sentences, and provides examples of other infinitive combinations in passive voice.

1. PASSIVE VOICE
Master Student's Name: Elena Baldea
1st
December 1918 University of Alba Iulia
Learners' Age & Language Proficiency level: low-intermediate adults Language
Presentation Date: 27 April, 2013

2. PASSIVE VOICE
Active: S + V + O
Passive: S + Be + PP(V3
ed) + by + O
(tense)
EX: My father planted this tree last year.
This tree was planted by my father last
year.

3. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Simple Present Tense
Active: S + V(s/es) + O
Passive: S + am/is/are + PP + by + O
EX: He reads books every day.
Books are read (by him) every day.

4. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Present Continuous Tense
Active: S + am/is/are + V-ing + O
Passive: S + am/is/are + being +PP + by + O
EX: He is writing a novel at the moment.
A novel is being written (by him) at the
moment.

5. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Present Perfect Tense
Active: S + Has/Have + V3
ed + O
Passive: S + has/have + been +PP + by + O
EX: He has just finished a novel.
A novel has just been finished (by
him).

6. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Simple Past Tense
Active: S + V2
ed + O
Passive: S + was/were + PP + by + O
EX: He gave Tom a book.
A book was given to Tom (by him).
Tom was given a book (by him).

7. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Past Continuous Tense
Active: S + was/were + V-ing + O
Passive: S + was/were + being + PP + by + O
EX: He was writing a letter at 8.00 yesterday.
A letter was being written (by him).

8. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Past Perfect Tense
Active: S + had + V3
ed + O
Passive: S + had + been + PP + by + O
EX: He had finished his homework before
8.00 yesterday.
His homework had been finished (by
him) before 8.00 yesterday.

9. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Simple Future Tense
Active: S + will/shall + V + O
Passive: S + will/shall + be + PP + by + O
EX: He will finish the homework.
The homework will be finished.

10. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Future Continuous Tense
Active: S + will/shall + be + V-ing + O
Passive: S + will/shall + be + being + PP + by + O
EX: Tom will be cooking lunch at 10.00
tomorrow.
Lunch will be being cooked by Tom
at 10.00 tomorrow.

11. TABLE OF ENGLISH TENSES
IN PASSIVE VOICE
 The Future Perfect Tense
Active: S + will/shall + have + V3
ed + O
Passive: S + will/shall + have + been + PP + by + O
EX: By the end of next week, he will have
written 10 letters to her.
By the end of next week, 10 letters will
have been written to her.

12. MODAL VERBS (MV) IN
PASSIVE VOICE
Modal Verbs can be used in either the present or
past forms.
Active: S + MV (not) + V + O
Passive: S + MV (not) + Be + PP + by + O
EX: We can’t solve this problem.
This problem can’t be solved.

13. PASSIVE VOICE WITH CAUSATIVE
FORM
Active: S + Has/Have + O1+ V (BI)+ O2
S + Get + O1+ V (to-infinitive) + O2
Passive: S + Has/Have/Get + O2 + PP
EX: My father had Tom wash his car.
My father had his car washed by Tom

14. OTHER INFINITIVE
COMBINATIONS IN PASSIVE
VOICE
Verbs of liking/loving/wanting/wishing + Object
+ infinitive form their passive with the passive
infinitive.
Active: S + V + O1 + to-infinitive + O2
Passive: S + V + O + To Be + PP
EX: He wants someone to take photographs.
He wants photographs to be taken.

15. Such verbs as “have/let/make/hear/see/watch/feel/
observe” are used in the following passive
structure:
Active: S + V + O + V (BI)
Passive: S + To Be + PP + to-Infinitive
EX: The gravity makes things drop down.
Things are made to drop down by the
gravity.
Note: The verb following “let” does not bear “to”
in the passive sentence.

16. OTHER INFINITIVE
COMBINATIONS IN PASSIVE
VOICE
With advise/beg/order/recommend/urge +
Indirect Object + Infinitive + Object, we have
two ways of making the passive voice.
<1>Active: S + V + O1 + to-infinitive + O2
Passive: S + To Be + PP + to-infinitive + O2
EX: He urged the Council to reduce the tax.
The Council was urged to reduce the tax.

17. OTHER INFINITIVE
COMBINATIONS IN PASSIVE
VOICE
With advise/beg/order/recommend/urge +
Indirect Object + infinitive + Object, we have
two ways of making the passive voice.
<2>Active: S + V + O1 + to-infinitive + O2
Passive: S1 + V + that + S2+ should be + PP
EX: He urged the Council to reduce the tax.
He urged that the tax should be reduced.

18. OTHER INFINITIVE
COMBINATIONS AFTER THE
PASSIVE VERB
After acknowledge/assume/believe/claim/
consider /estimate/feel/find/know/report/
say/think /understand …, we use the
infinitive construction.
Simple Infinitive: if the time in the infinitive
passive is the same as that of the main active
verb.

19. Match the Passive Sentences with Active SentencesMatch the Passive Sentences with Active Sentences
1. The sun is bought by about 3.7 million people every
day.
2. The printing press was invented by Gutenberg in
1447.
3. Thousands of newspaper websites have been
created since 1990.
A. Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1447.
B. People have created thousands of newspaper
websites since 1990.
C. 3.7 million people buy the Sun every day.

20. 1. The sun is bought by about 3.7 million people every
day.
2. The printing press was invented by Gutenberg in
1447.
3. Thousands of newspaper websites have been
created since 1990.
4. The first photographs were printed in a newspaper in
1880.
5. The Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded
each year since 1901.
6. The Nobel Prize for Literature was given to a Turkish
writer, Orhan Pamuk, in 2006.
We use the ACTIVE / PASSIVE when we are more interested in the
ACTION than the person who does it!

21. STRUCTURE
 Marie Claire is sold in 25 countries.
 The UK’s most famous comic, The Beano, was started in 1938.
 Financial Times has been published since 1888.
 We form the Present Simple Passive with …………………… and the
Past Participle (V3)
 We form the Past Simple Passive with …………………… and the
Past Participle (V3)
 We form the Present Perfect Passive with …………………… and the
Past Participle (V3)
am/is/are has been/have been was/were

22. SUCCESS!SUCCESS!