Passive Voice In English

Passive Voice
1.Form:
Be + PII ( V-ed)
Active : S + V + O
Passive : S + tobe + PII + (By O)
(Tense)
Table of English tense in passive voice
Tenses Active Passive
Simple
present
S + V(es/s) + O
Ex: He reads books everyday.
S + am/is/are + PII +(byO)
Ex: Books are read(by him)
everyday
Simple
continous
S+ am/is/are +V-ing + O
Ex: He is reading books.
S + am/is/are + being + PII (by O)
Ex: Books are being read (By him)
Present
Perfect
S + has/have + V_ed + O
Ex: He has read books.
S + has/ have + been + PII + By O
Ex: Books has been read (by him)
Simple
Past
S + V-ed + O.
Ex: He read books

S + was/were + PII + by O.
Ex: He was read books (by him)
Past
continuous
S + was/were + V-ing + O
Ex: He was reading books
S + was/were + being + PII + (by O)
Ex: Books were being read (by him)
Past
Perfect
S + has/have + PII + O
Ex: He has been read books
S + has/have + been PII + (by O)
Ex: Books has been read (by him)
Simple
Future
S + will/shall V(bare) + O S + will/shall + be PII + (by O)
Future
Continuous
S + will/shall + be V-ing + O S + will/shall + being + PII + (by O)
Future
Perfect
S + will have PII + O S + will/shall + have been + PII +
(by O)
Simple
conditional
S + would V + O
Ex: He would read books
S + would be + PII + (by O)
Ex: Books would be read (by him)

Modal Verbs (MV) In Passive Voice.
Modal verbs can be used in either the present or past form.
Form :
Modal + Be + PII
Active : S + MV(not) + V + O
Passive : S + MV(not) + be PII + (By O)
Ex : We can’t solve this problem
 This problem can’t be solved
Passive Voice with Causative Form
Active: S + have/has + O1 + V(BI) + O2
S + get + O1 + V( to-infinitive) + O2
Passive: S + has/have/get + O2 + PII
Ex: My father had Tom wash his car
 My father had his car washed by Tom.
Other infinitive combinations in passive voice
Verbs of linking/loving/wanting/wishing + Object + infinitive form
their passive with the passive infinitive.
Active: S + V + O1 + to-infinitive + O2
Passive: S + V + O + tobe + PII
Ex: He wants someone to take photographs.
 He wants photographs to be taken.
Such verbs as :
“bave/let/make/bear/see/watch/feel/observe” are used in the
following passive structure.
Ex: The gravity makes things drop down.

Things are made to drop down by the gravity.
Note: The verds following “let” does not bear “to” in the
passive sentence.

Other infinitive combinations after the passive :
After
acknowledge/assume/believe/claim/consider/estimate/feel/find/know/
report/say/think/understand …, we use the infinitve construction.
Simple Infinitive: If the time in the infinitive passive is the same as
that of the main active verb.
Active: S1 + V1 + that + S2 + V2 + O
Passive: It + tobe + PII + that + S2 + V2 +(O)
S2 + tobe + PII + to V + (O)
Ex : People said he was jealous of her
 It is said that he was jealous of her
He was said to be jealous of her
* Other
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot
form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that
can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want
to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an
impersonal construction – therefore this passive is
called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some
other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal
Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say,
think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is
said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal
Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. –

Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the
beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into
passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an
infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs
and that are dropped).
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if
the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of
the passive sentence.
Other gerund combinations in the passive voice
With advise/insist/propose/recommend/suggest + Gerund + O
Active: S + V + V-ing + O
Passive: S + V + that + S + should be + PII
Ex: He recommended using bullet-proof glass
 He recommened that bullet-proof glass should be used
Active: S + V + O + V-ing
Passive: S + V + being + PII + By O
Ex: I remembered ,y father taking me to the zoo
 I remembered being taken to the zoo by my father.
Active: S + V + to-infitive + O
Passive: S + V + Tobe + PII + by O
Ex: She started to learn English 5 years ago.
 English started to be learnt 5 years ago.
Active: S + V + V-ing + O
Passive: S + V + being + PII + O
Ex: She started learning English 5 years ago
 English started being learnt 5 years ago.
2.Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not
important or not known, however, who or what is performing the

action
Note:
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the
following:
 the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of
the passive sentence
 the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past
participle)
 the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of
the passive sentence (or is dropped).