The passive voice is not a tense in English. Each tense has its own passive voice which is created by using a form of the auxiliary verb to be + V3 (past participle)
The passive voice in each tense:
| 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 Continuous
| 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 Continuous
| 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.
|
All of the rules for passive negatives and questions are the same as for the active voice.
Note: Verbs that have no object (no one to “receive” the action) cannot be put into the passive, such as, arrive, come, die, exist, go, happen, have, live, occur sleep, etc.
Exercise 1.Underline the correct answer:
Exercise 2.Make up the sentences using the Present Simple Passive, the Past Simple Passive or the Future Simple Passive:
Exercise 3.Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Continuous Passive or Past Continuous Passive:
Exercise 4.Translate into English:
TEST 7 (Passive Voice)
1. Put the verbs in brackets into the Passive using the correct tense:
2. Translate into English:
3. Change the sentences into the Passive:
4. Choose the correct form to complete the sentences:
