The passive voice in English: how to form it

The passive voice focuses on the action rather than on who does it, and it is formed with “be + past participle”: “The bridge was built in 1990.” It is used when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or obvious. To name the doer, add “by”: “The book was written by my teacher.”

From active to passive

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive one, and the verb becomes “be + past participle”: “Someone cleans the office every day.” → “The office is cleaned every day.” The verb “be” carries the tense; the main verb always stays in the past participle.

The passive in different tenses

Present simple: “English is spoken here.” Past simple: “The letter was sent yesterday.” Present perfect: “The results have been announced.” Will: “The report will be finished tomorrow.” With modal verbs: “This form must be signed.”, “The door can be opened from inside.”

When is the active voice better?

If the doer is important and known, the active sentence is clearer and shorter: “My sister made this cake.” The passive is more common in news, instructions, and scientific and formal writing. Making every sentence passive in everyday speech sounds unnatural.

Common mistakes for Turkish speakers

Because Turkish marks the passive with a single ending (“-ıl/-in”), the verb “be” is often left out in English: not “The house built in 1990”, but “The house was built in 1990”. The second mistake is using the past form of an irregular verb: not “The window was broke”, but “The window was broken”.

A short exercise

Write four passive sentences about your city: when it was founded, which languages are spoken there, what has been done recently, and what will be done in the future. Then turn one into an active sentence and compare which sounds more natural.

To keep going, see The past simple in English: how to form it and English writing practice: short paragraphs and emails.

Frequently asked questions

Can every verb be made passive? No. Verbs without an object (“arrive”, “sleep”, “happen”) have no passive: “It was happened” is wrong; “It happened” is correct.

Is “by” always needed? No. If the doer is unimportant or unknown, leave out the “by” part: “My phone was stolen.”