Learn how to use the Present Simple and Past Simple Passive Voice in English. Understand the forms, see clear examples, and practice with exercises to improve your grammar skills. Perfect for beginners and intermediate learners. In this post you will be learning all tenses of passive voice.
Table of Content
- Present Passive Voice
- Present Continuous Passive Voice
- Present Perfect Passive Voice
- Future Passive Voice
- Past Passive Voice
What is Passive Voice?
In passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action, rather than doing it. Passive voice is used when :- The doer of the action is not know.
- We don't want to mention the doer.
- Subject receives the action.
Passive voice: The meal is cooked by the chef.
Present Simple Passive
Subject + am/is/are + past participle (+ by + agent)
- Plants are watered everyday by my mom.
- A lot of trees are cut down every year.
- Students are taught at school.
- Cars are manufactured in many countries.
- Pencils are made of wood.
Present Continuous Passive Voice
Sub + be + being + V3.....by........
- Many tall buildings are being built every year in Phnom Penh.
- A lot of trees are being grown every year.
- More and more factories are being closed this year.
- A lot of pets are being raised by my parents.
- More and more videos are being uploaded everyday to YouTube platform.
Present Perfect Passive Voice
Sub + have/has + been + V3.....by........
- Homework has been assigned by the teacher.
- Pets have been fed already.
- People have been warned about the volcano.
- Some robbers have been arrested by the police.
- I have been invited to join the event.
Future Passive Voice
Sub + will + be + V3.....by........
- One million scientists will be sent to Mars by 2036.
- The meeting will be held tomorrow.
- More and more skybridges will be built in Phnom Penh.
- My car will be fixed this weekend.
- My YouTube channel will be deleted tonight.
Past Passive Voice
Sub + was/were + V3......by.....
- The thieves were arrested last night.
- Preah Vihear Temple was bombed by Thailand in 2025.
- This video was uploaded yesterday.
- Many factories were closed last year.
- Millions of people were killed in World War II.
Key points
- Use “was” for singular nouns.
- Use “were” for plural nouns.
- By is used when we want to mention the doer of the action.
Practice
A. Convert Active to Passive (Present Simple)
- The gardener waters the flowers.
- They sell fresh bread every morning.
- The teacher corrects the tests.
- Police arrested the robber last night.
- The authority has warned people about the volcano.
Answers
- The flowers are watered by the gardener.
- Fresh bread is sold every morning.
- The tests are corrected by the teacher.
- The robber was arrested by the police last night.
- People have been warned about the volcano by the authority.
B. Gap-Filling
Fill in the gaps with the correct form of present and past passive voice.- The letters ................ (deliver) every day.
- The windows ...............(clean) by the janitor.
- The homework ................(do) by the students every day.
- The letters ................ (send) yesterday.
- A new library ................ (build) in the city this year.
- The windows ................ (clean) every morning.
- The movie ................ (watch) by millions of people last week.
- The food ................(prepare) by the chef every evening.
- The new rules ................ (announce) yesterday by the principal.
- The flowers................ (water) by the gardener every day.
- The song................(play) on the radio yesterday.
- The report ................(finish) by the manager every month.
C. Multiple-Choice Questions (Present & Past Passive)
Instructions: Choose the correct passive form.
The cake ______ by my mother every Sunday.
A. is bake
B. is baked
C. was baked
D. bakes
The cake ______ by my mother every Sunday.
A. is bake
B. is baked
C. was baked
D. bakes
The letters ______ yesterday.
A. are delivered
B. delivered
C. were delivered
D. is delivered
The homework ______ by the students every day.
A. are done
B. is done
C. was done
D. did
A new bridge ______ in 2020.
A. was built
B. is built
C. builds
D. were built
The windows ______ by the cleaner every morning.
A. are cleaned
B. cleaned
C. is cleaned
D. were cleaned
The museum ______ by thousands of visitors last year.
A. is visited
B. visited
C. was visited
D. visits
The vegetables ______ by the farmers every week.
A. are harvested
B. was harvested
C. harvests
D. is harvested
The homework ______ yesterday by the students.
A. was finished
B. is finished
C. finish
D. were finished
The letters ______ every day.
A. are sent
B. is sent
C. was sent
D. send
The book ______ by the teacher last month.
A. was read
B. is read
C. reads
D. were read
Sentence Transformation
Instruction : Please change the following active voice to passive voice.
- My mom waters the plants three times a day.
- Teachers teach students at school.
- People cut down a lot of trees everyday.
- The police arrested 10 robbers last night.
- I uploaded 3 videos to my YouTube channel last week.
- ROZA has done her homework already.
- They have grown a lot of trees this year.
- The authority has warned the people along the coast already about Tsunami.
- Elon Musk will sent million scientists to Mars by 2036.
- Scientists will find new ways to heal most chronic diseases in the future.
Negative Forms
Present Simple : Sub + am/is/are + not + V3......
- Active : ROZA doesn't water the plant.
- Passive : The plant isn't watered by Roza.
Present Perfect : Sub + have/has + not + been + V3.....
- Active : ROZA hasn't done her homework yet.
- Passive : Homework hasn't been done by Roza yet.
Simple Past : Sub + was/were + not + V3..........
- Active : Tom didn't feed his dog last night.
- Passive : The dog wasn't fed by Tom last night.
Future with "will" : Sub + will not be + V3....
- Active : Jenny will not do the presentation tomorrow.
- Passive : The presentation will not be done by Jenny tomorrow.
Question Forms
Present Simple
Yes/No : Be (am,is, are ) + sub + V3......?
Wh- Question : Wh-word + Be (am,is, are ) + sub + V3......?
Active : Do people grow a lot of trees every year?
Passive : Are a lot of trees grown every year?
Active : Does ROZA water her plants every morning?
Passive : Are the plants watered by Roza every morning?
Active : How do they produce a nuclear bomb?
Passive : How is a nuclear bomb produced?
Simple Past
Yes/No : Be (was/were) + sub + V3......?
Wh-Question : Wh-word + was/were + sub + V3.....?
Active : Did the police arrest the robbers last night?
Passive : Were robbers arrested by the police last night?
Active : What picture did Anna paint last week?
Passive : What picture was painted by Anna last week?
Present perfect
Yes/No : Have/has + sub + been + V3.......?
Wh-Question : Wh-word + have/has + (sub) + been + V3.....?
Active : Has ROZA watered the plants yet?
Passive : Have the plants been watered by Roza yet?
Active : What has ROZA done today?
Passive : What has been done by Roza?
Future with " will"
Yes/No : Will + sub + be + V3......?
Wh-Question : Wh-word + will + (sub) + be + V3...?
Active : Will Elon Musk send 1 million scientist to Mars by 2036?
Passive : Will 1 million scientists be sent to Mars by 2036?
Active : What road will Cambodia build in the next 20 years?
Passive : What road will be built in the next 20 years?
Practice
Please change the following sentences into passive voice.
1. Does ROZA feed her pets every day?
2. Does your teacher give homework regularly?
3. Did Tom break the window yesterday?
4. Have they finished their assignment yet?
5. Will Cambodia build a metro in the next 30 years?
6. Where will they visit on their vacation next week?
7. Jenny hasn't finished her project yet.
8. Teacher doesn't speak Khmer much in the class.
9. People will not use gasoline much in the future.
10. My mom didn't cook dinner yesterday.
Tags
grammar