PASSIVE
Documento Adobe Acrobat [94.0 KB]
Passive in English
We only use the passive when we are interested in the object or when we do not know who caused the action.
Example: Appointments are required in such cases.
2. Passive – Form
to be + past participle
How to form a passive sentence when an active sentence is given:
- object of the active sentence becomes subject in the passive sentence
- subject of the active sentence becomes object in the passive sentence" (or is left out)
We can only form a passive sentence from an active sentence when there is an object in the active sentence.
| Type of sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active sentence: | Peter | builds | a house. |
  |
|||
| Passive sentence: | A house | is built | by Peter. |
3. Examples
3.1. Simple Present
| Type of sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active sentence: | Peter | builds | a house. |
|
|||
| Passive sentence: | A house | is built | by Peter. |
3.2. Simple Past
| Type of sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active sentence: | Peter | built | a house. |
|
|||
| Passive sentence: | A house | was built | by Peter. |
3.3. Present Perfect
| Type of sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active sentence: | Peter | has built | a house. |
|
|||
| Passive sentence: | A house | has been built | by Peter. |
3.4. will-future
| Type of sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active sentence: | Peter | will build | a house. |
|
|||
| Passive sentence: | A house | will be built | by Peter. |
3.5. Modals
| Type of sentence | Subject | Verb | Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active sentence: | Peter | can build | a house. |
|
|||
| Passive sentence: | A house | can be built | by Peter. |
Active and Passive forms
We listed active and passive forms in the following table. We used the phrase I drive and put this phrase into the most common tenses.
| Active (Simple Forms) | |
|---|---|
| Simple Present | I drive |
| Simple Past | I drove |
| Present Perfect | I have driven |
| Past Perfect | I had driven |
| will-future | I will drive |
| Future Perfect | I will have driven |
| Conditional I | I would drive |
| Conditional II | I would have driven |
| Active (Progressive/Continuous Forms) | |
|---|---|
| Present Progressive | I am driving |
| Past Progressive | I was driving |
| Present Perfect Progressive | I have been driving |
| Past Perfect Progressive | I had been driving |
| will-future Progressive | I will be driving |
| Future Perfect Progressive | I will have been driving |
| Conditional Progressive | I would be driving |
| Conditional Perfect Progressive | I would have been driving |
| Passive (Simple Forms) | |
|---|---|
| Simple Present | I am driven |
| Simple Past | I was driven |
| Present Perfect | I have been driven |
| Past Perfect | I had been driven |
| will-future | I will be driven |
| Future Perfect | I will have been driven |
| Conditional I | I would be driven |
| Conditional II | I would have been driven |
| Passive (Progressive/Continuous Forms) | |
|---|---|
| Present Progressive | I am being driven |
| Past Progressive | I was being driven |
| Present Perfect Progressive* | I have been being driven |
| Past Perfect Progressive* | I had been being driven |
| will-future Progressive* | I will be being driven |
| Future Perfect Progressive* | I will have been being driven |
| Conditional Progressive* | I would be being driven |
| Conditional Perfect Progressive* | I would have been being driven |
How to use the Passive in various tenses
Here you will find some examples of how to form the passive depending on the tense.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | Peter builds a house. | A house is built by Peter. |
| Simple Past | Peter built a house. | A house was built by Peter. |
| Present Perfect | Peter has built a house. | A house has been built by Peter. |
| Past Perfect | Peter had built a house. | A house had been built by Peter. |
| will-future | Peter will build a house. | A house will be built by Peter. |
| going to-future | Peter is going to build a house in summer. | A house is going to be built in summer by Peter. |
Two objects in an active sentences – two possible passive sentences
When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible active sentences and two possible passive sentences.
- Sentence 1: The professor gave the students the books.
- Sentence 2: The professor gave the books to the students.
There are two objects in each of the following sentences:
- Object 1 = indirect object → the students
- Object 2 = direct object → the books
An indirect object is very often a person, a direct object a thing. When a direct object is followed by an indirect one, we put to in front of the indirect object.
Active sentence 1
| Subject | Verb | indirect Object | direct Object |
|---|---|---|---|
| The professor | gave | the students | the books. |
Active sentence 2
| Subject | Verb | direct Object | indirect Object with to |
|---|---|---|---|
| The professor | gave | the books | to the students. |
Each of the objects (books/students) in the active sentences can become subject in the passive sentence.
Passive sentence 1
| Subject | Verb | Object | (by-agent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The students | were given | the books. | (by the professor). |
Passive sentence 2
| Subject | Verb | Object | (by-agent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| The books | were given | to the students | (by the professor). |
English With Beatrice
Correo electrónico:
info@english-with-beatrice.com
TLF. 34 680 459 362
Horario: 10:00 a 14:30 y 16:00 a 22:00
DOSSIER: PINCHA EN EL LINK DE ABAJO
Versión para imprimir 