present simple passive voice

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Simple Present Passive

Forming simple present passive, quick exercise.

present simple passive voice

Beginners ESL

Reading skills, major exams, writing & vocab.

Passive Voice

What is the passive voice?

In general we tend to use the active voice. That is when a subject does an action to an object.

Somebody stole my laptop. (subject = Somebody / action(verb) = stole / object = my laptop)

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The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is.

The passive agent

When we know who the subject is, we put it at the end with by. We call this an agent.

Most writing instructors and editors recommend against using the passive voice, when possible. The reason for this is that when you use the active voice, your writing is clearer and less complicated.

If it’s a long sentence and you know who the subject is, it’s best to use the active voice.

The passive is often used to report something or to state a fact.

Forming the passive voice

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:

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.

Passive Voice – Exercises

Fill in the correct passive form of the verb in parentheses.

Purdue Online Writing Lab College of Liberal Arts

present simple passive voice

Passive Verbs

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This handout explains and describes the sequence of verb tenses in English.

Often, writing teachers encourage the use of action verbs and active voice. However, there are times when it makes more sense to use passive verbs instead.

Use passive verbs when you do not want to specify the actor. If the actor is either unknown or irrelevant, you may not want to specify an actor: “Crimes were committed.” In this case, the actor’s name is purposely avoided.

Additionally, use passive verbs when you wish to foreground a topic that is not the action or actor. “Penicillin was developed in 1928.” In this case, penicillin is foregrounded instead of the developer and instead of the verb, developed .

In the active example of simple present tense, the company ships the computers. Here, the company is doing the action.

In the passive example of simple present tense, computers are foregrounded instead of the company. In this case, it doesn’t matter who sent the computers.

In the active example of present progressive tense, the factors of the storm are emphasized rather than the storm itself.

In the passive example of present progressive tense, the storm is focused on rather than the factors of the storm.

Use the passive voice if you do not wish to detail the factors of the storm and instead wish to present the storm as the focus of the sentence.

In the active example of the future tense, the representative is specified as the person who will pick up the computer. In this case, the owners of the computer know to look out for a specific person who represents this company.

In the passive example of the future tense, we do not know who will pick up the computer, just that it will be picked up.

Use passive voice if you do not want to specify who will pick up the computer.

In the active voice example of the modal verb, the second person pronoun, you, is directly addressed as the person who can use the computer.

In the passive voice example of the modal verb, no single person is addressed. Therefore, the computer can be used by anyone.

Passive Voice: When to Avoid It and When to Use It

The passive voice is often maligned by teachers and professors as a bad writing habit. Or, to put that in the active voice: Teachers and professors across the English-speaking world malign the passive voice as a bad writing habit.

What is the passive voice?

In general, the active voice makes your writing stronger, more direct, and, you guessed it, more active. The subject is something, or it does the action of the verb in the sentence. With the passive voice , the subject is acted upon by some other performer of the verb. (In case you weren’t paying attention, the previous two sentences use the type of voice they describe.)

But the passive voice is not incorrect. In fact, there are times when it can come in handy. Read on to learn how to form the active and passive voices , when using the passive voice is a good idea, and how to avoid confusing it with similar forms.

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The difference between active and passive voice

While tense is all about time references, voice describes whether the grammatical subject of a clause performs or receives the action of the verb .

Here’s the formula for the active voice:

[subject]+[verb (performed by the subject)]+[optional object]

Chester kicked the ball.

In a passive voice construction, the grammatical subject of the clause receives the action of the verb. So the ball from the above sentence, which is receiving the action, becomes the subject. The formula:

[subject]+[some form of the verb to be ]+[past participle of a transitive verb]+[optional prepositional phrase]

The ball was kicked by Chester.

That last little bit—“by Chester”—is a prepositional phrase that tells you who the performer of the action is. But even though Chester is the one doing the kicking, he’s no longer the grammatical subject. A passive voice construction can even drop him from the sentence entirely:

The ball was kicked.

How’s that for anticlimactic?

When (and when not) to use the passive voice

If you’re writing anything with a definitive subject that is performing an action, you’ll be better off using the active voice. And if you search your document for occurrences of was , is , or were and your page lights up with instances of passive voice, it may be a good idea to switch to active voice.

That said, there are times when the passive voice does a better job of presenting an idea, especially when the performer of the action of a sentence’s verb is very general or diffuse, is unknown, or should get less emphasis than the recipient of that action, including in certain formal, professional, and legal contexts. Here are five common uses of the passive voice:

1 In broad statements about widely held opinions or social norms

Tipping less than 20 percent is now considered rude.

The writer of this sentence is communicating that they believe enough people share the opinion that tipping less than 20 percent is rude to qualify as a consensus. In other words, the performer of the action—the people doing the considering—is so general that it can be left out of the sentence entirely.

2 In reports of crimes with unknown perpetrators or other actions with unknown doers

My car was stolen yesterday.

If you knew who stole the car, you might be closer to getting it back. The passive voice here emphasizes the stolen item and the action of theft.

The grass was cut yesterday.

The emphasis here is on the grass, which presumably is observably shorter. Someone must have cut it, but whoever it was is not the concern of this sentence.

3 In scientific contexts

The rat was placed in a T-shaped maze.

Who placed the rat in the maze? Scientists, duh. But that’s less important than the experiment they’re conducting. Therefore , passive voice.

4 When the writer or speaker wants to avoid blame

Sometimes, someone wants to acknowledge that something unpleasant happened without making it crystal -clear who’s at fault. The classic example:

“ Mistakes were made .”

Who made them? Is anyone taking responsibility? What’s the solution here? One political scientist dubbed this kind of construction the “past exonerative” because it’s meant to exonerate the speaker/writer from whatever foul may have been committed. In other words, drop the subject, get off the hook.

5 In any other situation where you want to keep the focus on an action and/or the recipient of the action

The president was sworn in on a cold January morning.

How many people can remember off the top of their heads who swears in presidents? Clearly, the occasion of swearing in the commander in chief is the thing to emphasize here.

Cleo was transformed by the experience of traveling alone in Latin America.

In this case, we know what brought about the action: It was the experience of traveling alone in South America. But the thing the sentence most urgently wants us to know is that a person, Cleo, had an important thing happen to them. So making the recipient of the action ( Cleo ) the subject of the sentence, using the passive voice, and tucking the performer of the action ( the experience ) after the action as the object of the preposition by makes sense.

In each of the above contexts, the action itself—or the person or thing receiving the action—is the part that matters. That means the performer of the action can be absent from the sentence altogether or appear in a prepositional phrase with by . Although some of these examples are formal, others show that the passive voice is often useful and necessary in daily life. In each of the sentences below, the passive voice is natural and clear for one of the reasons in the list above. Rewriting these sentences in the active voice renders them sterile, awkward, or syntactically contorted.

Passive: Bob Dylan was injured in a motorcycle accident.

Active: A motorcycle accident injured Bob Dylan.

Passive: Elvis is rumored to be alive .

Active: People rumor Elvis to be alive.

Passive: Don’t be fooled!

Active: Don’t allow anything to fool you!

Creative ways to use the passive voice in writing

The above examples show some common uses of the passive voice, but some writers and speakers take advantage of the shift in emphasis it provides for other reasons. Here are some uses for the passive voice as a stylistic decision that suits the author’s writing goals.

Beating around the bush

Jane Austen is a master of poking fun at her characters so euphemistically that it seems almost polite, and the passive voice is one of her favorite methods for doing that.

“He . . . pressed them so cordially to dine at Barton Park every day till they were better settled at home that, though his entreaties were carried to a point of perseverance beyond civility, they could not give offense.” — Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Austen could have rephrased this sentence like so:

Though Mr. Middleton carried his entreaties to a point of perseverance beyond civility, they could not give offense.

Though maybe she means something closer to:

Mr. Middleton repeated his invitations beyond the point of politeness and into pushiness, but he meant well and they didn’t feel they could say “no.”

In cases like this, the passive voice allows for more polite phrasing, even if it’s also a little less clear. In this specific case, Austen’s use of the passive also abets her gentle humor and vivid characterization.

Directing the reader’s attention

This is like the grass getting cut or the president being sworn in: The recipient of the action of the verb is more important than the performer of the action.

“ That treasure lying in its bed of coral, and the corpse of the commander floating sideways on the bridge, were evoked by historians as an emblem of the city drowned in memories.” — Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

Here, you could invert the sentence to say “Historians evoked that treasure” and so on. But that would take the focus away from that oh-so-intriguing treasure and corpse. And since the historians are less important here, the author makes the choice to stress the key idea of the sentence through the passive voice.

Here’s another famous example that puts the emphasis on what happens to the recipient instead of on what the performer is doing:

“ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” — The Declaration of Independence

“All men” (these days, we take this to mean all people) gets boosted to the front of the phrase because the people and their equality and rights are the focus. It makes sense that a statement declaring independence would focus on the citizens who get that independence, after all.

Passive voice misuse

Sometimes what looks like passive voice isn’t passive voice at all. Even the most careful eye can mistake the following sentences for being in passive voice.

Chester’s favorite activity is kicking.

The bank robbery took place just before closing time.

There is nothing we can do about it.

There were a great number of dead leaves covering the ground.

Despite what any well-meaning English teachers may have told you, none of the sentences above are written in the passive voice. The sentence about the leaves, in fact, was (wrongly) presented as an example of the passive voice by none other than Strunk and White in The Elements of Style .

Using the verb to be doesn’t automatically put a verb phrase into the passive voice. You also need a past participle. That’s how to keep passive voice masqueraders from fooling you.

Passive voice summed up

present simple passive voice

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Present simple passive structure, when to use present simple passive, negative forms of present simple passive, questions in present simple passive.

Present Simple Passive is used to talk about some actions that are performed in the present or repeatedly (habits), simple statements of fact or universal truth.

The agents of such actions may be denoted with ‘ by ’:

Let’s compare active and passive structures in Present Simple.

The Present Simple Active is formed like this:

To make statements with the Present Simple Passive, use:

am/is/are + the Past Participle form of the verb

Note: We use ‘ am ‘ for first person singular (I), ‘ is ‘ for third person singular and ‘ are ‘ for second singular and plural nouns and pronouns.

We use the Present Simple to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual . The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. In passive voice, we focus attention on the person or thing affected by the action, when the subject is unknown, unclear or irrelevant.

In these examples, the focus is on the effect of the action , it’s not important who performs the action.

We use Present Simple Passive with the same meaning as Present Simple in the active voice except for the fact that Present Simple Passive makes focus on the effect (or the object) rather than the doer (the subject) of an action. Read more about the uses of Present Simple here .

To make a question in Present Simple Passive, swap the subject and ‘am’, ‘is’ or ‘are’. The structure for asking questions in Present Simple Passive is:

am/is/are + [subject] + Past Participle

To make a wh-question, insert a question word before ‘am’, ‘is’ or ‘are’:

Here’s a good video to summarize what you have learnt here:

Read more about:

Future Simple Passive

Past Simple Passive

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Present simple — passive voice

There are several reasons as to why we use the passive voice in English. In these notes, we are going to focus on the present simple in the passive voice. Generally, we use the passive voice when the focus is on the action and NOT on WHO or WHAT is performing the action.

Present Simple passive construction: am/is/are + past participle

Example verb: draw

The agent is unknown. we don’t know who is the agent.

The man who is believed to have stolen the goods must be brought to justice. (we don’t know who is the man)

We use the passive to emphasise the subject

Paris and London are visited by many people each year. (The emphasis is on Paris and London).

cursos de inglés

We use the passive to talk about general truths

Certain animals are known to attack humans.

We can use the passive if we want to be unclear or vague about the subject

Mistakes are committed .

We use the passive when the subject is irrelevant

(We don’t care who or what has caused the action to be).

English classes are taught here every day. (WHO teaches the classes is not important within the given situation).

We use the passive in a more formal atmosphere like a thesis or an important piece of writing, especially scientifically speaking

present simple passive voice

Lesson #29: Present simple – passive voice

Construction: am/is/are + past participle (helped, known, found)

Example verb: make

All passive forms:

Advanced grammar:

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Passive Voice of Simple Present Tense

In passive voice of simple present tense of affirmative sentence , we use auxiliary verb am /is / are with past participle that is third form of verb . In this topic, we shall discuss the formation and changing active to passive voice of simple present tense.

Passive Voice of Simple Present Tense- Formation

In this, we use helping verb according to the subject that is-

In passive voice of simple present tense - positive, negative, interrogative and negative interrogative, we use past participle (third form) of verb.

Keep in mind that we should arrange the sentence in the following form-

Example of Simple Present Tense- Transformation

Now we shall take an example of simple present tense and transform it into passive voice.

Active: She draws a picture today. (draw - base form)

For this, first you should learn the formation of simple present tense.

Above sentence is in the form-

Subject + verb (base form) + object + remaining word

Passive: A picture is drawn by her today. (drawn- past participle of draw)

Passive voice of this sentence is in the form-

Object in active + is + past participle of ‘draw’+ by + subject in active + remaining word.

In above sentence, we can see the changes in the transformation of active to passive voice as:

More Examples

All of these sentences are affirmative.

Active: They watch a movie.

Passive: A movie is watched by them.

Active: A mason builds a wall.

Passive: A wall is built by a mason.

Active: A teacher delivers a lecture.

Passive: A lecture is delivered by a teacher.

Active: The students obey orders of their physical trainer.

Passive: Orders of their physical trainer are obeyed by the students.

You may also like passive voice of the tenses-

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Passive Voice - Exercises on Form

Exercise on passive voice - simple present.

Rewrite the sentences in passive voice.

Passive voice in the present simple (Passive Voice)

Table of Contents

Theory: Passive sentences in the present simple (Passive voice)

Passive sentence concept.

A passive sentence is a sentence where the subject is a person or thing that is affected by an action. Sentences are used to emphasize the object affected by that action.

Passive form formula:

Assertion : S + am/is/are + V (PP) + (by O1) + (O2)

Negative: S + am/is/are + not + V (PP) + (by O1) + (O2)

Question : Am/Is/Are + S + V (PP) + (by O1) + (O2)

Example: A dog bit my daughter → My daughter was bitten by a dog.

We see that the subject mentioned in this sentence is “my daughter” who was bitten by “the dog”, so in this case, we need to use the passive voice.

Distinguish between active and passive sentences

An active sentence is a sentence used when the subject in question can perform the action on his own.

Structure: S + V s(es) + O

Example: My father plants a tree.

We see that the subject mentioned in this sentence is “my father” and the subject can do the “plant a tree” by himself. Therefore, we use active sentences.

How to change from active to passive in the present simple

3 steps to change from active to passive in the present simple Passive:

Step 1: Determine which is the object in the active sentence to turn into the subject of the passive sentence.

Step 2: Determine the tense of the verb in the active sentence (here is the simple present tense) and then change the verb into the passive voice (for rules, add -ed, if you are irregular, use column 2).

Step 3: Change the subject in the active sentence to the object in the passive sentence, add “by” in front of the object. For unspecified subjects like by them, by people can be ignored.

Active sentence: My mother waters flowers every morning.

Passive sentence: Flowers are watered by my mother every morning.

Simple Present Tense Conversion

(Subject + verb form to be is/am/are + participle verb 2).

Some notes when changing from active to passive sentences:

Intransitive verbs (which are verbs that do not require an object) are not used in the passive voice. Example: My arm hurts.

If the subject in the sentence is responsible for the main action, it cannot be changed into a passive sentence. Example: My dad goes to walk in the morning.

The person or thing that directly causes the action is used by, and the object that indirectly causes the action is with with. Example: The chicken was killed with a knife. The chicken was killed by my mother.

In some cases, the verb to be/to get + P2 does not have a passive meaning. It can describe the situation the subject is in (e.g. She got lost on the street) or just how the subject did it himself (e.g. The little girl gets dressed very quickly).

The time and place changes both change with the verb tobe, while the part 2 stays the same.

Explore more: [Ôn tập] Present Simple Tense: Advanced exercises with detailed answers

Forms in passive sentences

In the passive sentence, you will be acquainted with 4 common forms:

Passive with verbs with 2 objects

Some verbs are followed by two objects, such as lend, give, show, send, get, buy, make. then there will be 2 ways to turn it into a passive sentence.For example:

Active sentence: I give him a gift. This sentence has 2 objects, him and a gift. Therefore, there will be 2 passive sentences:

He was given a gift by me.

A gift was given to him (by me).

Active sentences are sentences with reporting verbs

Declarative verbs include consider, assume, know, think, suppose, believe, rumour, say, declare, feel, report, find,…

Active form: S + V + that + S’ + V’ + O … (where S is the subject, S’ is the passive subject, O is the object, O’ is the passive object).

Structure: S + V + that + S’ + V’ + O…

→ Method 1: S + be + V_ed/V3 + to V’

→ Method 2: It + be + V_ed/V3 + that + S’ + V’

Example: Everyone says that Binh is rich.

→ Binh is said to be rich.

→ It is said that Binh is rich.

Structure: Do/does + S + V-infi + O…? change into the passive voice → Am/ is/ are + S’ + V3/V_ed + (by O)?

Example: Do you clean the board? → Is the board cleaned (by you)?

Practice: Passive sentences in the present simple (Passive voice)

To practice your knowledge of the passive voice in the present simple Passive voice, let’s do some of the exercises below and check the answers below.

Lesson 1: Change the following sentence into the passive voice

1. John gets his sister to clean his shirt.

→ John gets his shirt cleaned.

2. Anne had a friend type her composition.

→ Anne has had her composition typed.

3. Rick will have a barber cut his hair.

→ Rick will have his hair cut.

4. They had the police arrest the shoplifter.

→ They had the shoplifter arrested.

5. Are you going to have the shoemaker repair your shoes?

→ Are you going to have your shoes repaired?

6. I must have the dentist check my teeth.

→ I must have my teeth checked.

7. She will have Peter wash her car tomorrow.

→ She will have her car washed tomorrow.

8. They have her tell the story again.

→ They have the story told again.

Lesson 2: Use the given words to write sentences, put the verbs in the present simple passive.

1. Cheese/ make/ from milk.

→ Cheese is made from milk.

2. The Temple/ visit/ thousands of people/ every year.

→ The Temple is visited by thousands of people every year.

3. Toyota cars/ produce/ Toyota Motor Corporation.

→ Toyota cars are produced by Toyota Motor Corporation.

4. German/ also/ speak/ at EU meetings.

→ German is also spoken at EU meetings.

5. Most newspapers/ print/ on recycled paper.

→ Most newspapers are printed on recycled paper.

6. The Imperial Academy/ consider/ the first university in Vietnam.

→ The Imperial Academy is considered the first university in Vietnam.

7. Three milliliters of water/ add/ to the mixture.

→ Three milliliters of water are added to the mixture.

8. The letters/ deliver/ the postman/ at 8 o’clock.

→ The letters are delivered by the postman at 8 o’clock.

Above are the structure, application and exercises on passive sentences of the present simple Passive. Hopefully they will help you learn foreign languages more effectively. Regular use and lots of exercises will help you master the passive voice.

present simple passive voice

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Grammar Summary

present simple passive voice

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English Grammar

Active and passive voice

Learn how to form the passive voice and do the exercises to practise using it.

Level: beginner

Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms:

Passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle :

If we want to show the person or thing doing the action, we use by :

She was attacked by a dangerous dog. The money was stolen by her husband.

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Level: intermediate

The passive infinitive is made up of to be with a past participle :

The doors are going to be locked at ten o'clock. You shouldn't have done that. You ought to be punished .

We sometimes use the verb get with a past participle to form the passive:

Be careful with that glass. It might get broken . Peter got hurt in a crash.

We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:

We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

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Level: advanced

Some verbs which are very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to -infinitive :

John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting. You are supposed to wear a uniform. The meeting is scheduled to start at seven.

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I'd like to clarify this sentence: "I do not remember Jack giving me the ticket." As far as I understand, its passive form should be " I do not remember being given the ticket by Jack." My question is - why do we leave 'I do not remember' as it is?

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Hello anastasiia945,

It is possible to create a passive construction such as 'It is not remembered by method...' but it sounds horrible stylistically and is not something we would ever say.

The LearnEnglish Team

How do I change the voice of sentence given below Why do I refuse to be interviewed?

Hello Butteryliscious,

The sentence already has a passive form - the passive infinitive (to be interviewed). You could manipulate the sentence into 'Why is being interviewed refused by me?' but it seems a pointless thing to do as it is a clumsy construction that I can't imagine ever using.

Hi there, I am struggling with a sentence I think you can help me with. is the sentence - With its glass mosaic edifice, it has been nicknamed” the diamond of the desert.” passive or active, and why so?

"It has been nicknamed" is a passive structure, in the present perfect. The structure is: subject + "has/have" + "been" + past participle. The sense is that the subject "it" (presumably a building?) is not doing the "nicknaming" action, but instead is receiving the action (i.e., other people nicknamed this building "the diamond of the desert").

I hope that helps to make sense of it.

Thank you so much!!

Please let me know the passive form of: Ask him to write a letter. (Let him be asked to write a letter./ Let he be asked to write a letter./ Let a letter be asked to write by him.) Give him another chance. (Let another chance be given to him./ Let him be given another chance.) Call him. (Let him be called./ Let he be called.)

Hello jakirislam,

I'm afraid we don't provide answers to questions from elsewhere like this. If we did then we'd end up just doing people's homework or tests for them, which is not our job!

We're happy to explain rules and provide examples, of course, but not just to provide answers.

can i have help in the a passive forme to an active forme the example -societies are being affected in a bad way by diffrent forms of corruption . an i answer in my exam like this: -diffrent forms of corruption are affected societies in a bad way -so my question is: if my answer is true and thnks

You had the right idea, but there is a small mistake. I think the best answer there is 'Different forms of corruption are affecting societies in a bad way'. Notice that the verb is in the present continuous, like in the passive sentence.

Hope this helps.

All the best, Kirk LearnEnglish team

Voice Change: It has been had by me.

hello. i understand that the passive form of "has the doctor given you your letter of discharge ?" become "have your letter of discharge been given to you ? but i have red these following sentence in a book and i'm lost now: "Have you been given your letter of discharge ?" is it possible to use passive voice like that ? thx

Yes, using the passive voice with double object verbs (like 'give') can be a little tricky.

The first thing I'd suggest is clearly distinguishing the direct object and the indirect object. In 'Has the doctor given you your letter of discharge?':

When a verb has only a direct object, the direct object becomes the subject of the passive verb. For example, 'The doctor treated the patient' becomes 'The patient was treated [by the doctor]'. (The brackets around 'by the doctor' show that this part of the sentence is optional; it can be omitted.)

You can do the same thing when the verb has a direct and indirect object: 'Has your letter of discharge been given to you [by the doctor]?' (Notice it's 'has' and not 'have' because 'your letter of discharge' is singular.)

What you saw in the book, however, is also correct when the indirect object is a person; the indirect object can become the subject of the passive verb: 'Have you been given your letter of discharge [by the doctor]?'

It can seem a bit strange, but it's perfectly natural in English. In fact, I'd say it's more common than the previous passive (where the direct object becomes the subject of the passive verb) with double object verbs.

Does that help make sense of this? Please let us know if you have other questions.

All the best, Kirk The LearnEnglish Team

Hello, I am having trouble understanding how to rewrite active questions into passive. Can you please rewrite this questions and explain me how to do it? 1.Did your teacher make you do your science homework again? 2.Who built the rocket? 3.Have you repaired your telescope? 4.Who showed you round the space exhibition? 5.When are they testing the new space shuttle? 6.Who will give the talk at the Astronomy club? Thank you in advance!

Hi MirelaVasileva,

To rephrase these questions in the passive, we need to choose a new grammatical subject - the original object of the verb (in bold below).

I hope that helps to understand it. I haven't answered the other questions in case you would like to have a try yourself.

4. By whom were you showed around the space exhibition? 5. When will the new space shuttle by tested? By whom will the talk at Astronomy Club be given?

Hello Miash.10,

These are correct except for the past participle of the verb 'show', which is irregular: 'shown'. Otherwise, well done!

Hi! can you help me with this? Are these sentences in passive voice? Do we always need the verb to be in passive? " The languages used to develop websites..." " ...quickly became known as..." " A programmer named X..." Thank you in advance.

Hi Viviana Lamare,

Examples 1 and 3 are called "reduced passives". They are like shortened versions of the full passive in a relative clause ("The languages that are used" and "A programmer who is named X"). The noun is followed by the past participle, without "that" or the auxiliary verb.

Example 2 is also a passive, with the verb "become".

I hope that helps.

Hello team, Could you help me change this sentence "U Mya goes hiking every year." to passive voice? sir

Hello Bo Bo Kyaw,

I'm afraid it's not possible. Only transitive verbs can have a passive form (look under Verb patterns ).

'go' is an intransitive verb and so it doesn't have a passive form. You could perhaps slightly change it and say something like 'Hikes are done by U Mya every year', but here the verb has been changed and this is so convoluted I don't think anyone would ever say it. I certainly wouldn't recommend it.

Hi, Can you please help me change the following sentence into passive voice We had accepted the proposal and granted the money. Thanking you already

It would be --> The proposal had been accepted (by us), and the money had been granted .

I hope it helps.

Sir if I changed your sentence to " The proposal had been accepted and the money granted", Would it be correct?

Yes, that is correct, though it's important to understand that 'the money granted' is an abbreviated form of 'the money had been granted'. We sometimes leave out auxiliary verbs -- this is called ellipsis -- when we think the situation is clear.

Hello Sir It's my earnest request not to log me out due to inactivity. Learning and developing English have always been my prerogative. Looking for help in the following sentence. 'The patient entered the clinic. ' Here the verb entered is intransitive so there cannot be a passive form. But, can we say that the above sentence is in active voice. Kindly help. Again I heartily appeal not to log me out and help me with this sentence. Thank you.

Hello amrita_enakshi,

We've already answered this question for you elsewhere. The verb is not intransitive ( the clinic is the object) and you can form a passive, but it is stylistically awkward in our view and unlikely to be the best choice.

Logging out due to inactivity is a new feature which I have asked the tech side to look at. I agree that it's a little too sensitive!

Dear Mr. Jonathan and friends,

I have been wondering the term used in active and passive voice . Why the term 'voice' is used instead of sentence? What is actually behind it? I need to clarify it to my students, please help me. Thanks in advance.

Hello ketutputra,

That's a great question! To be honest, I'm not sure why the term 'voice' is used to refer to verbs, but I can point out that it refers to a verb and not a whole sentence. It's not completely wrong to refer to a passive sentence, but really what is passive is the verb.

You might find it useful to look through the Wikipedia article on Voice (grammar) , though I'm not sure it will really answer your question.

I'm sorry we're not able to help you more with this, but as a linguistics question it's really outside the range of our expertise.

Hi all and thank you in advance for your time and help (really needed), I've been teaching EFL since 2004 and today I encountered a form of passive voice like "was been spent" during an after-exam chat with a student. "was been spent" was his answer for one of the questions which should have been "was spent". Despite being sure that the form of his answer doesn't exist, I still googled it as usual because, you know you can actually never be sure when it comes to language studies. Anyways, I clicked on the search button and bingo! Hundreds of examples of "was been spent" especially in governmental documents (talking about the procurements done by the Government in the past), scientific research articles (representing research outcomes evidenced by quantitative data analysis, medical statements and in many other contexts. However, I couldn't find any grammatical explanations on it apart from some forum discussions full of people who are 100 % sure that kind of passive form doesn't exist, but it does and I really need to know its function and meaning (simply put "Why?" of it). I can only assume that this passive form is used to express high level of formality, certainty, importance, seriousness or emphasis. However, these are just my personal assumptions that don't satisfy me. I'd be obliged if you could help and provide a more reliable explanation. Looking forward to your reply. Best, Emre

I'll try to answer your question. First, I can assure you that "was been spent" is not grammatical and it should be "was spent" or "was being spent" or "has been spent".

When I searched for the phrase "was been spent", I also found government documents including them (probably the same procurement documents you mentioned). However, looking closely, "was been spent" appears not in the government's own text but in the questions from citizens that the government was asked and is responding to. They may have preserved the original question wording, errors included, to avoid any possible distortions from 'correcting' it. One of those questions included both "how much has been spent" and "how much was been spent" - I assume the first phrase is the meaning intended by the asker.

I found another government document from 1877 with "was been spent" in the search results. However, opening the document shows that it is formatted in two columns of text, with "been spent" in one column and "was" is in the other. The words are actually in different sentences. The search engine has parsed the whole document incorrectly in lines from left to right, across columns.

For the other search results, they must be errors, either grammatical or typing. Errors do appear in official documents and academic texts (though less commonly than elsewhere). You may find hundreds of examples online, but that is true even of ungrammatical phrases, given the huge amount of text available online. For comparison, correct forms have higher counts (e.g. "had been spent" has over 20 million results; "was being spent" 1.6 million) than "was been spent", which has about 50,000 results. The also incorrect "was be spent" has about 80,000 results, i.e. in a similar range.

Jonathan The LearnEnglish Team

Hello Team. Could you please help me? - I have just read a text in which there is the following sentence: "I try hard to finish my homework on time, but I can never get it all done."

- I can't understand "get it all done". Is it causative? Is there anyone doing my homework for me? I'm confused. Thank you.

"Get something done" can be causative (e.g. I get my hair done at the hairdresser's), but in this sentence it isn't. It's a different meaning - to complete a task.

Hello, again Jonathan. Could you explain more? Thank you.

Hello Ahmed Imam,

Although I couldn't find a dictionary entry for it to refer you to, I can assure you that 'get it done' is a very common phrase that means 'complete'. In this case, it's not a causative, because the subject completes the action, not another person. If I say 'I can never get all my homework done' it means 'I can never complete all my homework'.

When 'get' + object + infinitive is causative, it means that someone else (not the subject) performs the action. The sentence 'I got my car fixed' means that I arrange for someone else to fix my car.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Hello. Could you please help me? What is the difference in form and meaning of the following sentences?

1- Did you have anyone to help you?

2- Did you have anyone help you?

In 1, the question asks if a person who could help you was present or available. Here the structure is 'have' + object + 'to' infinitive; you could change it in many different ways, e.g. 'have anything to do', 'have any meetings to attend'. There are many, many uses in which an infinitive can be added to an object in a similar way.

The second sentence shows a somewhat more specific use, that of 'have' (or 'get') in a causative structure. It asks if you arranged for another person to help you. Here the structure is the verb 'have' + object (a person as subject) + bare infinitive. This can be used when speaking about arrangements you made with people in which they do something.

Another common causative structure uses 'have' + object (person or thing) + past participle to express the idea that someone arranges for a task to be done. For example, if I hire some workers to paint my house, I can say 'I'm having my house painted'.

Hello Hosseinpour.

In this sentence 'faced' is a past participle which heads a participle clause. It is not a passive form but it has a passive meaning, so your question shows that you understand the meaning here.

We have a page on participle clauses which should be helpful. As you'll see, participle clauses with a past participle have a passive meaning and participle clauses with a present participle (verb-ing) have an active meaning. You can find the page here:

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/participle-clauses

The correct form here is 'with'.

The papers are not performing the action here. They are the tool which is used, so to speak.

If you want to see the sentence as a passive then the subject in the sentence is 'the desk'. No agent is provided because it is unknown or irrelevant, but an agent could be added:

The table was covered with papers by the team.

However, I would not see this sentence as a passive at all. 'Covered' here describes a characteristic of the desk rather than an action performed on it. Many past participles can be used as adjectives and I would simply treat this as an adjective, just as we do with 'interested', 'bored', 'dressed' and so on.

Yes, both of those words can function as adjectives:

A stopped car can cause big problems on the motorway. We have several blocked streets after the earthquake.

Hello again Rsb,

That use is fine. It's a passive form using 'get' instead of 'be' as the auxiliary verb.

I think it is an adjective here describing the account. If you read it as a passive then it would be present simple, and you'd need a context to suit that such as 'my account is blocked every week' or similar.

present simple passive voice

IMAGES

Passive Voice Present Simple
Passive Voice Present Simple worksheet
Active & Passive Voice With Example Sentences Tense Active Voice Passive Voice Present Simpl
PASSIVE VOICE (Present Simple)
Convert Simple Present Tense to Passive Voice
Passive Voice Present Continuous Tense Exercises

VIDEO

Pre-intermediate English #28: Present Simple Passive Voice
PASSIVE FORM (Present Simple) in 4 MINUTES!!!
Unit 4 Grammar Present simple and Past Simple passive Video
Present simple active and passive voice
Passive Voice 6 videos playlist by Mukesh Janwa on YouTube
Passive Voice in English: Present and Past Passive

COMMENTS

Simple Present Passive
Forming Simple Present Passive Something is done by someone regularly / everyday / as expected... Active : The gardener waters the flowers every evening. Passive: The flowers are watered by the gardener every evening. Active : Helen doesn't drink anything in parties. Passive: Nothing is drunk by Helen in parties. Active : Who sells umbrellas?
Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when we want to emphasize the action (the verb) and the object of a sentence rather than subject. This means that the subject is either less important than the action itself or that we don’t know who or what the subject is. My laptop was stolen. (The object – now the subject = My laptop / action= was stolen)
Passive Verbs
Summary: This handout explains and describes the sequence of verb tenses in English. Often, writing teachers encourage the use of action verbs and active voice. However, there are times when it makes more sense to use passive verbs instead. Use passive verbs when you do not want to specify the actor.
The Simple Present Passive: Guide & Examples
To make passive sentence with the simple present, that structure need to change Simple Present Passive Sentences These are some simple present passive sentences. In these sentences, we have the sentences in the active voice I wash the clothing (Active voice) The clothing is washed (Passive voice)
Passive Voice: When to Avoid It and When to Use It
The passive voice is your friend when the thing receiving an action or the action itself is the important part of the sentence—especially in scientific and legal contexts, times when the performer of an action is unknown, or cases where the subject is …
Present Simple Passive
Present Simple Passive is used to talk about some actions that are performed in the present or repeatedly (habits), simple statements of fact or universal truth. The agents of such actions may be denoted with ‘ by ’: This work is performed by a new company. The beach is cleaned every morning. Oranges are imported from Paraguay.
Present simple
The passive voice in the present simple is used here (we are set). The past participle is ‘set’ (set – set – set), and it’s being used to emphasise the subject ‘we’. It sounds incredible, doesn’t it? ‘Doesn’t it’ is a question tag. The verb ‘do’ is used to form the question tag because ‘sounds’ is a normal verb.
Passive Voice of Simple Present Tense
In passive voice of simple present tense - positive, negative, interrogative and negative interrogative, we use past participle (third form) of verb. Keep in mind that we should arrange the sentence in the following form- Active sentence- subject + am / …
Exercises on Passive Voice
Exercise on Passive Voice - Simple Present Rewrite the sentences in passive voice. He opens the door. - We set the table. - She pays a lot of money. - I draw a picture. - They wear blue shoes. - They don't help you. - He doesn't open the book. - You do not write the letter. - Does your mum pick you up? - Does the police officer catch the thief? -
Passive voice in the present simple (Passive Voice)
Theory: Passive sentences in the present simple (Passive voice) Passive sentence concept A passive sentence is a sentence where the subject is a person or thing that is affected by an action. Sentences are used to emphasize the object affected by that action. Passive form formula: Assertion : S + am/is/are + V (PP) + (by O1) + (O2)
Passives
We make the passive using the verb be + past participle. We start the sentence with the object. It is not always necessary to add who or what did the action. Only the form of be changes to make the tense. The past participle stays the same. Here are examples of the passive in its most common tenses. Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
Passive: Present Simple Grammar Summary
In the present simple, the passive is: am / is / are + past participle (3rd form of the verb). Remember! The past participle always stays the same. Only the form of be changes. The subject and verb must always agree in number. Negative and Questions Notice that the helping verb in passive sentences is always a form of the verb be . Remember!
Active and passive voice
The passive infinitive is made up of to be with a past participle: The doors are going to be locked at ten o'clock. You shouldn't have done that. You ought to be punished. We sometimes use the verb get with a past participle to form the passive: Be careful with that glass. It might get broken. Peter got hurt in a crash.