Passive Voice with the Present, Past and Future

Passive Voice (Present, Past & Future)

We use the passive voice when the action is more important than who does it. The subject receives the action.

• Active: Someone stole my bike.
  Passive: My bike was stolen.
  → The important information is my bike, not who stole it.
• Active: People make this cheese in France.
  Passive: This cheese is made in France.
  → We often don't know, or don't need to say, who does the action.

The passive is always formed with:
→ be + past participle

Only the verb be changes with the tense. The past participle (V3) stays the same. Have a look at all of the structures of the passive voice in the present, past, and future:

Don't forget: Look at the noun before the verb. If it's singular, use is/was. If it's plural, use are/were.

• The letter was sent.
• The letters were sent.

Present Simple Passive

→ Subject + is/are + past participle.
Use it for facts, routines and regular actions.

• English is spoken in many countries.
• The parcels are delivered every Monday.
• Is the office cleaned every day?
• The office isn't cleaned on Sundays.

Past Simple Passive

→ Subject + was/were + past participle.
 Use it for completed actions in the past.

• The bridge was built in 1950.
• The windows were broken yesterday.
• Was the door locked last night?
• The window wasn't broken yesterday.

Future Passive

→ Subject + will be + past participle.
 Use it for actions that will happen.

• The results will be announced tomorrow.
• A new school will be built here.
• Will the tickets be sold online?
• The results won't be announced today.

Using by

Use by only if it is important to say who did the action. Most of the time, we leave it out because it isn't important or we don't know who did it.

• The cake was made by my sister.
• The reports are checked by the manager.

• Present: is / are + V3
• Past: was / were + V3
• Future: will be + V3