Form: passive voice
be + past participle
The passive is formed by making the object of the active sentence the subject of the new sentence and using the appropriate form of the passive auxiliary be + the past participle form of the verb. Be is in the same tense as the verb in the active sentence.
Active sentence:
| Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Fleming | discovered | penicillin | in 1928. |
Passive sentence:
| Subject | Passive auxiliary be | Verb | Agent | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penicillin | was | discovered | by | Alexander Fleming | in 1928. |
Passive forms
The following table shows examples of passive forms in different tenses and modal constructions:
| Tense or modal construction | Active sentence | Passive sentence | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject | Passive auxiliary be | Verb | ||
| present simple | They publish the book. | The book | is | published. |
| present continuous | They are publishing the book. | The book | is being | published. |
| present perfect | They have published the book. | The book | has been | published. |
| past simple | They published the book. | The book | was | published. |
| past continuous | They were publishing the book. | The book | was being | published. |
| past perfect | They had published the book. | The book | had been | published. |
| future simple | They will publish the book. | The book | will be | published. |
| future continuous | They will be publishing the book. | The book | will be being | published. |
| future perfect | They will have published the book. | The book | will have been | published. |
| modal simple | They are going to publish the book. | The book | is going to be | published. |
| modal simple | They can publish the book. | The book | can be | published. |
| modal continuous | They might be publishing the book. | The book | might be being | published. |
| modal perfect | They should have published the book. | The book | should have been | published. |
Perfect continuous forms are also possible in the passive voice; however, they are less common:
His novels have been being published since the 1960s. (They have been publishing his novels since the 1960s.)
His novels might have been being published at that time. (They might have been publishing his novels at that time.)
Questions and negatives are formed the same way as in active sentences:
Was the book published?
Will the book be published?
The book hasn't been published.
The book shouldn't have been published.
In the case of verb + preposition, the preposition comes after the verb in the passive sentence:
My house was broken into last week. (Someone broke into my house last week.)
He is often laughed at. (People often laugh at him.)
The ship has been lost sight of. (They have lost sight of the ship.)
Infinitives, gerunds and participles can also have passive forms:
Josh always needs to be told what to do. (Other people always need to tell Josh what to do.)
I hate being lied to. (I hate people lying to me.)
Authorities refused to reveal any information about the case being investigated. (Authorities refused to reveal any information about the case which they were investigating.)
