In an active sentence, the subject of the sentence is the 'doer' who performs

the action of the verb. In a passive sentence, the object of the active verb
becomes the subject. We use the passive only with verbs that take an object
(transitive verbs).
We form the passive with the appropriate form of the verb to be + past
participle form of the main verb. For example:
Active: He repaired the car.
Passive: The car was repaired.
We use the passive when:
-We want to focus on the action itself, and not in the person who performs the
action. For example: "The house was painted" [we are not interested in who
painted the house, but in the fact that the house was painted]
-The person who performs the action (the doer) is not known or not important.
For example: "My bag was stolen" [we don't know who stole my bag]
-The doer is obvious or 'people in general': For example: "The thief was
arrested" [it is obvious that the police arrested him]
If we want to mention the doer of the action, we use BY + the person/thing that
does the action. For example: The window was broken by John.
The passive is more common in writing than in speaking.
Here you have some examples of sentences in the active/passive voice
according to the different tenses. I know that they are out of context, but it's
for you to see the structure of the sentences and to have them as a model.
ACTIVE VOICE
present simple:

Tom writes a letter.

present continuous: Tom is writing a letter.

past simple:

Tom wrote a letter.

PASSIVE VOICE
A letter is written by John
A letter is being written by J.
A letter was written

by J.
past continuous:

Tom was writing a letter.

A letter was being written

Tom has written a letter.

A letter has been written by

by J.
present perfect:
J.

past perfect:

Tom had written a letter.

A letter had been written

by J.
future simple:

Tom will write a letter.

A letter will be

written by J.
future (going to): Tom is going to write a letter.

A letter is going to be

written..
future perfect:

Tom will have written a letter.

A letter will have been

written..
modals (can)

Tom can write a letter.

A letter can be

written by John
modals (could)

Tom could write a letter.

A letter could be written by

Tom must write a letter.

A letter must be written by

modals (may)

Tom may write a letter.

A letter may be written by J.

modals (might)

Tom might write a letter.

A letter might be written by

J.
modals (must)
J.

J.

With verbs that take TWO OBJECTS, we can make two different passive
sentences. For example:
Tom gave Susan some flowers. (direct object: some flowers)
(indirect object: Susan)
Remember:
the DIRECT object is the thing or person affected by the action of the verb.
the INDIRECT object is the person who benefits from the action of the verb.
So, in this case we can have two different passive sentences.
1) We can put first the direct object (as in most sentences) and then the rest.
OR
2) we can put first the indirect object and then the direct object at the end.

Active sentence: Tom gave Susan some flowers.

Passive sentence: 1) Some flowers were given (to Susan)
2) Susan was given some flowers (by Tom)
In this case, it's more usual for passive sentences to begin with the person
(indirect object).
Let's see another example:
Active sentence: Ana sold Henry the car for $15.000. (direct object: the car)
(indirect object: Henry)
Passive sentence: 1) The car was sold (to Henry) for $15.000
2) Henry was sold the car for $15.000 (by Ana)
REMEMBER:
The thing that tells you the TENSE in the passive sentence is the VERB TO BE,
not the main verb (the main verb is always in the past participle)
1) Are these sentences written in active or passive voice? State the tense used.
Example: Steven likes to play basketball. [ACTIVE VOICE - PRESENT SIMPLE]
a. Bingo is played in Britain
b. a lot of houses were destroyed
c.The bus driver was hurt
d.My mother cooks all the meals
e.Ellie will take the children to school
f.The door was opened.
g. I have been employed by Mr. Brown
2) Rewrite the sentences in the passive voice
a. Someone read my letter (past simple) (I include the tense that you should
use here because the verb "read" is written in the same way for the infinitive,
the past, and the past participle, so I need to make the tense explicit this time)
b. They speak Spanish in class
c. They admire his paintings
d.They are going to buy this car
e. Mike gave me the keys of his house (two different passive sentences possible
here)
f. they cut the papers into two.
g.they held a reception in his honour.
h.they made this gun in York
i.He wrote the book beautifully
j. we must look into this matter
k. they told me to go away (two different passive sentences possible here)
l. somebody will hand you the address ( two different passive sentences
possible here)

3)rewrite the sentences in the active voice

a. the bicycle is cleaned by me
b. the pizza is being cooked by the chef
c. the e-mail was written by Mary
d. The horror story was being read by the storyteller
e.Vicky has been visited by her best friend
f.the cake will be made by Stefani
g.German is going to be learned by Joanne
h.football is played by the children.