1) Julia rescued three cats. . 2) The students handed in the reports. . 3) Maria crashed into the blue car.

. 4) Alex learned the poem. . 5) Steven has forgotten the book. . 6) The mechanic has not repaired the DVD recorder. . 7) They play handball. . 8) Sue puts the rucksack on the floor. . 9) The girls had lost the match. . 10) The teacher is not going to open the window. . 1) Julia rescued three cats. Three cats were rescued. 2) The students handed in the reports. The reports were handed in. 3) Maria crashed into the blue car. The blue car was crashed into. 4) Alex learned the poem. The poem was learned. 5) Steven has forgotten the book. The book has been forgotten. 6) The mechanic has not repaired the DVD recorder. The DVD recorder has not been repaired. 7) They play handball. Handball is played. 8) Sue puts the rucksack on the floor. The rucksack is put on the floor. 9) The girls had lost the match. The match had been lost. 10) The teacher is not going to open the window. The window is not going to be opened.

Passive sentences in the Simple Past Exercise

Rewrite the given sentences in Passive voice. Example: Frank built a house. _____________________ Answer: A house was built. or A house was built by Frank.

1) She bought four apples. . 2) We won the match. . 3) The man stole the blue car. . 4) The police arrested the thieves. . 5) Jack swam the 200 metres. . 6) The dog bit the old lady. . 7) Tom and Max ate five hamburgers. . 8) Oliver taught the children. . 9) Victoria rode the brown horse. . 10) Grandmother told good stories. .

1) She bought four apples. Four apples were bought. 2) We won the match. The match was won. 3) The man stole the blue car. The blue car was stolen. 4) The police arrested the thieves. The thieves were arrested. 5) Jack swam the 200 metres. The 200 metres were swum. 6) The dog bit the old lady. The old lady was bitten. 7) Tom and Max ate five hamburgers. Five hamburgers were eaten. 8) Oliver taught the children. The children were taught. 9) Victoria rode the brown horse. The brown horse was ridden. 10) Grandmother told good stories. Good stories were told.

Passive - Sentences in the Simple Present - ExerciseRewrite the given sentences in

Passive voice.

Example: Frank builds a house. _____________________ Answer: A house is built. or A house is built by Frank.

1) Mr Jones watches the film. . 2) The people speak English. . 3) He reads comics. . 4) We play volleyball. . 5) They sing the song. . 6) I take photos. . 7) She does the housework. . 8) The policemen help the children. . 9) He writes text messages. . 10) Mother waters the flowers. .

1) Mr Jones watches the film. The film is watched. 2) The people speak English. English is spoken. 3) He reads comics. Comics are read. 4) We play volleyball. Volleyball is played. 5) They sing the song. The song is sung. 6) I take photos. Photos are taken. 7) She does the housework. The housework is done. 8) The policemen help the children. The children are helped. 9) He writes text messages. Text messages are written. 10) Mother waters the flowers. The flowers are watered.

Passive sentences with two objects - Exercise

ewrite the given sentences in Passive voice. Sometimes there are two possible answers (two objects in the active sentence). Do not use contracted/short forms. Example:

Tim gave Lisa some flowers. Answer: Some flowers were given to Lisa by Tim. or Lisa was given some flowers by Tim.

1) They don't speak English in this shop. . 2) Kevin asked Dennis a question. . 3) Somebody built the house last year. . 4) She gives him a box. . 5) Max will look after him. . 6) The waiter brought Fred a big steak. . 7) Somebody broke into our bungalow last Friday. . 8) The teacher told us a joke. . 9) They will meet Doris at the station. . 10) Michael has not sent me a text message. .

1) They don't speak English in this shop. English is not spoken in this shop. 2) Kevin asked Dennis a question. Dennis was asked a question by Kevin. 3) Somebody built the house last year. The house was built last year. 4) She gives him a box. He is given a box. 5) Max will look after him. He will be looked after by Max. 6) The waiter brought Fred a big steak. A big steak was brought to Fred. 7) Somebody broke into our bungalow last Friday. Last Friday our bungalow was broken into. 8) The teacher told us a joke. We were told a joke by the teacher. 9) They will meet Doris at the station. Doris will be met at the station. 10) Michael has not sent me a text message. I have not been sent a text message.

Passive - various tenses - Exercise

Put in the correct form of the verb in Passive into the gaps. Use the verb and the tense given in brackets. Example:

A letter __________ by Peter. (to write - Simple Present) Answer: A letter is written by Peter.

1) The words 2) We 3) This car 4) This street 5) A new restaurant 6) He 7) The blue box 8) I 9) The dishes 10) I

by the teacher today. (to explain - Simple Present) a letter the day before yesterday. (to send - Simple Past) . It's too old. (not/to steal - will-future) because of snow. (already/to close - Present Perfect) next week. (to open - will-future) to the party yesterday. (to invite - Simple Past) . (can/not/to see - Simple Present) the book by my friend last Sunday. (to give - Simple Past) by my little brother. (not/to wash - Present Perfect) by Robert. (not/to ask - will-future)

1) The words are explained by the teacher today. 2) We were sent a letter the day before yesterday. 3) This car will not be stolen. It's too old. 4) This street has already been closed because of snow. 5) A new restaurant will be opened next week. 6) He was invited to the party yesterday. 7) The blue box cannot be seen. 8) I was given the book by my friend last Sunday. 9) The dishes have not been washed by my little brother. 10) I will not be asked by Robert.

Passive voice
Passive - Use
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. We can only form a passive sentence from an active sentence when there is an object in the active sentence.

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) Active: Peter builds a house.

Passive:

A house

is built

by Peter.

Examples
Active Peter builds a house. Simple Present Passive: Active: A house Peter is built built by Peter. a house. Simple Past Passive: Active: A house Peter was built has built by Peter. a house. Present Perfect Passive: Active: A house Peter has been built will build by Peter. a house. will-future Passive: Active: A house Peter will be built can build by Peter. a house. Modals Passive: A house can be built by Peter.

We have listed active and passive forms in the following table. We used the phrase I drive and have put this phrase into most common tenses. Active (Simple Forms) Simple Present I drive

Simple Past Present Perfect Past Perfect will-future Future Perfect Conditional I Conditional II

I drove I have driven I had driven I will drive I will have driven I would drive I would have driven

Active (Progressive/Continuous Forms) Simple Present Simple Past Present Perfect Past Perfect will-future Future Perfect Conditional I Conditional II I am driving I was driving I have been driving I had been driving I will be driving I will have been driving I would be driving I would have been driving

Passive (Simple Forms) Simple Present Simple Past Present Perfect Past Perfect will-future Future Perfect Conditional I Conditional II I am driven I was driven I have been driven I had been driven I will be driven I will have been driven I would be driven I would have been driven

Passive (Progressive/Continuous Forms) Present Past Present Perfect Past Perfect Future Future Perfect Conditional I Conditional II Tenses which are rarely used in everyday conversation. I am being driven I was being driven I have been being driven I had been being driven I will be being driven I will have been being driven I would be being driven I would have been being driven

Here you will find some examples of how to form the passive depending on the tense. tense Simple Present active Peter builds a house. passive A house is built by Peter.

Simple Past Present Perfect Past Perfect will-future going to-future

Peter built a house. Peter has built a house. Peter had built a house. Peter will build a house. Peter is going to build a house in summer.

A house was built by Peter. A house has been built by Peter. A house had been built by Peter. A house will be built by Peter. A house is going to be built in summer by Peter.

Passive sentences with by

We are normally not interested in the "doer" of an action in a passive sentence. When we want to mention the "doer", we use the preposition by. The whole phrase is called by-agent in English. Active sentence Mr Brown built the house. Passive sentence The house was built by Mr Brown.

When we do not know, who was the "doer" of the action, we use someone or somebody in the active sentence. We leave out these words in the passive sentence. Active sentence Someone stole my bike. Passive sentence My bike was stolen.

Active sentences with two objects in passive

When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible active sentences and two possible passive sentences. possibility 1: The professor explained the students the exercise. possibility 2: The professor explained the exercise to the students. There are two objects in each of the following sentences: object 1 = indirect object: the students object 2 = direct object: the exercise 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 - possibility 1 subject The professor verb explained indirect object the students direct object the exercise.

active sentence - possibility 2 subject The professor verb explained direct object the exercise indirect object to the students.

Each of the objects (direct and indirect) can be the subject in the passive sentence. passive sentence - possibility 1 subject The students verb were explained object the exercise. (by-agent) (by the professor).

passive sentence - possibility 2 subject verb object (by-agent)

The exercise

was explained

to the students

(by the professor).

Possibility 1 is sometimes called Personal passive.

Verbs with prepositions in passive

When we put an active sentence, where a preposition follows after the verb (e.g. break into, look after), into passive - the preposition remains immediately after the verb. Active sentence Someone broke into the pet shop. Passive sentence The pet shop was broken into.

1) Personal Passive
When we put an object of an active sentence into passive, it becomes subject of the passive sentence. Active voice: The professor explained the students the exercise. The professor explained the exercise to the students. Passive voice: The students were explained the exercise. The exercise was explained to the students. We sometimes use a pronoun for "the students" or "the exercise" in its subject form (here: they/it). Passive voice: They were explained the exercise. It was explained to the students. We very often leave out the by-agent in the passive sentence (here: by the professor).

2) Impersonal Passive - It is said ...

The phrase It is said ... is an impersonal passive construction. We often use it in news. Passive sentence - version 1: It is said that children are afraid of ghosts. Passive sentence - version 2: Children are said to be afraid of ghosts. The correct active sentence would be: Active sentence: People say that children are afraid of ghosts.