Passive Voice

The passive voice is a grammatical construction in which the subject of the sentence is the recipient of the action rather than the performer. It is one of the two main voices in English, the other being active voice. In the passive voice, the focus shifts from the doer (agent) to the action itself or its recipient, making it especially useful in formal, scientific, and academic writing.

1. Structure of Passive Voice

The passive voice is formed using the appropriate form of the verb “to be” + past participle (V₃) of the main verb. The agent (doer) can be mentioned with “by” or omitted if unknown, unnecessary, or obvious.

General Formula:

Subject + form of “to be” + past participle (+ by + Agent)

Present Simple: The book is read by many students.
Past Simple: The experiment was conducted yesterday.
Future Simple: The results will be published next month.
Present Continuous: The students are being taught by the teacher.
Past Continuous: The project was being prepared when the manager arrived.
Present Perfect: The report has been submitted by the team.

2. How to Identify Passive Voice

The subject receives the action of the verb.
The main verb is in the form “to be” + past participle.
The performer of the action (agent) is optional.

Examples:

Active: The chef cooked a delicious meal.
Passive: A delicious meal was cooked by the chef.
Active: Scientists discovered a new species.
Passive: A new species was discovered.

3. When to Use Passive Voice

Passive voice is commonly used in situations where:

a) The focus is on the action or result rather than the doer

The vaccine was developed in 2020.
The laws were amended last year.

This is common in scientific writing, legal writing, and technical instructions, where the actor is either unknown or less important than the process or result.

b) The doer is unknown, irrelevant, or obvious

The window was broken last night. (We don’t know who broke it.)
The highway is being repaired. (The agency responsible is clear from context.)

c) Formal or objective tone is required

Passive voice conveys objectivity and neutrality, which is essential in academic writing, research papers, reports, and news articles.

Data was collected from 200 participants.
The experiment was repeated to confirm results.

d) To maintain sentence variety or style

Using passive voice occasionally prevents repetitive sentence structures and creates smoother narrative flow.

Active: The committee approved the plan.
Passive: The plan was approved by the committee.

4. Forms of Passive Voice Across Tenses

Tense	Structure (Passive)	Example
Present Simple	is/are + V₃	The book is read by students.
Past Simple	was/were + V₃	The lecture was delivered yesterday.
Future Simple	will be + V₃	The report will be submitted next week.
Present Continuous	am/is/are being + V₃	The students are being taught by the teacher.
Past Continuous	was/were being + V₃	The experiment was being conducted when the supervisor arrived.
Present Perfect	has/have been + V₃	The results have been published.
Past Perfect	had been + V₃	The project had been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect	will have been + V₃	The assignments will have been checked by tomorrow.

5. Agent in Passive Voice

The agent is the doer of the action. In passive sentences:

Mentioned with “by” when necessary:
- The book was written by George Orwell
Omitted if unknown or unimportant:
- The book was published in 1949

Note: Omitting the agent is common in scientific and formal writing, where the action itself is more important than who performed it.

6. Conversion Rules from Active to Passive

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
The verb is changed to the appropriate passive form.
The subject of the active sentence can be added at the end with “by”.