Passive Voice in English - Examples and Exercises
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Passive Voice in English - Examples and Exercises


In English, the Passive Voice is used when the person or thing that is receiving the action is more important than the person or thing that is performing the action.
The structure of a sentence in the passive is as follows:
Object + To Be + Past Participle
Look at the structure of the following sentences in the active and the passive voice to understand the difference in structure.
In these examples, you can see it is the action / result that is the most important factor in the passive sentences.





When to use the Passive Voice

1. It is used when the person/thing performing the action is unimportant or unknown.
e.g. Our car was stolen last night.
2. It is used when it is obvious who/what is performing the action.
e.g. Cameron was sacked last week.
3. It is used to describe factual information, especially when describing a process.
e.g. The lasagna is baked in an oven for 35 minutes at 250 degrees Celsius.
4. It is used in news reports and to give instructions.
e.g. Five people were arrested at a nightclub last night.
While it is possible to use this structure in a large variety of tenses in English, it is rare to use the passive in Future Continuous, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous or Future Perfect Continuous tenses.
Below are examples of the passive in a range of verb tenses.

To Be
Past Participle
Tense
The butter
is
kept here.
Present Simple
The window
was
broken.
Past Simple
The work
will be
done soon.
Future Simple
The bridge
is being
repaired.
Present Continuous
The cheese
was being
eaten by mice.
Past Continuous
Our work
has been
finished.
Present Perfect
The car
hadn't been
used much.
Past Perfect
The house
will have been
built by then.
Future Perfect
The shelf
can't be
reached.
Modal Verb ? Can
The task
must be
done now.
Modal Verb ? Must
The lesson
may be
finished.
Modal Verb ? May
The car
ought to be
repaired.
Modal Verb







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