Passive

Passive: active and passive

We use the terms active voice and passive voice to talk about ways of organising the content of a clause:

• Cambridge University Press published this book. (active)
• This book was published by Cambridge University Press. (passive)

The active voice is the typical word order. We put the subject (the topic or the theme) first. The subject is the ‘doer’ or agent of the verb:

• Edward Barnes designed these houses in the 1880s. (active)

In the passive, the person or thing that the action was done to becomes the topic or theme. We can leave out the ‘doer’ or agent, or we can place the ‘doer’ in a prepositional phrase (by + ‘doer’):

• These houses were designed in the 1880s. (passive without agent)
• These houses were designed in the 1880s by Edward Barnes. (passive + by + agent)

We use the passive when we want to change the focus of a clause, or if the doer of the verb is not important or not known or if we do not want to say who the doer is.

Passive: forms

Be + -ed

The most common passive structure is be + -ed form:

• Five million people watch the show every week. (active present simple of watch)
• The show is watched by five million people every week. (passive present simple of be + -ed form of watch)

The table gives examples of the most common forms in the passive.

tense	be form	+ -ed form	examples
present simple	amareis	+ -ed form	Am I invited too?One or two new types of insect are found in Britain each year.It’s not made in China.
present continuous	amareis	being	+ -ed form	Am I being recorded?We’re already being served, thanks.That computer isn’t being used any more.
past simple	waswere	+ -ed form	The story was reported in yesterday’s paper.We didn’t know what was in the boxes. They weren’t labelled.
past continuous	waswere	being	+ -ed form	Was he being examined?They were being watched carefully.
present perfect simple	havehas	been	+ -ed form	Haven’t they been asked to the wedding?He’s been hurt.
past perfect simple	had	been	+ -ed form	An important discovery had been made.Had he been injured in the war?
modal simple	canwillmight	be	+ -ed form	Reservations can be accepted up to 24 hours before arrival.I don’t think I’ll ever be paid.Might we not be allowed to go in?
modal continuous	couldmaymust	be being	+ -ed form	She couldn’t still be being interviewed.The photocopier may be being repaired.It must be being done now.
modal perfect simple	couldmust	have been	+ -ed form	Do you think we could have been heard?The document must have been written when they sold the house.

Tenses and the passive

We use passive forms of tenses in the same way as we use their active equivalents. For example, we use the present simple in the passive to talk about general or permanent states, or general facts we think are true at the present time:

• Mr Lloyd and Mrs James teach Geography. (present simple active)
• Geography is taught by Mr Lloyd and Mrs James. (present simple passive)

We don’t often use perfect continuous forms (have/has been being + -ed form) in a passive structure. We usually find a way to reword sentences like this.

Compare

The house has been being renovated for almost a year.	not common, we usually avoid this form
They have been renovating the house for almost a year.	preferred form

See also

• They

Verbs and the passive

We can form passive structures with verbs that are followed by an object (transitive verbs) and some clauses where the verb is followed by a preposition:

• My favourite mug was broken. (Someone broke my favourite mug.)
• Their car was broken into and the radio was taken. (Someone broke into their car and took their radio.)
• The holiday hasn’t been paid for yet. (No one has paid for the holiday yet.)

We can’t make passive forms from verbs which do not have objects (intransitive verbs):

• The parcel arrived in the post this morning.
• Not: The parcel was arrived …

We don’t usually use the passive with some verbs that describe a state or situation (state verbs):

• They were having lunch.
• Not: Lunch was being had.

Some verbs are more common in the passive than the active voice. These include be born, be populated, be stranded, be taken aback:

• Where were you born?
• Thousands of passengers have been stranded at airports all over Europe after heavy snowfalls.

Verbs with two objects

When verbs have two objects, either object can be the theme or subject of the passive structure, depending on what we want to focus on:

• Her mother gave each child a present. (active)
• A present was given to each child (by her mother). (passive)
• Each child was given a present (by her mother). (passive)

Linking verbs

We don’t form passive structures with verbs like be, become, seem where the complement of the verb refers back to the subject (linking verbs):

• After six years of training she has finally become a doctor.

Passives with an agent

We use the preposition by to introduce the doer or the agent of the action. We use this structure when the agent is important:

• Mr Ward has been arrested by the FBI.
• The community was destroyed by a flood in 1862.

When the subject of the passive clause is not the real agent of the verb, we use other prepositions in passive structures:

• I’d been decorating the bedroom and I was covered in paint. (Paint isn’t the real agent; I am the agent; I was painting.)

When the doer or agent of the action is an instrument, we use with:

• The door was smashed open with a hammer.

Passives without an agent

Passive structures without an agent are very common. We use these structures when an agent is not important, or is unknown or obvious:

• All applications must be received before 31 July.
• The data was analysed and the results have just been published.
• I walked to work. The car*’s*** being repaired.

It and there

We often use an impersonal expression with it or there when the agent is not important:

• It was decided to charge £10 per ticket.
• It has been estimated that in Tanzania one elephant in three is an orphan.
• There were no comments given about the proposal and no decisions made. (No comments were given … no decisions were made.)

See also

• It
• There is, there’s and there are

Passive: uses

Using the passive allows the speaker or writer to make choices about what is important.

We use the passive for different reasons. We sometimes use it to give focus to something. We can also use it because we don’t know the identity of the ‘doer’ or because it’s not important to know who or what did the action. In addition, we use it to be impersonal and create distance.

We often use passives without agents in academic and technical contexts when the process or actions are more significant than who or what did them:

• A sample was taken and injected into a tube.
• In this study, children’s eye movements were recorded while they listened to a series of messages.

We often use passive forms of reporting verbs (believe, think, say, consider, find) to create distance from personal statements and focus more on impersonal processes:

• Police are looking for a man in his 30s. He is believed to be dangerous.
• In some cultures blowing your nose in public is considered impolite.

When we want to give emphasis to something new, we can begin with something which is already known and put the newsworthy or important item at the end, where it can be stressed and given focus:

• A: That’s a lovely chair.
• B: Yes, it’s very old. It was given to me by my grandmother.
• I was made to feel very welcome by everyone.

See also

• Word order and focus

Passive: other forms

Other structures that have passive characteristics are the get-passive and get/have something done:

• The windows got broken. (Someone broke the windows.)
• He*’s*** getting his hair coloured. (Someone is colouring his hair.)
• We had our wooden floors painted. (Someone painted our wooden floors.)

We use these structures more commonly in speaking. They are similar to the passive because the agent of the action is not the subject.

See also

• Get passive
• Have something done

Passive: typical errors

We don’t form passive structures with intransitive verbs:

• She died.
• Not: She was died.

We don’t form passive structures with verbs that describe states:

• Those shoes don’t suit the dress.
• Not: The dress isn’t suited by those shoes.

We use the past form of be + born to talk about someone’s birth:

• She was born at home.
• Not: She is born at home.