Practise the passive with 12 original questions and explained answers. Use the repair-day scenario below to choose a verb form, decide whether the agent matters, and correct errors. Then adapt the seven activity formats for another lesson. The questions are intended for learners who have already met the main tenses; they are not a placement test. For a first explanation, read what passive voice means.
Start the 12 questions · Check the answers · Explore the seven activity formats
12 passive voice exercises: a community repair day
A community centre is holding a repair day for bicycles and small household items. All people and events in this practice are fictional. Write your answers on paper. Allow roughly 15–20 minutes, then compare the reasons for your choices; timing will depend on your class.
Remember: a common passive pattern is a form of be + past participle: The bike is repaired / was repaired / is being repaired / has been repaired. Choose the tense to match the situation. A by-phrase names the agent when that information matters. Passive voice is a choice of focus, not automatically a better or more formal sentence.
The print layout includes this practice and its answer key; it leaves out the longer activity guide. Share the question pages first.
A. Keep the meaning and choose the form
Use the verb or starting words supplied. Keep the original time reference. Include a by-phrase only when the agent is needed or an item asks you to retain it.
Routine: At every repair day, the receptionist welcomes visitors at the front desk. Complete: Visitors ______ (welcome) at the front desk.
Finished action: The volunteers cleaned the workshop yesterday. Rewrite, beginning The workshop... You do not need to name the volunteers.
In progress now: The mechanic is repairing two bicycles at the moment. Rewrite, beginning Two bicycles...
Completed with a present result: The team has repaired the printer, so it is ready to collect. Rewrite, beginning The printer... Keep the present perfect.
Future delivery: The supplier will deliver the replacement parts tomorrow. Rewrite the announcement, beginning The replacement parts...
Safety rule: Everyone must wear safety goggles in the repair area. Rewrite, beginning Safety goggles... Keep the obligation.
B. Choose the focus, not just the grammar
Both options are grammatical. Choose the more direct answer to the stated communication need and explain why.
Credit the designer: A visitor asks, “Who designed the new tool holder?” Choose A or B.
A. Mira designed the new tool holder.
B. The new tool holder was designed.
Then write a passive version that still answers the visitor's question.Lost-property notice: You are writing about a key. Someone found it yesterday, but the finder is unknown. Choose A or B.
A. Someone found a key near the entrance yesterday.
B. A key was found near the entrance yesterday.
Explain whether a by-phrase is needed.
C. Edit and report accurately
Correct the errors in 9–11. Then combine form and meaning in the short update in 12.
Does this verb need a passive? Correct this arrival note without changing its meaning: The volunteers were arrived at nine. Explain the change.
Agreement: Correct the auxiliary: The tools was checked before yesterday's session.
Participle: Correct the verb form: The printer has been repair and is ready to collect.
Write a two-sentence status update: At 10 a.m., a mechanic examined the bicycle's brakes. It is now 11 a.m., and she is testing the bicycle. Start your sentences with The brakes... and The bicycle... Use passive forms and preserve the difference between the completed check and the test in progress.
Answer key with explanations
Accept equivalent wording that preserves the time, meaning and requested focus. A correct alternative is not an error simply because it differs from the model.
Visitors are welcomed at the front desk. The repeated routine takes the present simple; plural visitors takes are. Welcomed is the past participle.
The workshop was cleaned yesterday. Use past simple passive for this finished past action. By the volunteers is possible, but the instruction makes the workshop the topic and allows you to omit them.
Two bicycles are being repaired at the moment. The repair is happening now: plural are + being + repaired. Are repaired alone would normally describe a routine instead. Adding by the mechanic preserves the known agent but is not necessary here.
The printer has been repaired, so it is ready to collect. Keep the present perfect: singular has + been + repaired. A past-simple version can be grammatical in another context, but it does not preserve the form requested in this item.
The replacement parts will be delivered tomorrow. After will, use be + past participle. Will delivered leaves out the passive auxiliary. By the supplier may be added if the reader needs that information.
Safety goggles must be worn in the repair area. Keep must to preserve the rule. The passive after a modal uses be + past participle; worn is the participle of wear.
A: Mira designed the new tool holder. It directly identifies the designer. A passive answer is also suitable if it retains the agent: The new tool holder was designed by Mira. Option B is grammatical but leaves the visitor's question unanswered. Passive voice does not require hiding responsibility or credit.
B: A key was found near the entrance yesterday. This begins with the object the notice is about. A is also correct, but the unknown someone adds little here. No by-phrase is needed; do not invent a finder.
The volunteers arrived at nine. In this sentence arrive is intransitive: it has no object to become a passive subject. Remove were. Do not add be to every sentence about a past event.
The tools were checked before yesterday's session. The plural passive subject tools requires were, not was. The participle checked does not change for number.
The printer has been repaired and is ready to collect. After has been in this passive, use the past participle repaired, not the base form repair.
The brakes were examined at 10 a.m. The bicycle is being tested now. Were examined reports the completed check; is being tested reports work in progress. Do not write has been tested if the test is still happening. You may include by a mechanic and by her when the agent is relevant.
Use the answers to choose the next task
- Form support: If questions 1–6, 10 or 11 were difficult, underline each auxiliary and participle, then use the auxiliary-verb reference to compare the patterns. Practise one tense before mixing several.
- Meaning and focus: If 7–9 were difficult, ask “What is this message about? Who needs to be named? Can this verb take a passive here?” before transforming another sentence.
- Transfer: If the isolated forms were accurate but question 12 was difficult, give a second short update with explicit times. Check tense and focus separately; this activity does not establish a CEFR level.
Exit check: “A volunteer collected the repaired lamps at noon.” Write a notice starting The repaired lamps... and decide whether to include the volunteer. Model: The repaired lamps were collected at noon. Add by a volunteer if that information matters. For a reusable class check, adapt the ESL exit-ticket templates.
Seven passive voice activity formats to reuse
Choose the format that addresses the difficulty you observed. Each can be used on paper or a board; none requires an app or a paid account. Keep the active voice available when it communicates the message more clearly.
1. Sentence transformation
Keep the original contrast: The janitor cleans the classrooms. → The classrooms are cleaned by the janitor. Ask which noun is the topic, then reverse the transformation. Reuse questions 2–6, retaining tense and any agent that the reader needs. Before omitting a by-phrase, have learners say why.
2. Gap-fill exercises
Use a clear situation as well as a verb prompt. Compare The mechanic repairs bikes every Saturday with The bikes are being repaired now. Ask learners to name the time reference before filling the gap. Begin with question 1; later remove a complete verb phrase from questions 3 or 4. If more than one tense fits the supplied context, accept the justified alternatives or improve the prompt.
3. Error identification and correction
Use questions 9–11 as a short editing station. Learners label each problem: an unnecessary passive, agreement, or a participle. Retain the useful contrast The house was build → The house was built. Separate agent and recipient meanings: The certificate was given by Mira to Leo names Mira as the giver and Leo as the recipient. A different preposition is not automatically wrong unless the intended meaning is clear.
4. Cloze passages
Copy this original mini-report: “Yesterday, ten lamps ______ (check) at the repair day. One damaged cable ______ (replace). Today, the repaired lamps ______ (use) in the hall while volunteers prepare the room.” Ask for past simple in the first two gaps and present continuous in the third.
Key: were checked; was replaced; are being used. Follow up with “What work is finished, and what is happening now?” The report names the objects throughout; it does not need to invent the individual workers. For longer passages, mix active and passive where the meaning calls for them.
5. Matching and sorting
Make three cards: The report was submitted. / The project is being managed. / A new policy will be announced. Match them to finished past event / activity in progress now / future event, then underline was, is being and will be. Add by the coordinator to one card and discuss when that person is relevant. The cards can also be read aloud or copied as a numbered list.
6. Picture description and narration
Draw a simple workshop before and after a repair day: a broken chair in the first panel and a repaired chair in the second. Add a clock to make the time explicit. Learners can say The chair was repaired yesterday or The chair is being repaired now only when the drawing supports that meaning. Do not treat a still image alone as proof of a particular tense. Extend the task with a three-step process diagram and first, then, finally.
7. Quiz and role-play
Pair a visitor with a repair-day organiser. The visitor asks “What happened to my bicycle?” and “Who checked the brakes?” Give the organiser question 12's facts and the additional fact that Mira checked the brakes. Suitable responses include The brakes were examined at 10 a.m.; the bicycle is being tested now and Mira checked them. Swap roles with a new object and time. Discuss why an active reply is useful when someone asks who did the work; do not force a passive into every turn.
For another short speaking format, adapt the ready-to-run warm-up activities. For continuing classwork, the grammar-practice overview explains the platform's available activities and teacher workflow.
Grammar references and scope
The form and focus guidance was checked on 4 October 2026 against British Council: Passives, Cambridge: Passive voice, and Cambridge: Passive typical errors. The repair-day questions, model answers and classroom sequence are original materials from The Kingdom of English, not exercises copied from those sources or claims of classroom-tested results.