For years, grammar guides have told us to fear the passive voice. It's often painted as weak, wordy, and even a little sneaky. While the active voice—where the subject is the star of the show (e.g., "The boy threw the ball")—is usually more direct and energetic, the passive voice isn't some grammatical mistake to be stamped out.
Think of it as a different kind of tool in your writer's toolkit. It’s a stylistic choice, and a powerful one when you know how and when to use it.
Shifting Focus for Impact
At its core, the passive voice is all about control. It lets you shift the focus of a sentence away from the person doing the action and onto the person or thing receiving it.
This comes in handy more often than you'd think:
- When the actor is unknown: "My car was stolen." We don't know who did it, so the focus is rightly on the car.
- When the actor is irrelevant: "The new bridge was built last year." The important part is the bridge, not the specific construction company that poured the concrete.
- When you want to emphasize the receiver: "The first prize was awarded to Maria." This structure puts Maria and her achievement in the spotlight.
Learning to flip between active and passive constructions gives you incredible control over your writing's tone and clarity. This is especially true in formal, scientific, and academic writing where objectivity is key. For a refresher on the building blocks of sentence structure, our guide on basic grammar rules is a great place to start.
Before we go deeper, let's quickly compare the two structures side-by-side.
Active Voice vs Passive Voice at a Glance
This table breaks down the fundamental difference, showing how a simple change in structure completely alters the sentence's emphasis.
| Focus | Active Voice Example | Passive Voice Example |
|---|---|---|
| On the Doer | The team won the championship. | |
| On the Receiver | The championship was won by the team. | |
| On the Doer | The chef prepared the meal. | |
| On the Receiver | The meal was prepared by the chef. |
Notice how the active examples feel direct and full of energy, while the passive ones feel more formal and observational. Neither is "better"—they just do different jobs.
A Surprising Neurological Preference
Here’s where it gets really interesting. While writing purists have been telling us to avoid the passive voice for decades, our brains might actually be wired to prefer it in certain situations.
George Orwell, in his famous 1946 essay "Politics and the English Language," famously advised against it. The irony? He used the passive voice in over 20% of that very essay. This hints that there’s something more going on here than just a simple rule.
Groundbreaking research from Cornell University’s Neurosyntax Imaging Laboratory suggests a definite neurological preference for passive constructions. In one study, 133 participants overwhelmingly chose to describe imaginary scenes using the passive voice, directly challenging the idea that active voice is always more "natural."
This finding completely reframes the conversation. It suggests that learning the passive voice isn't just about memorizing a formula; it's about tapping into an intuitive cognitive pattern.
You can read more about this fascinating study and what it means for language learning by checking out the research on passive voice preference. For ESL learners, this insight is liberating. It means mastering the passive voice isn't just a chore—it's a natural step toward more sophisticated and nuanced communication.
How to Build the Passive Voice in Any Tense
Getting your head around the idea of the passive voice is one thing. Actually building it correctly in different tenses is the next, crucial step.
The good news? There’s a consistent, reliable formula you can lean on every time. Once this pattern clicks, you’ll be able to use the passive voice with confidence and precision.
The basic recipe is beautifully simple: [Object] + [Form of 'to be'] + [Past Participle]. That’s it. You take the object from the active sentence and make it the new subject. Then, you conjugate the verb 'to be' to fit the tense, and finally, you change the main verb into its past participle form.
This little diagram breaks down that simple, three-part formula.
This structure is your key. Combine the object, the right form of 'to be,' and a past participle, and you can systematically build just about any passive sentence you need.
Forming the Passive in Simple Tenses
Let’s start with the most common tenses: the simple present and simple past. These are the workhorses of the passive voice and the ones you'll use most often.
For the Simple Present, the formula is: [Object] + is/are + [Past Participle]. We use "is" for singular subjects and "are" for plural ones.
- Active: The company designs new products every year.
- Passive: New products are designed by the company every year.
For the Simple Past, the formula just needs a small tweak: [Object] + was/were + [Past Participle]. Here, "was" is for singular subjects and "were" is for plurals.
- Active: The engineers discovered a solution.
- Passive: A solution was discovered by the engineers.
See how the spotlight shifts? It moves away from the doer (the company, the engineers) and onto the thing receiving the action (new products, a solution). That simple flip is what the passive voice is all about.
Constructing the Passive in Continuous Tenses
When we get to continuous tenses, the formula just expands a little to include the word "being." This is your signal that the action is or was ongoing.
For the Present Continuous, the structure is: [Object] + is/are + being + [Past Participle]. This is perfect for talking about actions happening right now.
- Active: The committee is reviewing the applications.
- Passive: The applications are being reviewed by the committee.
It works the same way for the Past Continuous, where the formula becomes: [Object] + was/were + being + [Past Participle]. This shows an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past.
- Active: Someone was cleaning the office when I arrived.
- Passive: The office was being cleaned when I arrived.
The key takeaway here is the word "being." If you see it, you're almost certainly looking at a passive continuous tense. It’s what carries the sense of an ongoing action being performed on the subject.
Building the Passive with Perfect and Future Tenses
The pattern holds up even as we move into perfect and future tenses, letting you talk about completed actions and future plans from a passive angle.
To form the Present Perfect Passive, you’ll use this structure: [Object] + has/have + been + [Past Participle]. This is for actions that happened at some point in the past but still matter now.
- Active: The team has completed the project.
- Passive: The project has been completed by the team.
For the Future Simple, the passive voice uses "will be": [Object] + will be + [Past Participle].
- Active: The manager will announce the results tomorrow.
- Passive: The results will be announced tomorrow.
So, what about modal verbs like must, should, or can? They slot into the passive structure seamlessly. The formula is simply: [Object] + [Modal Verb] + be + [Past Participle].
- Active: You must submit the report by Friday.
- Passive: The report must be submitted by Friday.
- Active: Students can access the files online.
- Passive: The files can be accessed online.
Once you commit these patterns to memory, you can confidently flip almost any active sentence into a passive one. This gives you much greater control over your writing's focus and tone.
When to Use Passive Voice for a Strategic Advantage
While active voice gets all the praise for being direct and full of energy, the passive voice isn't a grammatical error—it's a strategic tool. Knowing how to build the passive is only half the battle. The real skill is knowing when to use it.
When you use it with purpose, the passive voice adds a layer of precision to your writing that the active voice sometimes can't match. Think of it less as a weak choice and more like a spotlight. You get to decide which part of the sentence gets the most attention. Let's dig into the key situations where the passive voice is not just okay, but actually the better choice for clear communication.
When the Doer Is Unknown or Irrelevant
Sometimes, you have no idea who performed an action, or maybe you just don't care. In these cases, forcing an active sentence can feel clumsy and unnatural. The passive voice solves this by putting the focus squarely on whatever received the action.
Take a look at these examples:
- Passive: My wallet was stolen on the train. (We don't know who the thief was.)
- Passive: This ancient cathedral was built in the 12th century. (The builders are long gone, and their names are beside the point.)
- Passive: The package was delivered this morning. (The important thing is that the package arrived, not which specific driver brought it.)
In every one of these sentences, the most crucial piece of information is the subject of the passive sentence. The "doer" is either a mystery or completely unimportant, so mentioning them would just be a distraction. This is a core function of the passive voice in English.
To Emphasize the Object or Recipient
Another powerful reason to reach for the passive voice is to intentionally put the spotlight on the person or thing receiving the action. This is a classic move in news reporting, official announcements, and even storytelling to highlight the most impactful part of the sentence.
By placing the recipient at the beginning of the sentence, you give it immediate prominence. This structure tells your reader, "Pay attention to this part; this is what truly matters."
See how the focus shifts in these pairs:
- Active: The committee awarded Jane the top prize.
- Passive: The top prize was awarded to Jane.
The first sentence is about the committee's action. The second, more celebratory sentence makes "the top prize" the star of the show. It feels more momentous.
For Scientific and Academic Objectivity
In scientific reports, lab results, and academic papers, the focus has to be on the experiment or the data, not the researcher behind it. The passive voice is the gold standard for creating this objective, impersonal tone. It gets rid of personal pronouns like "I" or "we," which makes the findings sound more credible and universally true.
This is why decades of discourse analysis show that passive constructions dominate formal academic writing. You can find out more by reading the full research on passive voice in academic writing.
You'll see it used all the time in contexts like these:
- The solution was heated to 100°C.
- The results were analyzed using statistical software.
- It is believed that this phenomenon occurs due to...
This objective tone is vital in global academia, where over 80% of top journals favor these kinds of constructions. This is something platforms like The Kingdom of English recognize, offering targeted grammar practice to get students ready for these real-world writing demands.
To Deliver Formal Announcements and Rules
Finally, the passive voice is your go-to for conveying authority and formality when you're stating rules, laws, or official procedures. It creates a sense of an impersonal, unchangeable decree that comes from an institution, not a person.
- All bags must be checked at the entrance.
- Visitors are required to wear a badge at all times.
- Payment must be received before the goods are dispatched.
The active versions ("You must check your bags," or "We require you to wear a badge") sound more like personal requests than iron-clad rules. The passive voice strips out that personal element, giving the statement a tone of firm, non-negotiable policy.
Common Passive Voice Mistakes and How to Fix Them
Let's clear the air on something: the passive voice isn't a grammar mistake. Far from it. The biggest myth floating around is that you should never use it. In reality, it’s a powerful tool for adding formality and shifting focus in your writing.
The real trouble starts when we trip over a few common pitfalls. These tripwires can twist a perfectly good passive sentence into something confusing or just plain wrong. Once you know what they are, you can start using the passive voice with real confidence.
Misusing the Verb ‘To Be’
The most common error by a long shot is picking the wrong form of the verb "to be." Every passive sentence needs it—it's the engine. But if the tense of "to be" doesn't match the timeline of your sentence, the whole thing breaks down.
Take a look at these classic slips:
Before: The reports was submitted yesterday. (Incorrect agreement)
After: The reports were submitted yesterday.
Before: The email is send tomorrow. (Incorrect tense and verb form)
After: The email will be sent tomorrow.
The fix is simple but crucial: always double-check that your "to be" verb agrees with your subject (singular or plural) and the time you're talking about (past, present, or future).
Using the Wrong Past Participle
Another frequent stumble is using the wrong past participle. While many English verbs form their past participle with a simple "-ed," a huge number of them are irregular. This is a massive hurdle for students just getting to grips with what passive voice in English even is.
For instance, you have to know that the past participle of "break" is "broken," not "breaked."
Before: The window was breaked by the storm.
After: The window was broken by the storm.
Before: The song was sing beautifully.
After: The song was sung beautifully.
There’s no shortcut here. Memorizing irregular past participles is non-negotiable for building correct passive sentences. If you're finding this tricky, our guide to common English grammar mistakes is a great place to spot and fix these kinds of issues.
Confusing Passive Voice with False Passives
Some sentences just look passive. These tricky sentences are called "false passives" because they use a "to be" verb and a past participle, but that participle is actually acting as an adjective. It's describing a state of being, not an action received.
A true passive sentence describes an action being performed on the subject. If you can add "by someone" or "by something" to the end and it still makes sense, you've probably got a true passive.
Let's see the difference:
- False Passive: She is tired. (This describes her state. You can't say, "She is tired by someone.")
- True Passive: The decision was made. (This describes an action. You can easily say, "The decision was made by the board.")
Learning to spot this difference is key to understanding when you’re actually using the passive voice and when you’re just describing something.
The Pitfall of Overuse
Okay, so this isn't a grammatical error, but it's a huge stylistic one. Overusing the passive voice can make your writing feel vague, evasive, and unnecessarily wordy. It's the go-to structure for the infamous "mistakes were made" line, a classic way to dodge responsibility.
That said, you don't need to avoid it completely. Studies of professional writing show the passive voice makes up a respectable 13% of sentences in some publications. Even George Orwell, its most famous critic, used it in over 20% of the sentences in his classic essay "Politics and the English Language."
This shows the passive voice is a necessary tool, not a villain to be stamped out. Its ability to create an impersonal, objective tone is essential in academic and scientific writing. For teachers, reinforcing this distinction is easy with targeted exercises on platforms like The Kingdom of English.
Practice Passive Voice with Engaging Exercises
Knowing the rules is one thing. Actually using the passive voice correctly—without overthinking it—is another challenge entirely. To get there, you need practice. It's time to go from theory to action and build the muscle memory required to make the passive voice a natural part of your English toolkit.
This section is all about getting your hands dirty. We're moving past just reading and into doing. Through a few targeted drills, you'll start to solidify your understanding of how to spot, build, and use the passive voice in your own sentences.
Let’s start with the most fundamental skill: turning an active sentence passive. This reinforces the core structure and gets you thinking about how sentences get rearranged.
Exercise 1: Sentence Transformations
The best way to get a feel for the passive voice is to actively flip sentences from active to passive. This forces you to identify the subject and object, pick the right form of "to be," and find the correct past participle.
Instructions: Rewrite the following active sentences in the passive voice.
- The chef prepares the ingredients fresh every morning.
- The company will launch the new product next month.
- Someone has already cleaned the conference room.
- The author wrote this bestselling novel in just six weeks.
Answers:
- The ingredients are prepared fresh every morning by the chef.
- The new product will be launched next month by the company.
- The conference room has already been cleaned.
- This bestselling novel was written in just six weeks by the author.
Did you notice what happened in sentence #3? The doer ("someone") just disappeared. That’s because they’re unknown and, frankly, irrelevant to the main point. This is a perfect example of using the passive voice with purpose.
Exercise 2: Fill in the Blanks
Okay, now let's see if you can choose the correct passive verb form to fit the context. This drill focuses purely on verb conjugation in different tenses, which is often where mistakes happen.
Instructions: Complete each sentence with the correct passive form of the verb in parentheses.
- The final decision _______________ by the committee tomorrow. (make)
- Currently, the old bridge __________ by a new one. (replace)
- All the tickets for the concert ______________ last week. (sell)
- This type of glass ______________ to withstand high temperatures. (design)
For more interactive drills like these, our library of English grammar exercises is an excellent place for continued practice.
Making Practice Powerful with The Kingdom of English
While these manual exercises are a great start, modern learning platforms can make practice far more dynamic and effective. For both teachers and independent learners, The Kingdom of English turns what can be a dry topic into an engaging, trackable experience.
Teachers can pull from a library of 60 grammar topics to assign homework focused specifically on the passive voice. These aren't your typical static worksheets. They are interactive activities, including listening and reading exercises where students have to understand the passive voice in authentic contexts.
Here’s a glimpse of the teacher dashboard, which shows student progress at a glance.
This simple view lets educators instantly see who is getting it and who might need a bit more support, saving a huge amount of time. For students, the platform’s AI-powered feedback is a game-changer. It offers instant corrections on their use of the passive voice, helping them prepare for academic and professional writing where an objective tone is key.
Plus, gamified leaderboards and class competitions add a little friendly motivation, turning grammar practice from a chore into a challenge.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Passive Voice
Once you get a handle on the basics of the passive voice, a few tricky questions almost always come up. Let’s tackle some of the most common ones so you can use this structure with confidence.
Can I Always Use the "By Zombies" Trick?
Ah, the famous "by zombies" test. It's a fun shortcut that often works, but it's not foolproof. The rule is that a sentence is passive if the subject receives the action. In a sentence like, "The town was attacked," you can add "by zombies," and it makes perfect sense. The town received the attack.
The problem is, many passive sentences leave out the doer of the action on purpose. Think of "The window was broken." Adding "by zombies" works, but it wasn't there to begin with. The most reliable method is to look at the subject and ask: Is it doing the action (active) or having the action done to it (passive)?
Is Passive Voice Just Bad or Weak Writing?
This is one of the biggest myths in writing. No, the passive voice is not inherently "bad." The problem is overuse. When a text is filled with passive constructions, it can feel wordy, indirect, and a bit evasive. Strong, clear writing usually favors the active voice for its energy and directness.
But the passive voice is a critical tool in a writer's toolbox. It's essential in scientific writing to sound objective, incredibly useful when the doer of an action is unknown or irrelevant, and powerful when you want to put all the focus on the object receiving the action.
The goal isn't avoidance; it's balance and purpose. A skilled writer uses the passive voice strategically, like a specialist tool for a specific job, not as the default setting.
Are There Verbs That Can't Be Used in the Passive Voice?
Yes, absolutely. The passive voice only works with transitive verbs—that is, verbs that take a direct object. In the sentence, "The cat chased the mouse," the verb "chased" is transitive because it has an object: "the mouse." This allows it to become passive: "The mouse was chased by the cat."
On the other hand, intransitive verbs—verbs that don't have a direct object—can't be made passive. This includes common verbs like arrive, die, sleep, and go. You can't say, "The train was arrived," because the verb "arrive" has no object to promote to the subject position.
Ready to turn these rules into real skills? The Kingdom of English provides a gamified practice platform where students can master the passive voice and 60 other grammar topics. You can assign interactive homework, track progress on a simple dashboard, and motivate your class with fun competitions. Start your free trial and see how effective English practice can be.