Passive voice
Rewrite active sentences in the passive, keeping the tense.
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Passive voice: worked examples
Five from the set, with the answer filled in and the rule that decides it. The remaining questions are in the answer key below.
- 01
People speak English all over the world. → English is spoken all over the world.
Present simple passive: is/are + the past participle.
- 02
They pay the drivers a bonus every December. → The drivers are paid a bonus every December.
With two objects the person normally comes first in the passive.
- 03
A Japanese company owns the hotel. → The hotel is owned by a Japanese company.
Keep by + the agent when it adds information the reader needs.
- 04
Someone stole my bike last night. → My bike was stolen last night.
Past simple passive: was/were + the past participle.
- 05
Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. → Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
Answer key: all 24 questions
- 01People speak English all over the world. → English is spoken all over the world.
- 02They pay the drivers a bonus every December. → The drivers are paid a bonus every December.
- 03A Japanese company owns the hotel. → The hotel is owned by a Japanese company.
- 04Someone stole my bike last night. → My bike was stolen last night.
- 05Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. → Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
- 06They offered Tom the job. → Tom was offered the job.
- 07They are painting the bridge at the moment. → The bridge is being painted at the moment.
- 08Someone is watching us. → We are being watched.
- 09They were cleaning the windows when I arrived. → The windows were being cleaned when I arrived.
- 10Someone was following her. → She was being followed.
- 11Someone has taken my umbrella. → My umbrella has been taken.
- 12Thousands of tourists have visited the exhibition this year. → The exhibition has been visited by thousands of tourists this year.
- 13Someone had eaten all the cake before we arrived. → All the cake had been eaten before we arrived.
- 14The storm had damaged the roof before we bought the house. → The roof had been damaged by the storm before we bought the house.
- 15They will announce the results on Friday. → The results will be announced on Friday.
- 16They will send you the tickets by email. → You will be sent the tickets by email.
- 17They are going to build a new stadium here. → A new stadium is going to be built here.
- 18They are going to interview the candidates on Monday. → The candidates are going to be interviewed on Monday.
- 19You can see the mountains from the window. → The mountains can be seen from the window.
- 20You must switch off all phones during the exam. → All phones must be switched off during the exam.
- 21They should tell the students about the change. → The students should be told about the change.
- 22They should have warned us about the delay. → We should have been warned about the delay.
- 23They could have prevented the accident. → The accident could have been prevented.
- 24My aunt has sent the children a parcel. → The children have been sent a parcel by my aunt.
- The passive voiceThe passive is a form of be plus a past participle: the report was written.
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