English Passive Voice: How to Form and Use It Correctly

You've probably heard teachers talk about passive voice like it's some mysterious grammar monster you need to avoid. But here's the reality: passive voice is just another tool in English, and knowing how to use it makes you a more flexible speaker and writer. Whether you're reading scientific papers, news articles, or just trying to sound more formal in an email, you'll run into passive constructions everywhere. Let me show you exactly how it works and when you should actually use it.

What is passive voice?

Passive voice is a grammatical structure where the subject of the sentence receives the action instead of performing it. The thing being acted upon becomes the focus of your sentence.

In a passive sentence, you emphasize what happened rather than who did it. Sometimes the person or thing doing the action (called the agent) gets mentioned at the end with "by," and sometimes it disappears completely.

Here's a simple example: "The cake was eaten by my brother." The cake is the subject, but it's receiving the action of being eaten. Compare that to the active version: "My brother ate the cake." Same information, different focus.

The passive voice is used across all kinds of writing, from academic papers to news reports. You'll see it constantly in scientific writing because researchers want to focus on results rather than themselves.

How to form the passive voice

The formation formula is actually pretty straightforward. You need two ingredients: a form of the verb "to be" plus the past participle of your main verb.

The "to be" verb changes based on your tense (am, is, are, was, were, will be, has been, etc.), while the past participle stays the same. For regular verbs, the past participle ends in "ed" (like "cleaned" or "painted"). For irregular verbs, you need to memorize them (like "written," "taken," "bought").

Here's the basic pattern: Subject + form of "to be" + past participle (+ by + agent)

Let me break down some examples:

Notice how the verb "to be" changes, but the past participle stays consistent? That's your key to mastering passive constructions across different tenses.

Passive voice across different tenses

Each tense has its own way of forming passive sentences. The good news is that once you understand the pattern, it becomes predictable.

Present simple passive

Form: am/is/are + past participle

Active: "The company employs 500 people." Passive: "500 people are employed by the company."

You'll use this tense for general facts, habits, or permanent situations. "English is spoken in many countries" or "The office is cleaned every night."

Past simple passive

Form: was/were + past participle

Active: "Someone stole my bike." Passive: "My bike was stolen."

This is probably the most common passive tense you'll encounter. News reports love this structure: "The suspect was arrested last night" or "The building was destroyed in the fire."

Present continuous passive

Form: am/is/are + being + past participle

Active: "They are building a new hospital." Passive: "A new hospital is being built."

Use this when something is happening right now or during the current time period. "The issue is being investigated" or "Dinner is being prepared."

Past continuous passive

Form: was/were + being + past participle

Active: "The teacher was explaining the grammar rule." Passive: "The grammar rule was being explained."

This shows an action in progress at a specific time in the past. "The streets were being cleaned when I left home."

Present perfect passive

Form: has/have + been + past participle

Active: "Someone has broken the window." Passive: "The window has been broken."

This connects past actions to the present moment. "The report has been submitted" or "Three people have been injured in the accident."

Future simple passive

Form: will + be + past participle

Active: "The manager will announce the results tomorrow." Passive: "The results will be announced tomorrow."

Pretty straightforward for talking about future events: "The concert will be held in July" or "You will be contacted soon."

Modal verbs with passive

Form: modal verb + be + past participle

Active: "You must complete the form." Passive: "The form must be completed."

Modals like can, could, should, might, and must all work with passive voice: "The package should be delivered today" or "The problem could be solved easily."

Converting active voice to passive voice

The conversion process follows a clear pattern once you get the hang of it. You're basically flipping the sentence structure around.

Step 1: Identify the object in the active sentence (this becomes your new subject). Step 2: Choose the correct form of "to be" based on your tense. Step 3: Add the past participle of the main verb. Step 4: Optionally add "by" plus the original subject if it's important.

Let's walk through some examples:

Active: "The chef prepares the meals." Passive: "The meals are prepared by the chef."

Active: "Scientists discovered a new species." Passive: "A new species was discovered by scientists."

Active: "The committee will review your application." Passive: "Your application will be reviewed by the committee."

Here's something interesting: you can drop the "by" phrase when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context. "My wallet was stolen" works better than "My wallet was stolen by someone" because who else would steal it?

When to use the passive voice

Grammar teachers sometimes act like passive voice is evil, but that's nonsense. There are totally valid reasons to use it.

Use passive when the action itself matters more than who did it. Scientific writing does this constantly: "The samples were analyzed" focuses on what happened to the samples, which is what readers care about.

Use passive when you don't know who performed the action. "My car was damaged in the parking lot" works when you have no idea who hit it.

Use passive to maintain focus across sentences. If you're writing a paragraph about a building, keeping "the building" as the subject in passive sentences creates better flow than constantly switching subjects.

Use passive in formal or objective writing. Academic papers, technical manuals, and official reports lean heavily on passive constructions to sound professional and impersonal.

Use passive when you want to be diplomatic or avoid blame. "Mistakes were made" sounds way softer than "You made mistakes."

When to avoid passive voice

Sometimes passive voice makes your writing weaker and harder to read. Active voice often hits harder and feels more direct.

Avoid passive when it makes sentences unnecessarily complicated. "The ball was thrown by John" takes more words and effort than "John threw the ball" without adding value.

Avoid passive in creative writing and storytelling. Active voice creates more dynamic, engaging narratives. "The dragon attacked the village" beats "The village was attacked by the dragon" in most fiction contexts.

Avoid passive when you're trying to write clearly and concisely. Business communication, emails, and instructions usually work better in active voice because readers grasp the meaning faster.

Avoid passive if it obscures responsibility. Politicians love saying "mistakes were made" precisely because it dodges accountability. If you need to be clear about who did what, stick with active voice.

Common mistakes with passive voice

People mess up passive constructions in predictable ways. Let me save you some trouble.

Mistake 1: Forgetting the "to be" verb. You can't just use a past participle alone. "The homework completed" is wrong. You need "The homework was completed."

Mistake 2: Using the wrong form of the past participle. Irregular verbs trip people up. "The book was wrote" should be "The book was written."

Mistake 3: Mixing active and passive voice awkwardly. "The report was written by Sarah and she submitted it yesterday" sounds clunky. Pick one voice and stick with it: "Sarah wrote the report and submitted it yesterday" or "The report was written and submitted by Sarah yesterday."

Mistake 4: Overusing passive voice. Some writers discover passive constructions and suddenly everything becomes passive. Balance is key. Mix active and passive based on what each sentence needs.

Mistake 5: Using passive voice with intransitive verbs. Verbs like "happen," "occur," or "arrive" don't take objects, so you can't make them passive. "The accident was happened" is wrong. Just say "The accident happened."

Identifying passive voice in sentences

Spotting passive voice gets easier with practice. Look for these telltale signs.

First, find the verb phrase. Does it include a form of "to be" plus a past participle? That's your biggest clue. "Is made," "was taken," "will be sent," "has been approved" all signal passive constructions.

Second, ask yourself: is the subject doing the action or receiving it? If the subject is being acted upon, you've got passive voice.

Third, look for "by" phrases. While not every passive sentence includes one, "by" often introduces the agent in passive constructions.

Try this with real examples:

"English is spoken by millions of people worldwide." (Passive: "is spoken" = to be + past participle)

"The teacher teaches English." (Active: teacher performs the action)

"You will be taught English by an experienced instructor." (Passive: "will be taught" = to be + past participle)

"Who teaches you English?" (Active: who performs the action)

"Do you speak English?" (Active: you perform the action)

Practice examples you should know

Let me give you 20 solid examples across different contexts so you can see how passive voice works in real situations.

Each of these sentences shifts focus to what happened rather than who made it happen. Pretty useful in the right context.

Using passive voice in academic and formal writing

Academic writing absolutely loves passive voice, and for good reason. It creates an objective, formal tone that scientific and scholarly work requires.

Researchers use passive constructions to describe methodology: "The participants were divided into two groups" or "The data was collected over six months." This keeps the focus on the research process rather than the researchers themselves.

You'll see passive voice throughout scientific papers when describing procedures: "The mixture was heated to 100 degrees" or "The samples were analyzed using spectroscopy." The equipment and materials matter more than who operated them.

Formal reports and business documents also lean on passive structures for objectivity: "The proposal was reviewed by the committee" or "Several concerns were raised during the discussion."

Just remember that even in academic writing, you don't want every single sentence in passive voice. Mix it up to keep your writing readable and engaging.

Getting comfortable with passive voice

Mastering passive voice takes practice, but you don't need to stress about it. Start noticing passive constructions when you read news articles or academic papers. Pay attention to why writers chose passive over active in specific sentences.

Try converting simple active sentences to passive and back again. This exercise builds your flexibility with both structures. The more you practice, the more natural it becomes to choose the right voice for each situation.

Remember that passive voice is just one tool in your grammar toolkit. You don't need to use it constantly, but knowing how to form and recognize it makes you a more versatile English speaker and writer.

If you're learning English through immersion and want to see these grammar patterns in context, Migaku's browser extension helps you look up words and phrases instantly while reading articles or watching videos. You can catch passive constructions in real content and understand exactly how native speakers use them. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to give it a shot.