The passive
When the action matters, not the doer
- The passive focuses on what happens to something, not on who does it.
- English is spoken here. The window was broken.
- The receiver of the action becomes the subject.
Form: be + past participle
- be (in the right tense) + past participle.
- Present: is / are + p.p. → The cars are made here.
- Past: was / were + p.p. → The house was built in 1990.
Turn active into passive
The object moves to the front, and the verb becomes be + past participle.
Make it passive: “People speak English here.”
Passive = be + past participle: “English is spoken here.”
Complete: The window was ___ (break) yesterday.
was + past participle: break → broken.
by + the doer
- Add by to say who did it — if it matters.
- This book was written by Lu Xun.
- If the doer is unknown or unimportant, leave it out.
Do we use “by” to say who did the action?
Yes — “by + the doer”: “It was written by Lu Xun.”
Translate into English: 这本书是鲁迅写的。
Passive + by: “This book was written by Lu Xun.”
When to use it
- The doer is unknown or unimportant: The road was repaired.
- You want to focus on the receiver: The painting was bought by a museum.
Common mistakes
- ❌ The window was broke. → ✓ The window was broken. — the passive needs the participle.
- ❌ The accident was happened. → ✓ The accident happened. — happen has no passive.
- Remember: ✓ I was born in 2008. — always passive in English.
Match the active sentence to its passive.
The object moves to the front; be takes the tense; the verb becomes a participle.
Complete: This book was ___ by Lu Xun. (write)
write – wrote – written: the passive takes the third form.
- Passive = be + past participle (be carries the tense).
- Add by + the doer only if it matters.
- Use it when the doer is unknown/unimportant or to focus on the receiver.
Write one passive sentence about something that is made, grown or built (for example: “Rice is grown in …”).
Example: “Tea is grown in many countries.”