Passive Verb Formation

The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with the past
participle of the main verb. Other helping verbs are also sometimes present: "The measure could
have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also, in various tenses. Let's take a look
at the passive forms of "design."

Auxiliary
Tense

Subject
Singular

Plural

Past
Participle

Present

The car/cars is

are

designed.

Present perfect

The car/cars has been

have been

designed.

Past

The car/cars was

were

designed.

Past perfect

The car/cars had been

had been

designed.

Future

The car/cars will be

will be

designed.

Future perfect

The car/cars will have been will have been designed.

Present
progressive

The car/cars is being

are being

designed.

Past progressive

The car/cars was being

were being

designed.

A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action. For instance
if a gorilla crushes a tin can, we could say "The tin can was crushed by the gorilla." But a
perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin can was crushed." Also, when an
active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the indirect object can take on the
role of subject in the passive sentence:

Active

Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.

Passive

An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa.

Passive

Jorge was given an A.

Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be transformed into passive constructions.
Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be transformed into passive
structures. To have is the most important of these verbs. We can say "He has a new car," but we
cannot say "A new car is had by him." We can say "Josefina lacked finesse," but we cannot say
"Finesse was lacked." Here is a brief list of such verbs*:
resemble

look like

equal

agree with

mean

contain

hold

comprise

lack

suit

fit

become

Verbals in Passive Structures

Verbals or verb forms can also take on features of the passive voice. An infinitive phrase in
the passive voice, for instance, can perform various functions within a sentence (just like the
active forms of the infinitive).

Subject: To be elected by my peers is a great honor.

Object: That child really likes to be read to by her mother.

Modifier: Grasso was the first woman to be elected governor in her own right.

The same is true of passive gerunds.

Subject: Being elected by my peers was a great thrill.

Object: I really don't like being lectured to by my boss.

Object of preposition: I am so tired of being lectured to by my boss.

With passive participles, part of the passive construction is often omitted, the result being a
simple modifying participial phrase.

[Having been] designed for off-road performance, the Pathseeker does not
always behave well on paved highways.

Active / Passive Overview

Active

Passive

Simple
Present

Once a week, Tom cleans the

house.

Once a week, the house is

cleaned by Tom.

Present
Continuous

Right now, Sarah is writing

the letter.

Right now, the letter is being

written by Sarah.

Simple Past

Sam repaired the car.

The car was repaired by Sam.

Past
Continuous

The salesman was helping

the customer when the thief
came into the store.

The customer was being

helped by the salesman when
the thief came into the store.

Present
Perfect

Many tourists have visited

that castle.

That castle has been visited

by many tourists.

Present
Perfect
Continuous

Recently, John has been

doing the work.

Recently, the work has been

being done by John.

Past Perfect

George had repaired many

cars before he received his
mechanic's license.

Many cars had been repaired

by George before he received
his mechanic's license.

Past Perfect
Continuous

Chef Jones had been

preparing the restaurant's
fantastic dinners for two years
before he moved to Paris.

The restaurant's fantastic

dinners had been being
prepared by Chef Jones for two
years before he moved to Paris.

Simple

Someone will finish the work

The work will be finished by

Future
will

by 5:00 PM.

5:00 PM.

Simple
Future
be going to

Sally is going to make a

beautiful dinner tonight.

A beautiful dinner is going to

be made by Sally tonight.

Future
Continuous
will

At 8:00 PM tonight, John will

be washing the dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes

will be being washed by John.

Future
Continuous
be going to

At 8:00 PM tonight, John is

going to be washing the
dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes

are going to be being
washed by John.

Future
Perfect
will

They will have completed

the project before the
deadline.

The project will have been

completed before the deadline.

Future
Perfect
be going to

They are going to have

completed the project before
the deadline.

The project is going to have

been completed before the
deadline.

Future
Perfect
Continuous
will

The famous artist will have

been painting the mural for
over six months by the time it
is finished.

The mural will have been

being painted by the famous
artist for over six months by the
time it is finished.

Future
Perfect
Continuous
be going to

The famous artist is going to

have been painting the
mural for over six months by
the time it is finished.

The mural is going to have

been being painted by the
famous artist for over six
months by the time it is
finished.

Used to

Jerry used to pay the bills.

The bills used to be paid by

Jerry.

Would
Always

My mother would always

make the pies.

The pies would always be

made by my mother.

Future in
the Past
Would

I knew John would finish the

work by 5:00 PM.

I knew the work would be

finished by 5:00 PM.

Future in
the Past
Was Going
to

I thought Sally was going to

make a beautiful dinner
tonight.

I thought a beautiful dinner was

going to be made by Sally
tonight.

SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST

The active object becomes the passive subject.
am/is/are + past participle
was/were + past participle
Active: Simple Present
The movie fascinates me.
The movie bores Jack.
The movie surprises them.

Passive: Simple Present

I am fascinated by the movie.
Jack is bored by the movie.
They are surprised by the movie.

Active: Simple Past

The movie bored me.
The movie fascinated Jack.
The movie surprised them.

Passive: Simple Past

I was bored by the movie.
Jack was fascinated by the movie.
They were surprisedby the movie.

PRESENT and PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE)

Passive form:
am/is/are + being + past participle
was/were + being + past participle
Active: Present Continuous
I am helping Shannon.
June is helping Su and Ling.

Passive: Present Continuous

Shannon is being helped by me.
Su and Ling are being helped by
June.

Active: Past Continuous

I was cleaning the bathroom.
They were cleaning the bedroom.
Susan was cleaning the kitchen and
patio.

Passive: Past Continuous

The bathroom was being cleaned by
me.
The bedroom was being cleaned by
them.
The kitchen and patio were being
cleaned by Susan.

PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT

Passive form:
have/has been + past participle
had been + past participle
Active: Present Perfect
I have mailed the gift.
Jack has mailed the gifts.

Passive: Present Perfect

The gift has been mailed by me.
The gifts have been mailed by Jack.

Active: Past Perfect

Steven Spielberg had directed the
movie.
Penny Marshall had directed those
movies.

Passive: Past Perfect

The movie had been directed by
Steven Spielberg.
The movies had been directed by
Penny Marshall.

Active: Future Perfect

John will have finished the project
next month.
They will have finished the projects
before then.

Passive: Future Perfect

The project will have been finished
by next month.
The projects will have been finished
before then.

FUTURE TENSES
Passive forms: will + be + past participle
is/are going to be + past participle
Active: Future with WILL
I will mail the gift.
Jack will mail the gifts.
Active: Future with GOING TO
I am going to make the cake.
Sue is going to make two cakes.

Passive: Future with WILL

The gift will be mailed by me.
The gifts will be mailed by Jack.
Passive: Future with GOING TO
The cake is going to be made by me.
Two cakes are going to be made by
Sue.

PRESENT / FUTURE MODALS

The passive form follows this pattern:
modal + be + past participle
Active: WILL / WON'T (WILL
NOT)
Sharon will invite Tom to the party.
Sharon won't invite Jeff to the party.
(Sharon will not invite Jeff to the
party.)

Passive: WILL / WON'T (WILL

NOT)
Tom will be invited to the party by
Sharon.
Jeff won't be invited to the party by
Sharon.
(Jeff will not be invited to the party
by Sharon.)

PAST MODALS
The past passive form follows this pattern:
modal + have been + past participle
Active: SHOULD HAVE /
SHOULDN'T HAVE
The students should have learned
the verbs.
The children shouldn't have
broken the window.

Passive: SHOULD HAVE /

SHOULDN'T HAVE
The verbs should have been
learned by the students.
The window shouldn't have been
broken by the children.