Study this example:

This house was built in 1961 .

Was built is passive.
Compare act ive and passive :
Somebody built this house in 1961. (active)
subject object

This house was built in 1961 . (passive)

subject

When we use an active verb, we say what the subject does:

C:. My grandfather was a builder. He built this house in 1961.
0 lt's a big company. lt employs two hundred people.
When we use a passive verb, we say what happens to the subject:
0 'How old is this house?' 'lt was built in 1961. '
8 Two hundred people are employed by the company.
When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is oft en un known or unimportant:
~ A lot of money was stolen in the robbery. (somebody stole it, but we don 't know who)
C Is this room cleaned every day? (does somebody clean it?- it 's not important who)
If we want to say who does or what causes the action , we use by:
~ This house was built by my grandfather.
0 Two hundred people are employed by the company.

The passive is be (is/was etc.)+ past participle (done/cleaned/seen etc.):

(be) done (be) cleaned (be) damaged (be) built (be) seen etc.
For irregular past participles (done/ seen/known etc.) , see Appendix 1.
Study the active and passive forms of the present simple and past simple:

Present simple
active clean(s) I see(s) etc. Some body cleans this room eve ry day.
r--
pass1ve am/is/are + cleaned/seen et c. This room is cleaned every day.
0 Many accide nts are caused by careless dri ving.
0 I'm not invited to parties ve ry ofte n.
0 How is thi s word pronounced ?

Past simple
active cleaned/ saw etc. Some body cleaned this room yest erday.

passiVe was/ were+ cleaned/ seen et c. This room was cleaned yeste rday.

0 We were woken up by a loud noise du ring the nig ht.

0 'D id you go to the party?' 'No, I wasn't invited .'
0 How much money was stolen in th e robbe ry?

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Study the fo llowing active and passive fo rms:

Infinitive
active (to) do/dean/ see et c. Some body will dean this room lat er.

passive (to) be+ done/cleaned/ seen et c. This room will be cleaned later.
0 The situati on is serious. Something must be done before ifs too late.
0 A mystery is something that can't be explained.
0 The music was ve ry loud and could be heard from a long way away.
0 A new su pe rmarket is goi ng to be built next year.
0 Please go away. I want to be Left a lone.

Perfect infinitive
active (to) have + done/cleaned/ seen etc. Somebody should have cleaned the room

passiVe (to) have been + done/cleaned/ seen et c. The room should have been cleaned.
0 I should have received t he letter by now. lt might have been sent t o the wrong address.
C) If you had locked the car, it wouldn't have been stolen.
U There were some pro blems at first , but th ey seem to have been solved.

Present perfect
active have/ has + done etc. The room looks nice. Somebody has cleaned it .

passiVe have/ has been + done etc. The room looks nice. lt has been cleaned.
0 Have you heard? The t rip has been cancelled.
0 Have you ever been bitten by a dog?
C 'Are you go ing to the party?' ' No, I haven't been invited.'
Past perfect
active had + done et c. The room looked nice. Somebody had cleaned it .
r
passiVe had been + done etc. The room looked nice. lt had been cleaned.
0 The vegeta bles didn't tast e good. They had been cooked too long.
0 The car was t hree yea rs o ld, but hadn't been used ve ry much.

Present continuous
active am/ is/ are + (do)ing Some body is cleaning t he room at t he moment.
I
passiVe am/ is/ are + being (done) The room is being cleaned at the moment.
0 There's somebody walking be hind us. I think we are being followed .
0 (in a shop) 'Can I help you?' 'No, tha nks. I'm being served.'
Past continuous
active was/were+ (do)ing Somebody was cleaning the room when I arrived .
~--------------~

passiVe was/ were + being (done) The room was being cleaned when I arrived.
0 There was somebody wa lki ng behind us. I think we were being followed .