Passive Voice in English: Rules, Examples and Active vs Passive

Introduction

The cat caught the mouse. — Active. The mouse was caught by the cat. — Passive.

Same situation, two camera angles. The passive voice lets English speakers shift the focus from the doer of an action to the receiver of that action — and it appears far more often than learners realise, especially in news, science, formal writing and academic English.

This pillar guide covers everything you need: when (and when not) to use the passive, the exact formula in every tense, the difference between get-passives and be-passives, and the five mistakes that most often cost marks on IELTS, TOEIC and Cambridge exams.

Quick answer: The passive voice is formed with be + past participle: was eaten, is delivered, has been chosen. Use it when the action or the receiver matters more than the doer — common in news (the building was destroyed), science (the sample was heated), and formal writing (mistakes were made). The active voice is the default; switch to passive only when there's a real reason.

What Is the Passive Voice?

Every English sentence with a transitive verb can be expressed in two voices:

The grammatical object of the active sentence ("Hamlet") becomes the grammatical subject of the passive sentence. The original doer ("Shakespeare") moves to the end with by — or disappears entirely if it's unimportant or unknown.

When the doer disappears

In real English, the by + doer phrase is left out about 80% of the time. Look at these examples:

• English is spoken in over 60 countries. (We don't say by people — obvious.)
• My car was stolen last night. (We don't know who stole it.)
• The new bridge will be opened next month. (Who? Not relevant.)
• Mistakes were made. (Politician's classic — avoids naming the responsible party.)

This is the single biggest reason to use passive voice: when the doer is unknown, irrelevant, or being hidden.

Passive Voice — All Tenses

The pattern is always be + past participle. The form of be changes with the tense.

Notice the pattern: be takes whatever tense the active verb was in; the main verb becomes the past participle (3rd form: eaten, made, written, taken).

When to Use the Passive

There are five clear situations where the passive is the right choice, not just an alternative.

1. The doer is unknown

• My wallet was stolen at the concert. (You don't know who took it.)
• The window has been broken. (Whoever broke it is gone.)
• English was first spoken over 1 500 years ago. (Who exactly? Too long ago to matter.)

2. The doer is obvious or irrelevant

• He was arrested on Friday. (By the police — obvious.)
• Sandwiches will be served at lunchtime. (By the caterers — irrelevant.)
• The patient was treated in the emergency room. (By medical staff — obvious.)

3. The receiver matters more than the doer

This is the heart of passive style. Compare:

• Police arrested three suspects. (Active — police are the focus.)
• Three suspects were arrested. (Passive — the suspects are the focus.)

A newspaper writing about the suspects will choose passive. A newspaper writing about the police force will choose active.

4. Formal writing, science and reports

In academic writing, scientific reports and business reports, passive voice creates distance and objectivity:

• The samples were heated to 100°C and observed for 30 minutes. (Lab report — we would sound informal.)
• A new policy has been introduced to reduce expenses. (Business — management has introduced would sound less neutral.)
• The findings are presented in Table 3. (Academic — I present would sound too personal.)

Many style guides now recommend balancing active and passive in academic writing, but the passive remains the default for methods sections and reports.

5. Diplomatic or evasive statements

The passive lets you describe an action without naming who did it. Politicians and diplomats use this constantly:

• Mistakes were made. (No one specific is blamed.)
• The decision has been reviewed. (No one specific reviewed it.)
• A different approach will be considered. (No one specific is responsible.)

In personal writing, this can sound evasive. In diplomacy, it's deliberate.

Active vs Passive — Same Story, Different Camera

Let's see how the same situation reads in both voices:

The passive doesn't replace the active — it gives you a second camera angle to choose from.

Get-Passive vs Be-Passive

In casual English, get often replaces be to form a passive:

• My phone got stolen last night. (= was stolen — slightly more conversational)
• He got fired from his job. (= was fired)
• We got invited to the wedding. (= were invited)

When to use get: in conversational English; when the event was sudden, unexpected, or unwanted; when describing a change of state.

When to stick with be: in formal or academic writing; when the action is neutral; when the meaning is a permanent state rather than a sudden change.

In IELTS Writing Task 2 or a business letter, prefer be. In a chat with a friend or a personal blog, get sounds natural.

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Forgetting the past participle

The cake was eat by the children.

Why it's wrong: Passive voice requires the third form of the verb (past participle), not the base form.

✓ The cake was eaten by the children.

This is the single most common passive error — especially with irregular verbs (eat → eaten, write → written, speak → spoken).

Mistake 2: Using be in the wrong tense

The new building is built in 2025. (meaning: was completed in 2025)

Why it's wrong: The past event needs past be: was, not is.

✓ The new building was built in 2025.

Match be to the tense the action happened in — not to now.

Mistake 3: Trying to passivise intransitive verbs

The accident was happened yesterday. My grandfather was died last year.

Why it's wrong: Only transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object) can be passive. Happen and die are intransitive — there is no receiver, so there can be no passive form.

✓ The accident happened yesterday. ✓ My grandfather died last year.

The rule: if you can't ask what? or whom? after the verb in the active sentence, you can't make it passive. I happened the accident? — nonsense. I died him? — nonsense.

Mistake 4: Overusing the passive

The report was completed. The figures were analysed. The conclusions were written. The document was sent to the manager. The manager was informed.

Why it's weak: Every sentence is passive, so the writing feels indirect and lifeless. Readers lose track of who is doing what.

✓ I completed the report, analysed the figures, and wrote the conclusions. I then sent the document to the manager and informed her.

Passive is a tool — not a default. In IELTS Writing Task 2 and Cambridge Writing, examiners actively penalise essays that overuse it. A 250-word essay should have a few well-placed passive sentences, not 15.

Mistake 5: Adding by unnecessarily

English is spoken by people in many countries.

Why it's weak: By people adds no information — of course English is spoken by people. The phrase clutters the sentence.

✓ English is spoken in many countries.

Rule: only keep the by + doer phrase if it carries real information (Hamlet was written by Shakespeare ✓ — the name matters).

Quick Reference

Practice Exercise

Rewrite each active sentence in the passive voice:

1. Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet.
2. They are building a new hospital downtown.
3. Someone has stolen my bicycle.
4. They will announce the results tomorrow.
5. People speak Portuguese in Brazil.

Answers:

1. Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare.
2. A new hospital is being built downtown.
3. My bicycle has been stolen.
4. The results will be announced tomorrow.
5. Portuguese is spoken in Brazil.

Practise the Passive Voice Now

Passive voice lives inside tense knowledge — you can't get was being written right without first being comfortable with be across all tenses. EngQuiz Pro's B2 mixed-tense exercises cycle through active and passive forms so you build both at once.

→ Practise Mixed Tenses Multiple Choice (B2) → → Practise Mixed Tenses Gap Fill (B2) →

To strengthen the underlying tense knowledge that the passive depends on, read:

• Present Simple — full theory
• Past Simple — full theory
• Present Perfect — full theory

Passive Voice on the IELTS, TOEIC and Cambridge Exams

Passive voice is a register marker on every major English exam — examiners expect you to use it well, not constantly.

• IELTS Writing Task 1 (academic) — describing graphs, processes and maps almost forces passive: The sample was placed in the centrifuge, A new road was built in 2015. Candidates who only use active sound less academic.
• IELTS Writing Task 2 — overusing passive flattens the essay. The band 7+ pattern is roughly 80% active, 20% passive, with passives placed where they shift focus to issues rather than people (The problem can be solved by > People can solve the problem by).
• Cambridge B2 First / C1 Advanced (Use of English) — key-word transformations regularly test active-to-passive conversion: Someone has cleaned the office → The office has been cleaned. Memorise the formula in every tense (above) and these conversions take seconds.
• TOEIC Parts 5 and 6 — listening and reading comprehension lean heavily on passive: the package will be delivered, the meeting has been rescheduled, applicants must be reviewed. Recognition speed matters more than production.

The British Council reference on passive voice is the cleanest single source for the formulas. For a broader look at exam-favoured structures, see our IELTS grammar structures post.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the passive voice bad style? No — it's a tool. Style guides like Strunk & White and Orwell warn against overusing the passive, not using it at all. In academic writing, news reporting and formal letters, passive voice is essential. The rule of thumb: use active by default, switch to passive when there's a real reason (unknown doer, receiver matters more, formal context).

Can every verb be made passive? No — only transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object). Eat, write, send, destroy can be passive. Happen, exist, die, sleep, arrive cannot — they have no receiver to become the new subject.

What's the difference between passive and get-passive? Be-passive is neutral and standard. Get-passive is conversational and often suggests something sudden, unwanted or significant: He got fired (sudden, unwanted) feels stronger than He was fired. In formal writing, stick with be.

Can you have a passive in the future continuous or present perfect continuous? Technically yes, but native speakers almost never use them. The road will be being repaired tomorrow is grammatically correct but extremely awkward. Use will be repaired or rephrase in the active. The same applies to has been being built — rare in real English.

How do I make a question passive? Move the be form to the start and add the past participle: Did they send the letter? → Was the letter sent? / Have they finished the report? → Has the report been finished? The grammar is the same as a statement — just with question-style word order.

Last updated: 11 May 2026 · Reviewed by the EngQuiz.Pro Editorial Team — see our editorial standards.