The passive uses be + past participle in any tense: is painted, was painted, has been painted, had been painted, will be painted, is being painted.
Writers use the passive to focus on the receiver (“The patient was saved by a quick-thinking nurse”), to hide the doer (“Mistakes were made”) or to sound objective in reports (“The solution was heated to 60 °C”).
The active voice is more direct and makes responsibility clear: “The company polluted the river.” In persuasive writing, choosing active or passive can change who readers blame.
Worked example
Change to the passive: “The storm had destroyed the bridge.”
- The bridge becomes the subject.
- Past perfect passive: had been + destroyed.
Answer:The bridge had been destroyed by the storm.
Key words
- passive voice
- subject receives the action
- agent
- the doer of the action, after by
- objective
- impersonal and factual
Practise this
New questions every time.
Common Core-referenced: L.8.1b