Issue — April 2026

The Passive Voice: When the Object Matters

B2 Grammar 45 sentences

The Passive Voice: When the Object Matters 0 / 45

Speed

How to flip a sentence around so the action — not the actor — takes centre stage.

Explanation

The passive voice puts the object of an action in the subject position. We form it with the verb be plus the past participle of the main verb. The original doer — the agent — can appear after by, or be left out entirely.

Compare:

Active: Scientists discovered a new planet.
Passive: A new planet was discovered (by scientists).

We use the passive when:

the action or result matters more than who does it: The bridge was built in 1890.
the agent is unknown or obvious: My bike was stolen.
the writing is formal or scientific: The samples were analysed in a laboratory.
we are reporting news without naming the source: A man has been arrested.

The tense of the passive is shown by be:

present simple: is / are + done
past simple: was / were + done
present continuous: is / are being + done
present perfect: has / have been + done
past perfect: had been + done
modal: can / must / should + be + done

Examples

Notice how be carries the tense and the past participle carries the meaning.

The Pyramids were built thousands of years ago.
The letter has been sent.
A new hospital is being constructed near the river.
The thief should be punished.
The cake was made by my grandmother.
Ronaldo is regarded as one of the greatest players.
The problem can be solved easily.
By the time we arrived, the stage had been set up.

The Passive Voice: When the Object Matters — image 2

Common mistakes

Forgetting be: The window broken yesterday ❌ → The window was broken yesterday ✓
Using only the past participle: The book written by her ❌ → The book was written by her ✓
Mixing tenses: The room is cleaned yesterday ❌ → The room was cleaned yesterday ✓
Putting the tool in the by-phrase: The cake was cut by a knife is awkward. Use with for tools: cut with a knife.
Making intransitive verbs passive: The accident was happened ❌. Happen has no object, so there is no passive: An accident happened.
Overusing the passive in everyday writing — it can sound stiff, evasive or wordy. Prefer the active voice when the doer matters.

In real life

At the office, Monday morning.

A: Have you heard about the new project?
B: Yes, it was announced this morning. The whole team has been told.
A: Who has been chosen to lead it?
B: Sarah was appointed. The budget was approved by the directors yesterday.
A: Has the office been moved yet?
B: Not yet. We are being moved next week.
A: I hope the printers will be installed before we arrive.
B: They should be set up by Monday.

Quiz

0/5

1What does the passive voice put in the subject position?

The passive places the receiver of the action — the object — in the subject position.
2Which form is the past simple passive?

The past simple passive uses was/were + past participle (e.g. was done).
3According to the article, when do we use the passive?

The article says the passive is used when the action or result is more important than the doer.
4Which of these is a common mistake with the passive?

Intransitive verbs like 'happen' have no object, so they cannot be used in the passive.
5In the office dialog, who was appointed to lead the new project?

Speaker B says 'Sarah was appointed' to lead the project.

Must Know 10

agent Noun A person who acts on behalf of another person or organization in business, law, or other matters.
auxiliary verb Noun An auxiliary verb is a verb used alongside a main verb to add grammatical information such as tense, aspect, mood, or voice, as in 'I am running' or 'she has finished'.
by-phrase Noun In linguistics, a prepositional phrase introduced by the preposition 'by', most commonly used in passive voice constructions to indicate the agent of the action.
impersonal passive Noun A passive construction in which the agent is not specified, often using an impersonal subject such as 'one', 'they', or 'you' in English, or an equivalent form in other languages (e.g. 'man' in German). It is a grammatical/linguistic term used to describe clauses where the action is emphasized rather than who performs it.
intransitive verb Noun A verb that does not require a direct object to complete its meaning; the action stays with the subject and does not pass to an object.
object Noun a thing that you can see or touch but that is not usually a living animal , plant , or person : a noun or noun phrase that is affected by the action of a verb or that follows a preposition : a reason for doing something, or the result you wish to achieve by doing it: the result that is wanted from an activity : someone or something that causes particular feelings in or actions by others :
passive voice Noun A grammatical construction in which the subject of a sentence receives the action of the verb, rather than performing the action. In passive sentences, the focus is on the action or the recipient of the action, and the agent (the doer) is often omitted or introduced with a prepositional phrase such as 'by'.
past participle Noun A form of a verb typically used in perfect tenses and passive constructions, often ending in '-ed' for regular verbs. In English, it may also function as an adjective.
subject Noun the thing that is being discussed , considered , or studied : an area of knowledge that is studied in school , college , or university : to start talking about a different subject: a person , thing, or situation that is written about in a book , article , etc. or shown in a picture , etc.: the person or thing that performs the action of a verb , or is joined to a description by a verb :
transitive verb Noun A verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning. In a sentence, the action of a transitive verb is performed on something or someone, e.g., 'She wrote a letter' — 'wrote' is transitive because it takes 'a letter' as its direct object.