Passive voice

When doing a passive voice from an active voice we have to focus on different
steps which are:
• Identify the verb tense - The architect builds a building - Present Simple.
• Identify the new subject that the passive sentence will have. This new subject will
be the direct object of the active sentence - A building
• After this we need to use the verb “to be” as we need the new subject to receive the
action instead of doing it. The “to be” will be in the same tense that the active
sentence is, in this example, Present Simple - A building is
• The main verb (to build) will be always in Past Participle, no matter what - A building
is built
• Finally we have to write down the new object, who does the action - A building is
built by the architect.
• When we can’t identify the new subject for the passive voice we just use “It”. This
usually happens with some verbs like “to say”, “to think”, or “to believe”
• People believe that Jimi Hendrix was a great guitarist.
• It is believed that Jimi Hendrix was a great guitarist.

There is another structures which allow us to form a passive tense, these are “to
have/to get + the direct object + verb in past participle” often referred as “to have/get
something done”. The use is the same, we just choose the tense we want the passive
voice to be and then we complete the sentence:
• I am getting my car washed right now.
• I have had my exam done by my friend.
As we can see, the subject does not performs the action, that’s why it’s a passive
voice. In the first example someone is washing my car and, in the second one we can see
that someone else did the exam for me, but not me.

Examples
A pickpocket robbed me.
I was robbed (by a pickpocket).

My uncle has fixed the window this morning.

The window has been fixed by my uncle this morning.

The director is testing me for the job.

I am being tested by the director for the job.

He was given some lessons by his father.

His father gave him some lessons.

The gig will be displayed in every Tv.

Every Tv will display the gig.

The bank had been destroyed by the builders

The builders had destroyed the bank.

The kid is being chased by a dog.

A dog is chasing a kid.

He is going to watch a show.

A show is going to be watched by him.