Passive Voice and Active Voice

Spanish differs from English drastically. As a matter of f act, English native speakers have
several grammatical patterns which are considered really complex while Spanish speakers use
less complicated grammatical patterns. For example, students learning English as a second
language have such a hard time when learning English Passive Voice Patterns because they do
not use those structures in Spanish.
It is also important to understand that English speakers use Passive Voice Structures
instead of Active Voice Patterns. Remember that Spanish speakers almost never use Passive
Voice Patterns due to the f act that Spanish is considered an active language. Take a look at the
example provided below:
ACTIVE: Mary buys some flowers.

PASSIVE: Some flowers are bought by Mary.

ACTIVE: Mary bought a house.

PASSIVE: A house was bought by Mary.

The main difference between Passive and Active Voice is highly related to the grammatical
structure that perf orms the action of the whole sentence. For example, in the case of Active
Sentences, the subject of the sentence is the one performing the action of it while in the case of
Passive Sentences, the Direct Object is the one getting the action of the structure. In order to get
English naturalness, it is so important to use the same patterns that native speakers use at the
moment of speaking. In fact, Passive Voice is considered a distinguishing characteristic of English.
There are several grammatical patterns that should be f ollowed to change Active
Sentences into Passive ones and/or vice-versa. Look at the ones provided below:

1) SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + AM / ARE / IS + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE + .
Costa Ricans speak Spanish. Spanish is spoken by Costa Ricans.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By - Phrase
2) PRESENT PROGRESSIVE TENSE
DIRECT OBJECT + AM / ARE / IS + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.
She is sending an e-mail. An e-mail is being sent by her.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

3) PRESENT PERFECT TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + HAS / HAVE + BEEN + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.

Peter has bought a house. A house has been bought by Peter.

Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

4) PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + HAS / HAVE + BEEN + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE+.

Mary has been making some copies. Some copies have been being made by Mary.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

5) SIMPLE PAST TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + WAS / WERE + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHARSE +.

Mary took a test yesterday. A test was taken by Mary yesterday.

Subject Verb D.O. Complement Subject Verb By – Phrase Adverbial

6) PAST PROGRESSIVE TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + WAS / WERE + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.

Chelsea was doing some homework. Some homework was being done by Chelsea.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

7) PAST PERFECT TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + HAD + BEEN + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.

Mary had made a terrible mistake. A terrible mistake had been made by Mary.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

8) PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE

DIRECT OBJECT + HAD + BEEN + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.

Mary had been doing some homework. Some homework had been being done by Mary.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

9) SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE (WITH “WILL”)

DIRECT OBJECT + WILL + BE + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE + .

They will buy a house. A house will be bought by them.

Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase
10) FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE (WITH “WILL”)
DIRECT OBJECT + WILL + BE + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.

Mary will be doing some homework. Some homework will be being done by Mary.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

11) FUTURE PERFECT TENSE (WITH “WILL”)

DIRECT OBJECT + WILL + HAVE + BEEN + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE +.

She will have bought a house by next year. A house will have been bought by her.
Subject Verb D.O. Complement Subject Verb By – Phrase

12) FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE (WITH “WILL”)

DIRECT OBJECT + WILL + HAVE + BEEN + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY –
PHRASE +.

They will have been serving the dinner. Dinner will have been being served by them.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

13) SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE (WITH “BE GOING TO”)

DIRECT OBJECT + AM/ARE/IS + GOING TO + BE + PAST PARTICIPLE + BY –
PHRASE + .

They are going to buy a house. A house is going to be bought by them.

Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

14) FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE (WITH “BE GOING TO”)

DIRECT OBJECT + AM/ARE/IS + GOING TO + BE + BEING + PAST PARTICIPLE +
BY – PHRASE + .

She is going to be doing some homework. Some homework is going to be being done by her.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

15) FUTURE PERFECT TENSE (WITH “BE GOING TO”)

DIRECT OBJECT + AM/ARE/IS + GOING TO + HAVE + BEEN + PAST PARTICIPLE +
BY – PHRASE + .

She is going to have bought a house. A house is going to have been bought by her.
Subject Verb D.O. Subject Verb By – Phrase

16) FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSE (WITH “BE GOING TO”)

DIRECT OBJECT + AM/ARE/IS + GOING TO + HAVE + BEEN + BEING + PAST
PARTICIPLE + BY – PHRASE + .

They are going to have been serving dinner Dinner is going to have been being served by them.
Subject Verb D.O Subject Verb By – Phrase
 SUMMARY
SIMPLE PRESENT
Mary teaches French. French is taught by Mary.
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
Mary is teaching French. French is being taught by Mary.
PRESENT PERFECT
Mary has taught French. French has been taught by Mary.
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
Mary has been teaching French. French has been being taught by Mary.
SIMPLE PAST
Mary taught French. French was taught by Mary.
PAST PROGRESSIVE
Mary was teaching French. French was being taught by Mary.
PAST PERFECT
Mary had taught French. French had been taught by Mary.
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
Mary had been teaching French. French had been being taught by Mary.
SIMPLE FUTURE (WILL)
Mary will teach French. French will be taught by Mary.
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (WILL)
Mary will be teaching French. French will be being taught by Mary.
FUTURE PERFECT (WILL)
Mary will have taught French. French will have been taught by Mary.
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (WILL)
Mary will have been teaching French. French will have been being taught by Mary.
SIMPLE FUTURE (BE GOING TO)
Mary is going to teach French. French is going to be taught by Mary.
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (BE GOING TO)
Mary is going to be teaching French. French is going to be being taught by Mary.
FUTURE PERFECT (BE GOING TO)
Mary is going to have taught French. French is going to have been taught by Mary.
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (BE GOING TO)
Mary is going to have been teaching French. French is going to have been being taught by Mary.
 SUMMARY

SIMPLE PRESENT
S+V+C S(DO)+AM/ARE/IS+PP+BP+C
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
S+AM/ARE/IS+V+ING+C S(DO)+AM/ARE/IS+BEING+PP+BP+C
PRESENT PERFECT
S+HAVE/HAS+PP+C+ S(DO)+HAVE/HAS+BEEN+PP+BP+C
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
S+HAVE/HAS+BEEN+V+ING+C S(DO)+HAVE/HAS+BEEN+BEING +PP+BP+C

SIMPLE PAST
S+V+C S(DO)+WAS/WERE+PP+BP+C
PAST PROGRESSIVE
S+WAS/WERE+V+ING+C S(DO)+WAS/WERE+BEING+PP+BP+C
PAST PERFECT
S+HAD+PP+C+ S(DO)+HAD+BEEN+PP+BP+C
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
S+HAD+BEEN+V+ING+C S(DO)+HAD+BEEN+BEING +PP+BP+C

SIMPLE FUTURE (WILL)

S+WILL+V+C S(DO)+WILL+BE+PP+BP+C
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (WILL)
S+WILL+BE+V+ING+C S(DO)+WILL+BE+BEING+PP+BP+C
FUTURE PERFECT (WILL)
S+WILL+HAVE+PP+C+ S(DO)+WILL+HAVE+BEEN+PP+BP+C
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (WILL)
S+WILL+HAVE+BEEN+V+ING+C S(DO)+WILL+HAVE+BEEN+BEING+PP+BP+C

SIMPLE FUTURE (BE GOING TO)

S+AM/ARE/IS+GOING TO+V+C S(DO)+AM/ARE/IS+GOING TO+BE+PP+BP+C
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE (BE GOING TO)
S+AM/ARE/IS+GOING TO+BE+V+ING+C S(DO)+AM/ARE/IS+GOING TO+BE+BEING+PP+BY+C
FUTURE PERFECT (BE GOING TO)
S+AM/ARE/IS+GOING TO+HAVE+PP+C S(DO)+AM/ARE/IS+GOING TO+HAVE+BEEN+PP+BP+C
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (BE GOING TO)
S+AM/ARE/IS+GOING S(DO)+AM/ARE/IS+GOING
TO+HAVE+BEEN+V+ING+C TO+HAVE+BEEN+BEING+PP+BP+C