The Passive Voice

1. We use the active voice when we say what the subject does, but we use the
passive voice when we say what happened to the subject. e.g.,
(subject)Christopher Nolan directed (object)Inception. (active)
(subject)Inception was directed by Christopher Nolan. (passive)

2. We also use the passive when we don’t know who did something, or when it is
not important.

3. The passive is usually formed by the verb to BE (in any form) + PAST
PARTICIPLE (verb 3)

4. Use BY+AGENT (name) when you want to say WHO did the action.

5. Sometimes, you can use ‘get’ + past participle to make the passive.
TENSE PASSIVE
Simple Present (Active-Millions of people watch the series every
week.)
The series is watched by millions of people every
week.
Present Continuous (Active-They are filming parts of the new James
Bond film in my city.)
Parts of the new James Bond film are being filmed
in my city.
Simple Past (Active-J. K Rowling wrote Harry Potter.)
Harry Potter was written by J.K Rowling.
Past Continuous (Active-My local cinema was playing the film.)
The film was being played at my local cinema
Past Perfect (Active - Avatar had surpassed Titanic as the highest
grossing film of all time.)
Titanic had been surpassed by Avatar as the highest
grossing film of all time.
Present Perfect (Active-They have translated the film into thirty
languages.)
The film has been translated into thirty languages.
Future (Active-They will release the sequel next year. They
are going to release the sequel next year.)
The sequel will be released next year.
The sequel is going to be released next year.
Gerund (Active: I hate someone speaking to me during a
movie.)
I hate being spoken to during a movie.