We use the passive voice when we are more interested in the action itself

rather than in “who” or “what” did the action.

The agent can be:

• unimportant – “These shoes are made in Indonesia.” (the action is
more important than who made the shoes)

• unknown – “The windows were broken yesterday.” (somebody broke

the windows and we don’t know who did it)

* implicit – “He was arrested.” (most certainly by the police)

 
 BASIC STEPS TO FORM THE PASSIVE VOICE

 
The object of the active becomes the subject of the passive.

We add the auxiliary “to be” – “is/are” when the main verb of the active is
present, and “was/were” when it is past.

In negative or interrogative sentences the auxiliary “to do” is replaced by “to be”:

- do(n’t) / does(n’t) become is(n’t) / are(n’t);

- did(n’t) becomes was(n’t) or were(n’t).

We turn the main verb of the active into the past participle.
If we need or want to add the agent of the passive, we must use “by”.
 
 
 HAVE SOMETHING DONE
(Causative in Passive)

THEY ARE REPAIRING THE CAR.

They are doing it by themselves maybe because
they know how to do it or they have enough time
or they just like it.

They ARE GETTING / HAVING the car REPAIRED

I CUT MY HAIR. I HAVE / GET my hair CUT (by a (by a mechanic).
I do it myself without any help. hairdresser). Another person works for them, they pay or persuade
I’m the person who does the action. Another person does a service for him / her and they arrange in advance. Maybe they
me. I hire a professional and s/he don’t have time, they are busy, they are not skillful
does it, I pay or maybe I persuade enough or they just don’t like to do it.
We use the structure:

HAVE or GET + SOMETHING + VERB IN PAST PARTICIPLE

for saying that you get somebody else to do

something for you. It expresses the idea of
someone causing something to take place. In this
case the most important is the action; the person
who does the action (agent or doer) is optional:
unknown or unnecessary.
HAVE and GET carry the same idea but GET is informal.

We can also use HAVE or GET + SOMETHING + VERB IN PAST PARTICIPLE in situations where something bad has happened to people or their
possessions. This is not something they wanted to happen, e.g.:

She HAD / GOT his money STOLEN Tom HAS HAD / GOT his car SMASHED
last week. in an accident.
HAVE SOMETHING DONE (more examples)

HAVE or GET
VERB IN PAST REST OF THE
SUBJECT (with any grammar structure, OBJECT (BY + AGENT)
PARTICIPLE SENTENCE
tense or modal)
HAS / GETS
He his picture TAKEN by a professional photographer
(Present Simple)
HAD / GOT a new
We INSTALLED at home.
(Past Simple) telephone
can HAVE / GET
You your car REPAIRED in a garage.
(Modal: can)
will HAVE / GET
Arnold the bushes TRIMMED by Sue
(Modal: will)
has HAD / GOT
John his composition WRITTEN by his brother
(Present Perfect)
need to HAVE / GET
I my clothes WASHED before travelling.
(Present Simple with need to)
is HAVING / GETTING
The teacher the blackboard ERASED now.
(Present Continuous)
has been HAVING/GETTING
She the tap FIXED
(Present Perfect Continuous)
had HAD / GOT
Mary her purse STOLEN yesterday.
(Past Perfect)
hope to HAVE / GET before Olympic
We the uniforms DONE
(Present Simple with hope to) Games.