Passive Voice

All Tenses
 Tense Active Passive

Present Simple They grow bananas in tropical areas Bananas are grown in tropical areas

Present Continuous They are redecorating the café. The café is being redecorated.

Present Perfect Has anyone peeled the carrots? Have the carrots been peeled?

Past Simple We asked Bob to keep quiet. Bob was asked to keep quiet.

Past Continuous They were drawing the final contracts. The final contracts were being drawn.

Past Perfect Someone had eaten all the food before I All the food had been eaten before I got
got there. there.
Future Simple We will deliver your pizza soon. Your pizza will be delivered soon.

Be going to Josh is going to sue his company. The company is going to be sued.

Future Perfect They will have finished the project by the The project will have been finished by the
end of the month. end of the month.
Modal verbs You should contact a client first. The client should be contacted first.

Modal + Perfect They should have given an answer by The answer should have been given by
now. now.
-ing (gerund) I don’t like people telling me what to do. I don’t like being told what to do.
Choose the correct form, active or passive, to complete the sentences
below.
1. Hundreds of people employ/are employed in this factory and many of
them will lose/will be lost their jobs.
2. Three men arrested/were arrested after the incident, and five
others took/were taken to hospital.
3. About 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered/covers by water,
and oceans are held/hold about 96% of all Earth's water.
4. The package was sent/sent more than a week ago, but it wasn’t
arrived/didn’t arrive until yesterday.
5. The building has been destroyed/has destroyed by the fire, but
everybody rescued/has been rescued.
Choose the correct form, active or passive, to complete the sentences
below.

6. My camera stole/was stolen, and I was lost/lost all the photographs

from my last trip.
7. You should be arrests/should arrest for what you did/were done.
8. I know red wine should drink/should be drunk cold, but
we drink/are drunk it at room temperature.
9. I don’t allow/am not allowed to see you anymore, so you should be
come/shouldn’t come again.
10. Please, stay/be stayed away from the places where you can see/can
be seen.
Choose the correct form, active or passive, for each gap below.
1. The new musical ______ next week at 12th Street's Old 6. Chicken thighs ______ for 40 to 50 minutes.
Auditorium. a) should be baking
a) is going to be performed b) should be baked
b) is going to perform c) should bake
c) is performed
7. After five months the children ______ to say many things in
2. A lot of measures ______ to fix the economy. English.
a) have been taken a) had learned
b) are taking b) had been learned
c) have taken c) had learning

3. I ______ you exactly what to do when we arrive. 8. Five people ______ after a car ______ into a bus last night.
a) will be shown a) were injured / crashed
b) am shown b) injured / was crashed
c) will show c) injured / crashed

4. The police discovered a group of women who ______ in an 9. Road safety ______ in every school of the country.
illegal factory. a) should teach
a) have been exploited b) should be teaching
b) were being exploited c) should be taught
c) were exploiting
10. He has no initiative. He needs ______ what to do all the time.
5. When do you think they ______ us the copy of the contract? a) to tell
a) will send b) to be told
b) will be sent c) to been told
c) are they being sent
 Fill in the gaps with the verbs in brackets in the
correct tense (in active or passive voice).
Authorities 1 __________ (just/announce) that Saint Paul's
Bank 2 ___________ (rob) yesterday. Two men 3 ________ (go) into the bank at
9.30 armed with automatic guns. The customers and workers 4 _________ (tell) to lie
down on the floor and one of the bank clerks 5 __________ (ask) at gunpoint to give
them all the money. Then the two robbers 6 ___________ (leave) the building quickly.
Local authorities have informed that about 500,000
dollars 7 ____________ (steal) yesterday, but fortunately
nobody 8 _________ (injure). Police investigators 9 ________ (assure) residents that
the robbers 10 ____________ (find) soon.
Choose the correct word or phrase.
1. The prime minister was / has criticised for his recent actions.
2. When I walked past the Wilsons' house, their new sofa was being/ has delivered.
3. Our teacher was / has told us to take our favourite book to school tomorrow.
4. I think my mobile was / has been stolen!
5. Jonathan was / has chosen to play the lead role in the school play.
6. I'm sleeping downstairs because my bedroom is being painted / has been painting.
7. This picture was / has probably taken during the winter.
8. Your essays must be / have handed in on Friday morning.
9. Someone was / has left their wallet on the floor.
10.Did you hear about the bank being / having robbed?
11. Treasure Island was / has written by Robert Louis Stevenson.
12.It was a real shock when my dad was / has fired from his job.
13.The Vikings had visited America before it was / has discovered by Columbus.
14.When we got to the airport, we learned that our flight was / had been delayed.
15.Was/Has your ticket for the concert tomorrow paid for by you or your parents?
Complete using the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets.
1. The Earth ______________ (hold) by the gravity of the Sun and orbits around it.
2. The first feature-length comedy film _____________ (create) by Charlie Chaplin.
3. The award for best video ___________ (present) later this evening.
4. By the time you read this, I _____________ (arrest) for murder.
5. I don't know whether our tests _______________ (mark) yet or not.
6. Radio waves ____________ (discover) by Marconi.
7. You wouldn't think it to look at him now, but Jack _______________ (bully) when he was at
school.
8. Your application _____________ (consider) and we will let you know as soon as we've
made a decision.
9. The roof of the car can _____________ (lower) by pressing this button here.
10.Our tent ____________ (blow) over in the night by the wind.
11. Chess ___________ (play) for around two thousand years now.
12.Two men ___________ (question) at this moment by police in connection with the burglary.
Fill in the gaps with the verbs in brackets in the
correct tense (in active or passive voice).
Wine 1 ___________ (produce) for thousands of years. The earliest known evidence of
wine 2 __________ (come) from Georgia (Caucasus), where 8000-year-old wine
jars 3 ______________ (find) in 2008.  Wine  4 _____________ (reach) the Balkans by
c. 4500 BC and 5 ____________ (consume) in ancient Greece, Thrace and Rome.
Throughout history, wine 6 ____________ (consume) for its intoxicating effects, which
are evident at normal serving sizes.
Wine 7 ____________ (also/play) an important role in religion for centuries. Red
wine 8 ___________ (associate) with blood by the ancient Egyptians
and 9 _____________ (use) by both the Greek cult of Dionysus and the Romans in their
Bacchanalia. Nowadays, both Judaism and Christianity 10 __________ (incorporate) wine
in their religious rituals.
Write sentences in the passive.
1. Our car / service / a mechanic / at the moment.
2. A man / shoot / an air gun / outside the petrol station last night.
3. Gunpowder / invent / the Chinese.
4. At the surgery yesterday, I / examine / Dr Peterson / and I / give / a
prescription.
5. I went to see it because I / tell / it was a good film / all my friends.
6. This photograph / take / my grandfather.
7. It looked like the window / break / a hammer / some time before.
8. Our dog / give / an injection / a special syringe / the vet.
9. The winning goal in last night's match / score / Donatello / a brilliant free
kick.
10.Your cheque / send / last Friday and / should / deliver / to you tomorrow.
Rewrite using the phrase given.
1. They have been building the new road for a long time now. (under
construction)
2. They had been training the horse for the race for over a year. (in training)
3. They have been discussing the issue in Parliament. (under discussion)
4. They had been observing the criminal for the past two weeks. (under
observation)
5. They have been using this plane for over 25 years now. (in use)
6. They have been developing the Cyborg D423 robot for over ten years. (in
development)
Rewrite in the passive starting with the words given.
1. People say that Bali is a beautiful island.
It_____________________________________________
2. People generally think that life won't be found on Mars.
It_____________________________________________
3. It is generally said that Christmas is too commercialized.
Christmas _____________________________________________
4. People often argue that prison doesn't work.
It _____________________________________________
5. People have suggested that the school should start to produce a magazine.
It _____________________________________________
6. People say that crocodile tastes like squid.
Crocodile _____________________________________________
7. It is said that the Vikings discovered America before Columbus.
The Vikings _____________________________________________
8. People think that heart disease is caused by eating the wrong things.
Heart disease _____________________________________________