Passive voice | Present & Past Simple

Active vs Passive voice

ACTIVE VOICE: The subject of a sentence performs the action of the verb.

James throws the ball.

PASSIVE VOICE: The subject is the recipient of the action.

The ball is thrown by James.

Present passive

James throws the ball.

The ball is thrown by James.

​Simple present

TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Simple present
am / is / are

Past passive

John wrote the book.

The book was written by John.

​Simple past

TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE
Simple past
was/were

Reorder

Reordenar lo siguiente

• The book

• was

• read

• by

• mom

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Reorder

Reordenar lo siguiente

• New shoes

• are

• bought

• by

• them

1

2

3

4

5

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

Structure

Object + am/is/are + Past participle form

Open Ended

01. People celebrate Christmas in December.

Open Ended

02. In Peru, people do not celebrate Thanksgiving day.

Open Ended

03. Do peruvian stores import cars?

Open Ended

04. Congressmen propose and approve the laws.

Open Ended

05. Do workers mine gold in Toquepala?

Exercise 01

Read the Active voice sentences and turn them into Passive voice.

Exercise 02

Listen to the sentences. Are they Active or Passive?

Multiple Choice

Listen and check if it is Active or Passive.

• Active

• Passive

Multiple Choice

Listen and check if it is Active or Passive.

• Active

• Passive

Multiple Choice

Listen and check if it is Active or Passive.

• Active

• Passive

Multiple Choice

Listen and check if it is Active or Passive.

• Active

• Passive

Multiple Choice

Listen and check if it is Active or Passive.

• Active

• Passive

Multiple Choice

Listen and check if it is Active or Passive.

• Active

• Passive

Passive Voice
Simple Present and
Simple Past

Active Voice: The subject of a sentence performs the action of the verb.

James throws the ball

​

Active vs Passive Voice

Passive Voice: The subject is the recipient of the action

The ball is thrown by James

​

James throws the ball

​

Passive Voice: Present Simple

The ball is thrown by James

​

​Verb to be in present simple: am / is / are

​+

past participle

​+

by

Rodrigo wrote the book

​

Passive Voice: Past Simple

The book was written by Rodrigo

​

​Verb to be in present simple: was / were

​+

past participle

​+

by

Let's Practice!

Write the passive form of the next sentences, WATCH YOUR SPELLING!!! You have 1 minute to write your answer.

Fill in the Blank

Estela wrote this article

Fill in the Blank

Fireman wear special uniforms

Fill in the Blank

Guillermo del Toro made this film

Fill in the Blank

Detective Vilchis found the missing cat

Fill in the Blank

Adán design the houses

Fill in the Blank

Someone stole Mauro's bike last night

'

Fill in the Blank

One of the students broke the window

Fill in the Blank

Jaret left the door open

Fill in the Blank

Emilio drives a car

Fill in the Blank

Sofia planted a tree on the street

Passive Voice
Simple Present and
Simple Past

Active Voice: The subject of a sentence performs the action of the verb.

James throws the ball

​

Active vs Passive Voice

Passive Voice: The subject is the recipient of the action

The ball is thrown by James

​

James throws the ball

​

Passive Voice: Present Simple

The ball is thrown by James

​

​Verb to be in present simple: am / is / are

​+

past participle

​+

by

Rodrigo wrote the book

​

Passive Voice: Past Simple

The book was written by Rodrigo

​

​Verb to be in present simple: was / were

​+

past participle

​+

by

Let's Practice!

Write the passive form of the next sentences, WATCH YOUR SPELLING!!! You have 1 minute to write your answer.

Fill in the Blank

Estela wrote this article

Fill in the Blank

Fireman wear special uniforms

Fill in the Blank

Guillermo del Toro made this film

Fill in the Blank

Detective Vilchis found the missing cat

Fill in the Blank

Adán design the houses

Fill in the Blank

Someone stole Mauro's bike last night

'

Fill in the Blank

One of the students broke the window

Fill in the Blank

Jaret left the door open

Fill in the Blank

Emilio drives a car

Fill in the Blank

Sofia planted a tree on the street

Past Simple

Passive Voice

Multiple Choice

They ___ on their granny.

• dropped in

• were dropped in

Multiple Choice

We ___ by our teacher.

• visited

• were visited

Multiple Choice

My friend Paul ___ in Dallas.

• bore

• was born

Multiple Choice

She ___ to school in Boston.

• went

• was gone

Multiple Choice

Antony ___ in the country.

• grew up

• was grown up

Multiple Choice

The new shopping centre ___ last year.

• built

• was built

Multiple Choice

The film ___ in Hollywood.

• did not produce

• was not produced

Multiple Choice

Barbara ___ James very well.

• knew

• was known

Multiple Choice

The jewels ___ in the cellar.

• did not hid

• were not hidden

Multiple Choice

We ___ all day on the beach.

• did not spend

• were not spent

Fill in the Blank

She bought four apples.

Fill in the Blank

We won the match.

Fill in the Blank

The man stole the blue car.

Fill in the Blank

The police arrested the thieves.

Fill in the Blank

Jack swam the 200 metres.

Fill in the Blank

The dog bit the old lady.

Fill in the Blank

Tom and Max ate five hamburgers.

Fill in the Blank

Oliver taught the children.

Fill in the Blank

Victoria rode the brown horse.

Fill in the Blank

Grandmother told good stories.

Fill in the Blank

She sang a song.

Fill in the Blank

A red car hit me.

Fill in the Blank

We stopped the bus.

Fill in the Blank

A thief stole my car.

Fill in the Blank

They didn't let him go.

Fill in the Blank

She didn't win the prize.

Fill in the Blank

They didn't make their beds.

Fill in the Blank

I did not tell them.

Fill in the Blank

Did you tell them?

Fill in the Blank

Did he send the letter?

Passive Voice Structure

We form the simple past passive with the simple past of the verb be (was/were) + past participle.

- The river wasn’t cleaned up last year. 

- Students from rural areas were recruited by the college.

-Was the project stopped due to lack of money?

Multiple Choice

The river __________ three years ago.

• will be cleaned up

• is being cleaned up

• was cleaned up

Multiple Choice

Unused land ___________ into urban gardens.

• is going to turn

• was turned

• will be turned

Multiple Choice

The cars ______________ to run on solar power.

• were designed

• have been design

• were being designed

Multiple Choice

A landfill ______________ into a skateboard park.

• was converted

• were converted

• has being converted

Multiple Choice

Tunnels _______________ to divert traffic underground.

• are being built

• has been built

• were built

Active and Passive Voice: Simple Present and Past

By Natasha Azani

What is Active Voice?

Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb.

When the subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that the sentence is in the active voice.

Active Voice: Simple Present Tense

SN + Verb -s/-es/-ies + Object

PN + Root Verb + Object​

Daniel eats breakfast every morning.

For Example: Singular Form

They do their homework very diligently.​

For Example: Plural Form

Active Voice: Simple Past Tense

SN/PN + Past Verb + Object

​Regular verb: walk - walked​

Irregular verb: eat - ate​

The two panda cubs played together.

For example: Regular verb

A herd of gazelles ran across the field of grass.​

For example: Irregular Verb

What is Passive Voice?

Passive voice means that a subject is a recipient of a verb’s action.

Basically, the verb happens to the subject (the subject is being acted upon instead of doing the action).

A sentence is in the passive voice on the other hand, when the subject is acted on by the verb.

Object + verb to be + Action Verb in Participle
+ [by]* + [subject]*

The one marked with * is optional.​

To put it in simpler terms,

• is formed from a verb.

• is used as an adjective or verb tense.

• probably ends with -ed, -d, -t, -en or -n.​

Past Participle

Daniel and Johan take their younger brother to the park.

Subj. + verb + obj.

Their younger brother is taken [by Daniel and Johan] to the park.

Obj. + verb to be + action verb in participle
+ [by + Subj.]

My mother attended her niece's wedding ceremony last month.

Her niece's wedding ceremony was attended by my mother last month.​

Tips:

• The passive voice is often more wordy than the active voice.

• In the passive voice, the subject is often part of a prepositional phrase (especially using "by").

• Passive voice uses linking verb "to be".

Multiple Choice

Determine whether the following sentence is written in the active or passive voice: The basket was assembled by the worker.

• ACTIVE

• PASSIVE

Multiple Choice

Determine whether the following sentence is written in the active or passive voice: Our kitchen walls were painted by John and Steve.

• ACTIVE

• PASSIVE

Multiple Choice

Determine whether the following sentence is written in the active or passive voice: John ran a mile on Tuesday.

• ACTIVE

• PASSIVE

Multiple Choice

Determine whether the following sentence is written in the active or passive voice: The teacher wrote the test.

• ACTIVE

• PASSIVE

Multiple Choice

Determine whether the following sentence is written in the active or passive voice: The students are taught by the professor.

• ACTIVE

• PASSIVE