The Passive Voice: Tenses, Gerunds, Infinitives & Modals

Choose the sentence written in the passive voice.

• She bakes cakes everyday.

• She baked a lot of cakes last week.

• The cakes are baked by her everyday.

• The cakes she bake are delicious.

Answer explanation

In the passive voice, the focus is on the action being done to the subject. “The cakes are baked” uses the passive structure: be + past participle.

Which of the following is the correct passive form of the sentence below?

"They inspected the warehouse yesterday."

• The warehouse was being inspected yesterday.

• The warehouse was inspected yesterday.

• The warehouse had been inspected yesterday.

• The warehouse had been inspected yesterday.

Answer explanation

The original sentence is in the past simple, so the passive form uses was + past participle, resulting in “was inspected.”

Which sentence is in the present continuous passive form?

• The books are published everyday.

• The books were published last week.

• The books are being published now.

• The books will be published tomorrow.

Answer explanation

The passive form of the present continuous is am/is/are being + past participle, as in “are being published.”

Complete the sentence with the correct passive form:

"The movie _____ by James Wan two years ago."

• is directed

• was directed

• are directed

• were directed

Answer explanation

The phrase “two years ago” shows that the action happened in the past, so we must use the past simple passive form. The passive voice is formed using “be” + past participle.
Since “movie” is a singular noun, we use “was” (past simple of “be”) with the past participle “directed”.

Which sentence uses a passive structure with a modal verb correctly?

• The form must completing now.

• The form must be completed now.

• The form must be completing now.

• The form must completed now.

Answer explanation

In passive voice with modals, the structure is modal + be + past participle, so the correct form is “must be completed.”

What is the correct passive form of this sentence?

“They might postpone the tournament..”

• The tournament has been postponed.

• The tournament was postponed.

• The tournament might be postponed.

• The tournament had been postponed.

Answer explanation

In passive form with “might,” we use might be + past participle, so “might be postponed” is correct.

Choose the sentence that contains a correct passive infinitive structure.

• I want our project to be submitted on time.

• I want our project be submitted on time.

• I want to submitting our project on time.

• I want our project submitting on time.

Answer explanation

After verbs like “want,” we use the passive full infinitive form, which is to be + past participle, making “to be submitted” correct.

Identify the sentence that uses a passive structure with a gerund.

• He enjoyed being credited.

• He was enjoy to credit.

• He enjoys to be crediting.

• He credit being enjoyed.

Answer explanation

“Being credited” is a passive gerund, made with “being + past participle,” and it is correctly used after the verb “enjoyed.”

Choose the correct personal passive form of the sentence:

"People believe she works hard."

• She is believed to work hard.

• It is believed she works hard.

• She believes to work hard.

• Working hard is believed by her.

Answer explanation

In a personal passive, the subject of the original sentence (“she”) becomes the subject of the passive. We use is believed to be, followed by the adjective or verb.

Which sentence uses the correct passive form in the future perfect tense?

• The apartment complex will have been built by 2035.

• The apartment complex had been built.

• The apartment complex was built.

• The apartment complex is being built.

Answer explanation

The future perfect passive uses the structure will have been + past participle, so “will have been marked” is correct.