The Passive: be + past participle

We often use the passive when it’s not clear or important who does an action.

My bike has been stolen. (Somebody has stolen my bike. I don’t know who.)

If you want to say who did the action, use “by”.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following: the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle) the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is

dropped)

People speak English all around the world.Subject Verb Object

English is spoken all around the world (by people).Subject Verb

Present Simple Tense: am/is/are + past participle (V3)

Present Continuous: am/is/are + being + past participle (V3)

Past Simple Tense: was/were + past participle (V3)

Past Continuous: was/were + being + past participle (V3)

Present Perfect: have/has + been + past participle (V3)

Future Tense: will + be + past participle (V3)

Be going to: am/is/are + going to + be + past participle (V3)

Have/Has to: Have/Has to + be + past participle (V3)