All grammar
B115 questions
The passive: present and past simple
Use the passive (be + past participle) when the action or the thing affected matters more than who did it, or when we don't know or don't need to say who did it.
How it works
- Present simple passive: am/is/are + past participle. English is spoken here.
- Past simple passive: was/were + past participle. The bridge was built in 1995.
- Add by + the doer only if it is useful: The song was written by Trinh Cong Son.
- Only verbs with an object can be passive: The accident happened, not was happened.
- Common in news, instructions, processes and formal writing.
- Questions and negatives use be: Was it delivered? It wasn't checked.
Examples
Coffee is grown in the Central Highlands.
My bike was stolen outside the supermarket.
The results are announced every Friday.
This temple was built in the eleventh century.
Were you told about the change of time?
Common mistakes
Wrong: The accident
washappened at night.Right: The accident happened at night.
Wrong: This bridge built in 2010.
Right: This bridge was built in 2010.
Wrong: The email was
sendyesterday.Right: The email was sent yesterday.
Practice
1 of 15Fill the gap.
Level: EGP Passives: the present simple passive is A2; the past simple passive and passives with by are B1 points. Written for Gloss.