Passive voice explanation in Russian. Passive voice rules in English and formulas for different tenses


Today we will learn how to construct phrases in such a way as to emphasize the impact on any animate or inanimate object.

The article contains explanations of the rules and exercises.

Active, Passive Voice in English: definition

What are active and passive voices? Active and Passive Voice - grammatical forms that determine how an object relates to an action, or how the effect produced relates to the object in a phrase. Present in any language. Known in English as:

  • Active Voice.
  • Passive Voice.

The active, or so-called active, voice is used most often: the author of the act performed is the subject, and the action itself is the predicate. The noun is active because it itself makes an impact on someone or something.

Mike is doing his homework at the moment. - Mike is doing homework at the moment.

Passive Voice - passive, or so-called The noun is used as an object, and the action is used as a predicate, the influence is exerted on someone or something.

The homework is being done by Mike at the moment. - Homework is currently being executed by Mike.

Usage options

The passive voice complicates the perception of the statement too much, so the excessive use of such a grammatical form is not very welcome. However, there are certain options when it is impossible to do without using the passive voice:

  • The author of the act carried out is unknown (the act was carried out anonymously, it is unclear who or what caused the impact):

This book was ripped yesterday. - This book was torn yesterday.

  • The author of the impact is not significant (the person who performed the impact is not important):

The project will be finished by tomorrow. - The project will be finished tomorrow.

  • The author of the action is already clear (obvious from the context):

The burglar was arrested last month. - The burglar was arrested last month.

  • We care about the action itself, but not about the author (in news headlines and announcements, when we are interested in what happened, and not who arranged it):

The jazz concert will be held on Tuesday. - Jazz concert will be held on Tuesday.

  • The action can be carried out by anyone (in recipes, instructions):

The milk is heated and added to the dough. - Milk is heated and added to the dough.

  • In documents (in official announcements, abstracts):

This article is meant as an example of a research paper. - This article is presented as an example of a research paper.

Active and Passive Voice: Exercises

Task 1. Determine which rules of use are found in the following phrases, connect the number of the sentence with the letter of the rule. There may be several options, as can be seen from the picture.

Passive forms

Let us next consider the forms of the Passive Voice. The passive form of the predicate uses a part of speech denoting the action “to be” (“to be”) in the third person singular or plural of a specific tense (for example, “is”, “are”) and the main (semantic) part of speech denoting the effect exerted, in the third form.

The part of speech denoting the action “to be” changes to the corresponding form when the time in which the act of action is carried out changes. The semantic part of speech, denoting the impact provided, remains unchanged: it is always used as a English language this form of a part of speech denoting an action is called Past Participle or Participle II.

Parts of speech denoting the action performed are divided into two types: regular and incorrect. The latter are exceptions to grammar rule formation of certain temporary forms.

The third form of regular parts of speech denoting action looks similar to the past tense: - ed is added at the end:

  • to love - loved;
  • to play - played.

Irregular parts of speech denoting action have a special third form that must be remembered in each particular case. At the initial stage, you can use a special exclusion table. But the most frequently occurring parts of speech, denoting the action performed, which are quickly remembered, are incorrect:

  • to drink - drunk;
  • to eat - eaten.

The part of speech denoting the action “to be” in the passive voice goes through the same changes as the predicate in the active voice. A good clue for determining the time of impact is adverbs of time (including adverbs of frequency).

When constructing questions, the part of speech denoting the action performed is placed before the subject. When asking a question, think first about the effect being carried out, and then about the object or subject on which it is being carried out.

In negatives, the particle “not” follows the auxiliary part of speech, denoting the action “to be”. Under no circumstances should you make the most common mistake and put the main part of speech denoting impact before “not”! IN in this case"not" comes before the main verb, it divides auxiliary and main verbs.

Passive voice and tenses

As we can observe, only the part of speech that denotes the action “to be” changes. The main part of speech denoting action does not change.

Another important observation is that not all tense groups are present in the passive voice. In the following cases they need to be replaced:

  • Present Perfect Continuous is replaced by:

He has been cooking this meal since 5 p.m. - This meal has been cooked since 5 p.m.

Translation: He has been preparing this food since 5:00 pm. - The food was prepared from 17:00.

Peter had been doing the research for 3 months. - The research had been done for 3 months.

Translation: Peter conducted the study for 3 months. - The study was carried out over 3 months.

Tomorrow at 2 o’clock Helen will be cleaning this apartment. - This apartment will be cleaned tomorrow at 2 o’clock.

Translation: Helen will be cleaning this apartment at two o'clock tomorrow. - This apartment will be cleaned tomorrow at two o'clock.

  • Future Perfect Continuous is replaced by Future Perfect:

Mike will have been driving the truck for 2 years by next week. - The truck will have been driven for 2 years by next week.

Translation: Mike will have been driving the truck for two years by next week. - The truck will have been in use for two years by next week.

Task 2. Put the verb “do” in the correct form.

Replacement of collateral

If you want to replace Active Voice - Passive Voice, that is, convert a phrase in the active voice to the passive form, you need to remember the features of the grammatical construction of voices.

In an active voice phrase, the subject comes first, the predicate comes second, and the object comes at the end. In the passive voice, the object takes the place of the subject.

Replacing Active Voice - Passive Voice is carried out in several stages:

  • Determine which noun is the subject and which is the object:

Someone broke into their apartment yesterday.

  • Determine at what time the impact occurs:

In our version - Past Simple.

  • At the beginning of the phrase, put an object (instead of a subject), use the semantic part of speech denoting the effect in the third form, and place the part of speech denoting the action “to be” in front of it in the necessary tense form:

Their apartment was broken into yesterday.

The presence of two additions increases the number of options for constructing a phrase in the passive voice:

Nick brought Kate a book. - Nick brought Kate a book.

  • Kate was brought a book. - A book was brought to Kate.
  • A book was brought to Kate. - The book was brought by Kate.

Both options are acceptable, but it is better to use a form where the subject is an animate pronoun.

Task 3. Which voice is preferable to use in the following cases: Active Voice, Passive Voice?

Prepositions “by” and “with”

Additions are used in combination with these prepositions when it is necessary to mention who the author of the action is and in what ways the influence is carried out.

Sherlock Holmes was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. - Sherlock Holmes was created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The preposition “with” indicates by what means (auxiliary materials or tools) the influence is performed:

The soup is stirred with a spoon. - Stir the soup with a spoon.

The use of these prepositions is optional, with the exception of questions beginning with the words “who” (by whom?) and “what” (with what?).

Who was Hercule Poirot created by? - Who created it

What was the fire caused by? - What caused the fire?

In the formal style of speech, prepositions are often placed at the beginning of the phrase:

By what was the fire caused? - What caused the fire?

By whom was Hercule Poirot created? - Who created Hercule Poirot?

With what is the soup stirred? - What do you use to stir the soup?

Task 4. Put the verbs in the correct form Active and Passive Voice.

Modal verbs

How they work the Passive Voice and modal verbs- let's look further. Modal verbs are never used independently, but only in combination with a part of speech denoting the effect produced, in the indefinite mood. If they are present in the description of the impact made, in the passive voice the part of speech denoting the impact produced is transformed:

modal verb + “be” + Participle II

She might start research in July. (She can start research in July.) - Her research might be started in July.

We should fill in that form by hand. (We must fill out this form by hand.) - That form should be filled in by hand.

If the phrase contains the following parts of speech indicating impact:

  • to hear (hear);
  • to help (help);
  • to make (meaning “to force”);
  • to see (to see),

after the main and auxiliary verbs there is one more in the indefinite mood (with the particle “to”):

I was made to clean the house. - I was forced to clean the house.

Mary will be helped to bake this cake. - Mary will be helped to bake this cake.

Our speech in Russian is quite diverse. We use different designs: simple and complex, active and passive. And we don’t even think about it. If you want to raise your English speech to the same “intuitive level”, then you should definitely use our Passive Voice table.

When you started studying tenses, you probably came across such a grammatical phenomenon as active and passive voice. Let's remember what their difference is. Most time periods can be used in two cases. If the subject of the sentence itself performs the action (I’m walking, he’s drawing, we bought, they’ll fly), then we need an active form. If something is done to the subject, he is subjected to influence (trees are planted, water is poured, I was invited, we will be taken), then we use the passive construction. That's the last one we'll talk about.

Education

Each tense uses different auxiliary verbs and predicate forms. The Passive Voice table will tell us about this.

Present

Past

Future

Formula Simple

is/am/are + V ed (V 3) was/were + V ed (V 3) will/shall + be + V ed (V 3)
Letters are sent every day. — Letters are sent every day. Letters were sent yesterday. — The letters were sent yesterday. Letters will be sent tomorrow. — The letters will be sent tomorrow.

Formula Continuous

is/am/are + being + V ed (V 3) was/were + being + V ed (V 3) —————————
Letters are being sent now. — Letters are being sent now. Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. — Letters were sent at 5 o’clock yesterday. —————————

Formula Perfect

has/have + been + V ed (V 3) had + been + V ed (V 3) will/shall + have/has+ been +V ed (V 3)
Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent. Letters had been sent before he phoned. — The letters were sent before he called. Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. — Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o’clock.
Perfect Continuous ———————————— ———————————- —————————

Note that the Perfect Continuous is not used at all in the passive voice. And Continuous time has no future segment. The interrogative and negative forms are identical in all tenses.

? - Recall. verb + mean + predicate

- Subject + auxiliary. verb + not + predicate

Were you invited to the party yesterday? — Were you invited to a party yesterday?

I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday. — I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday.

Are the flowers being planted now? —Are they planting flowers now?

The trees are not being planted now. — Trees are not being planted now.

Let's compare Active and Passive

The use of different tenses fully corresponds to their counterparts in the active voice. That is why it is recommended to study all the elements of this group, and then look in detail at. Let's look at a few examples to make it easier for you to understand everything and remember it at the right time.

Active

Passive

Present Simple

She writes a new play for the theater every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. A new play for the theater is written by her every year. — New play written for the theater every year.

Past Simple

He stole food from the shop. — He stole food from the store. Food was stolen from the shop by him. — The food was stolen from the store.

Future Simple

They will show a new musical on TV next month. — They will show a new musical on television next month. A new musical will be shown on TV next month. — The new musical will be shown on television next month.

Present Continuous

My dad is repairing the car now. — My dad is repairing the car now. The car is being repaired by my dad now. — The car is now being repaired by dad.

Past Continuous

At 9 my brother was loading the truck. — At 9 o’clock my brother was unloading the truck. At 9 o’clock the truck was being loaded by my brother. — At 9 o’clock the truck was unloaded by my brother.

Present Perfect

My daughter has already translated the whole text. — My daughter has already translated the entire text. The whole text has already been translated by my daughter. — The entire text has already been translated by my daughter.

Past Perfect

When we came to the kitchen, he had eaten the pie. — When we entered the kitchen, he had already eaten the pie. When we came to the kitchen, the pie had been eaten. — When we entered the kitchen, the pie had already been eaten.

Future Perfect

We will have finished the work by 6 tomorrow. — Tomorrow we will finish work by six. The work will have been finished by 6 tomorrow. — The work will be finished by six tomorrow.

As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this element of the language. First of all, determine the role of the subject: it acts or on him. Then determine the time (you can use hint words). If you need to use the passive construction, then our passive voice table is at your service. Choose the tense, auxiliary verb, predicate ending, and you're done. It is better to consolidate all this in exercises that can be completed online on our website.

In this section, we will look at how interrogative, negative and affirmative sentences are constructed. What's the most important thing to know? That's right, the most important thing is to correctly compose a sentence using the passive voice. That's why we have prepared tables for the passive voice of the English language, you won't have any difficulties with them!

What is the passive voice in English?

We can say that the passive voice is when the person who performs the action suffers because it is partially mentioned in the passive or is not affected at all.

Let's remember a couple of characteristics of the Passive voice rule:

  • When we change a sentence, the object becomes the subject.
  • The passive voice can only be used (give, write, take, open etc.) Verbs such as: sleep, happen, come, go, seem are not used in the passive voice of the English language.
  • In this form, we can mention who performed the action or we have the right not to mention.
  • To understand who performed an action, you need to use the preposition ‘by’.

Passive voice formula.

The formation of the passive voice in English is used according to the following formula:

Subject + form of ‘to be’ + past participle + by + object.

- A house has been built - The house was built.
OR
- A house has been built by my husband - The house was built by my husband.

Did you find out how the passive voice is formed in English?! Now you can move on to the tables with examples.

Passive voice in English: tables with examples

Remember that tense forms of the passive voice are used in the same cases as the corresponding forms of the active voice.

Table of indefinite tenses of the passive voice

Examples of sentences with tenses in the passive voice:

  • Passive voice Present Simple:
    — Basketball is played by two teams of five players each — Two teams of five players play basketball.
  • Past Simple Passive:
    - Our institute was established in 1930 - Our institute was founded in 1930.
  • Future Simple Passive:
    — These competitions will be held in Moscow.
  • Passive Future-Simple-in-the-past:
    - She said that the annual swimming competition would be held in a few days - She said that the annual swimming competition would take place in a few days.

Long passive tenses

In this table we will touch on long tenses such as: Present Continuous passive voice, Past Continuous passive.

Examples:

  • Passive Present Continuous:
    - The question is being discussed - The question is being discussed.
  • Passive Past Continuous:
    — Were new records being established when I arrived? – Were new records set when I arrived?

Perfect tenses of the passive voice

Perfect tenses that will be in this table: Passive voice Present Perfect, Past Perfect Passive voice, Future Perfect, Future Perfect-in-the-past in the passive voice.

Examples with the above aspects:

  • Present Perfect Passive:
    - These splendid houses have been built this year - These magnificent houses were built this year.
  • Passive Past Perfect:
    - The game had been finished by 3 o’clock yesterday - The game was over by three o’clock yesterday.
  • Future Perfect Passive:
    - The letter will have been sent by Friday - The letter will be sent by Friday.
  • Passive Future Perfect-in-the-past:
    — He said that the construction of the new stadium would have been finished by the end of the year – He said that the new stadium will be completed by the end of the year.

Passive voice in English examples

We hope that the English passive voice will not torment you anymore. After all, essentially all you need to know is how to correctly construct any type of sentence and in what cases to use it. Read more examples and give your own examples of passive voice in English.

Affirmative sentences:

  • He was taken to the hospital when the ambulance crashed - He was taken to the hospital when the ambulance crashed.
  • We couldn’t go to my favorite café. It was being redecorated - We couldn't go to my favorite cafe. They were doing renovations there.
  • The politician is being interviewed now - The politician is being interviewed now.

Negative Suggestions:

  • All the competitors were not given souvenirs – All participants were not given souvenirs.
  • The floor hasn’t been cleaned yet - The floor has not been cleaned yet.
  • This plant can’t be kept indoors – This plant cannot be kept indoors.

Questions in the passive voice in English:

  • Is whiskey made in Poland – Is whiskey made in Poland?
  • Was Mona Liza painted by Leonardo da Vinci? – “Mona Lisa” was painted by Leonardo da Vinci?
  • Will I be invited? -Will I be invited?

Passive voice English dialogue:

Your friend: How was your weekend?

You: It was good. We went out of town this weekend because it was my daughter’s birthday. We went to see the grandparents. When we got home I walked in and a layout had been knocked over and some of the trash had been eaten in the kitchen and some of the cabinets had been opened. There were some things that had been left on the floor.

Your friend: Sounds like somebody broken in, no?

You: No, No. Nobody broke in. The door hadn’t been broken or anything like that. It was still locked. But it turns out that my dog ​​had eaten some out of the trash and had opened the cabinets.

Your friend: I hope next time you won’t leave your puppy alone.

Dialogue 2

Author: Once upon a time a father went grocery shopping with his daughter. The whole time the girl had one thing on her mind.
Girl: Buy me biscuits.
Father: No.
Girl: Buy me biscuits.
Father: No way.
Girl: Buy me biscuits.
Father: They are too sugary.
Girl: Buy me biscuits.
Father: Nope! Would you stop asking me?
Girl: Please, please, please.
Father: Fine, go get your biscuits.
Author: When they got home, father put away the groceries and then went to do some work.
Leaving the little girl alone in the kitchen…with the biscuits. Realizing that her father was busy, she decided to go to town on the biscuits.
Girl: Yum, yum, yum….
Author: Meanwhile, her father was busy at work. All of a sudden, he heard the scariest noise a parent can hear….. THE SOUND OF SILENCE. So he decided to go and check on his daughter.
Father: Oh, My! What happened here?
Girl: Look dad, a big mess was made.
Father: I can see that, darling. Who made the mess?
Girl: I don't know. The biscuits were eaten.
Father: Who ate the biscuits?
Girl: I don't know. =)

Underline the passive structures from the examples and dialogues above and share them in the comments.

Passive voice test

Time to apply your knowledge and take a test on the passive voice in English.

When comparing the English language with the Russian language, one can notice that some grammatical features and structures have much in common and are used in the same situations. Thus, the linguistic structure of English includes some grammatical phenomena and categories, in particular, the division into voices - active and passive (they are also called active and passive voice, respectively). If the situation with the active voice is clear, then for the passive form it is necessary to give some explanations and describe why such a construction is used.

What is Passive Voice

If we define the active voice, then we can say that most sentences belong here, since the passive is used less often. - this is a situation where the subject of a sentence is an independent performer of an action. Unlike the active, the passive voice in English is a grammatical construction associated primarily with the verb form and showing that the action is not performed by the subject itself; the subject undergoes the action rather than performs it. To put it simply, active and passive voice in English differ in that in the first the performer does something himself, and in the second he does not.

To clearly demonstrate how this looks in the language, it is worth giving examples of sentences that compare these two types of voice:

  • · He buys meet at the market every Saturday – Every Saturday he buys meat at the market(the subject, i.e. “he”, is the independent performer of the action)
  • · Meat is bought at the market every Sunday – Meat is bought at the market every Saturday(the subject, i.e. “meat,” cannot be an independent performer; the action is performed not by him, but on him)

How is Passive Voice formed?

Comparing Active and Passive Voice, you can notice the difference in the forms of the same time. The formation of the passive voice is impossible without the presence of two important grammatical factors:

1. Auxiliary verb to be, used in the form of the required tense – am, is, are, was, were, been, will be.

2. The form of the semantic verb in Passive Voice must necessarily be in , or, more simply put, be the third, if you refer to the table of irregular verbs (if the verb is regular, the ending will simply be –ed).

This order is typical for almost all types of tense forms.

Note: when forming any Continuous form, the presence of the verb to be is also required, but here the form of the verb will be being, since otherwise it will not be possible to show duration.

  • Finally his name was called and he stepped forward - In the end, his name was called and he stepped forward
  • She saw that the test had been changed and felt fear - She saw that the test was changed and felt fear
  • He felt with satisfaction that he was being stared at - He noted with satisfaction that they were looking at him

Questions in Passive Voice

Questions in the passive voice are formed quite standardly. Here the rules are the same as in the active voice, where interrogative sentences are: the initial position in the sentence will be taken by the auxiliary verb of the required tense (if it is not there, then to be is brought forward in the appropriate form). Next should come the subject, followed by the rest of the passive form and other minor members of the sentence. Interrogative sentences in the passive voice look like this:

  • Have you already been asked to come? – Have you already been asked to come?
  • Was he invited to the party yesterday? – Was he invited to a party yesterday?

Negative sentences in the passive voice

The Passive Voice with negation is also simple in its formation: the standard particle not is added to the auxiliary verb (the verb to be, if the main verb is missing), and this rule is valid for all forms of the passive:

  • He will not be allowed to use this car without my permission - He will not be allowed to use this car without my permission
  • The juice hasn’t been drunk yet, there is some more left - The juice hasn’t been drunk yet, there is a little left

Verbs for Passive Voice

Despite its apparent simplicity, the passive voice in English cannot be used with all verbs. As a rule, verbs in transitive or, as they are also called, causative form are awarded such a privilege.

The transitivity of an English verb is explained simply: if a word expressing an action can be given an addition, direct or indirect, then it is called transitive. Examples of such verbs are bring, eat, open, come, call and many others. If this cannot be done, then the verb is called intransitive and usually does not appear in Passive Voice (sit, fly, jump, live, etc.).

Note: in some cases the passive is formed even with intransitive verbs, but in this case it is usually accompanied by a preposition:

  • At last an agreement was come at - In the end, they came to an agreement
  • When a boy, he was often laughed at, but later everything changed - When he was a boy, he was often laughed at, but later everything changed
  • When he was called for, he didn’t want to answer - When he was called, he didn’t want to answer

Modal Verbs and Passive Voice

The passive voice is formed even easier than with all the others. Because the modal verbs can also have a passive form, then there is a special case of use with them, but it does not pose any complexity, because here after the modal it is enough to add be and put the main verb following it in the Participle II form. In practice, modal verbs in this form are used quite often, and for such use of Passive Voice, examples can be as follows:

  • The work must be done immediately - The work must be done immediately
  • This text can not be translated without your help – This text cannot be translated without your help

Features of some temporary forms in Passive Voice

As mentioned above, the tense system provides for passive constructions in English, which are used freely and much more often than in Russian. However, it is worth noting that not all tenses can be in the passive form, and this is important to consider when using this grammatical structure in speech and writing. For this purpose, Passive Voice has a table that shows the basic Passive formulas and indicates those cases when their use is impossible.

Time table in Passive Voice:

Indefinite Continuous Perfect Perfect Continuous
Past was/were + V(3) was/were + being + V(3) had + been + V(3)
Present am/is/are + am/is/are + being + V(3) have/has + been + V(3)
Future will be + V(3) will have + been + V(3)

There is a completely logical explanation for this: tenses of the category Perfect Continuous, and also the passive voice is not formed in English, since their structure contradicts the norms for the formation of the passive, because they are already supplemented by the verb to be in its original or third form. This means that it will no longer be possible to supplement the construction with anything, since the grammar prohibits this.

Prepositions for Passive Voice

Unlike Active Voice, Passive Voice is often used with prepositions, and this is typical not only for intransitive verbs. Sometimes there is a need to show who or with the help of which the action was performed. There are two standard prepositions here: by (expresses the performer, or agent) and with (expresses the instrument, which is called instrument).

Note: the statement that by is only used with animate nouns, and with – with inanimate ones is erroneous, and several situations with examples can be cited to confirm this:

  • When he went for a walk to the mountains he was hit by a stone - When he went for a walk to the mountains, he was hit by a stone(the stone was not used as a tool or tool, everything happened by accident)
  • The police note that the murder victim was struck with a stone – The police note that the murder victim was hit with a stone(the stone was used as a tool, using it purposefully)

Following the instructions described above will make it easy to distinguish between active and passive voice in English and will not cause inconvenience in forming the desired form.

The rules of the English language are such that at the beginning of a sentence there is usually a word indicating the object or person performing the action. For example:
I cook dinner every day.— I cook lunch every day.

The action is expressed in the active voice, that is, a person, in this case “I,” perform some action. The same idea can be expressed another way:
Dinner is cooked every day. — Lunch is prepared every day.

As you can see, the word “lunch” has formally taken the place of the subject, although “lunch” doesn’t do anything by itself. This sentence is written in the passive voice, in other words Passive Voice. In such a sentence, what matters is not who performs the action, but the action itself.

Rules for using the passive voice

When to use the passive voice?

  1. When it is not known who or what is doing the action.
  2. When the action itself is important, and not the person who performed it.

The passive voice is formed using the verb to be in the required form and the third form of the semantic verb.

The passive voice has several forms. In this lesson we will look at the forms of simple present, past and future tenses. Let's present the forms of the passive voice in the table:

To ask a question in the passive voice, it is enough to remember how the question is asked in the Present Simple, Past Simple and Future Simple. In the first two cases, the verb to be is placed before the subject, in the second - the auxiliary verb will. For example:
Is the letter sent?

Was the car washed?

Will the house be bought?

Negation is formed using the particle “not”: I won't be asked tomorrow.

If it is important for you to emphasize, by whom an action was performed, use a preposition by:
This book was written by Charles Dickens.— This book was written by Charles Dickens.

If after by you use a pronoun, it will be in the indirect case:
The tickets were bought by me.— The tickets were bought by me.

If it is important for you to indicate how an action is performed, use a preposition with:
Soup is eaten with a spoon.— Soup is eaten with a spoon.

By whom? by
With what, with what? with

Important! Modal verbs are often used in the passive voice. The proposal is structured as follows:
modal verb +be+V3

For example: It must be done tomorrow.

Important! Not all verbs can be used in the passive voice. These verbs include:

  • to fly, to arrive
  • to be, to become
  • to have, to possess, to belong
  • to come, to go, to last

The logical question is what to do if we want to express an action that has just ended or is currently ongoing using the passive voice. It's simple. The forms Present Perfect Passive and Present Continuous Passive will help you.

As you remember, with help. Present Perfect we express the result of an action, and Present Continuous describes the action taking place at the moment. The same thing can be expressed using the passive voice.

Compare several offers:

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
Present Continuous I am wash ing the car. The car is being wash ed.
Present Perfect I have wash ed the car. The car has been wash ed.

As shown in the table, in the active voice the subject is a person, “I”, and in the passive voice the place of the subject is taken by an object - “machine”. The passive voice form in both tenses is constructed using the verb to be and the verb in the third form, while the verb to be changes in accordance with the chosen tense form:

Present Continuous Passive am/is/are + being + V3
Present Perfect Passive have/has + been + V3

As you can see, in the passive voice the Continuous form is expressed using the verb be with the ending ing, and the Perfect form is expressed using an auxiliary the verb have and the verb be in the third form.

Passive voice signal words

Important! The choice of the desired form of the passive voice will be prompted by the same signal words that are used with forms of the active voice. Let's look at a few examples:
The windows are being clean ed at the moment.

The football match is being play ed next Sunday.

The door has just been paint ed.

The cake hasn't been eaten yet.

As you can see, all signals are valid for both active and passive voices. And their place in the sentence is governed by the rules you already know.

To ask a question in Present Perfect Passive or Present Continuous Passive, you need to change the order of the words in the sentence, for example:
Are you being followed?

What has it been made of?

Lesson assignments

Task 1. Open the brackets using Passive Voice.

  1. The car (not/sell) yesterday.
  2. The ceiling (paint) next week.
  3. The paper (buy) by my father every week.
  4. A new house (build) here next year.
  5. much money (spend) yesterday in the shop?
  6. My clothes usually (iron) by my mother.
  7. Your article (publish) last month.
  8. The door (not/open).

Task 2. Translate.

  1. The shop is closed.
  2. Everyone trusts him.
  3. When will the film be shown?
  4. Yesterday the children were taken to the zoo.
  5. The song was not sung.
  6. Has your bag been stolen?
  7. They didn't tell me anything.
  8. Museums are visited by many people.

Task 3. Open the brackets using Present Perfect Passive or Present Continuous Passive

  1. Jeanette usually goes to school, but this month she (teach) at home.
  2. The problem just (solve).
  3. I can't find my purse. I think, it (steal).
  4. A very good job recently (offer) to my brother.
  5. You breakfast still (cook).
  6. The office (repair) at the moment.
  7. You ever (bite) by a dog?
  8. The new bridge (build) at the moment.

Task 4. Change the sentences using the passive voice.

  1. I have already sold my flat.
  2. She is writing a letter.
  3. I buy bread every day.
  4. He will repair the bike.
  5. Is she using a computer at the moment?
  6. Someone broke the window.
  7. Mom has ironed my shirt.
  8. You can buy cheese in any supermarket.

Answer 1.

  1. wasn't sold
  2. will be painted
  3. is bought
  4. will be built
  5. Was much money spent…
  6. are usually ironed
  7. was published
  8. isn't open

Answer 2.

  1. The shop is closed.
  2. He is trusted by everyone.
  3. When will the film be shown?
  4. The children were taken to the Zoo yesterday.
  5. The song wasn't sung.
  6. Was your bag stolen?
  7. I was told nothing./I wasn’t told anything.
  8. Museums are visited by many people.

Answer 3.

  1. is being taught
  2. has just been solved
  3. has been stolen
  4. has recently been offered
  5. is still being cooked
  6. is being repaired
  7. Have you ever been…
  8. is being built

Answer 4.

  1. My flat has already been sold.
  2. A letter is being written.
  3. Bread is bought every day.
  4. The bike will be repaired.
  5. Is the computer being used at the moment?
  6. The window has been broken.
  7. My shirt has been ironed.
  8. Cheese can be bought in any supermarket.
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