Passive voice
The passive voice (be + past participle) makes the person or thing affected by an action the subject: 'The bridge was designed by a local engineer.' Use it when the doer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant, and in formal writing, IELTS Task 1 process descriptions and distancing structures like 'It is said that…' depend on it.
The rule
How to form the passive in every tense
Present simple
am/is/arepast participle
Millions of parcels are delivered every day.
Present continuous
am/is/are beingpast participle
The stadium roof is being repaired this month.
Past simple
was/werepast participle
These houses were built in the 1970s.
Present perfect
have/has beenpast participle
The flight has been cancelled because of fog.
Future
will bepast participle
The winners will be announced at the ceremony.
Modal
modalbepast participle
Applications must be submitted before 30 June.
Inside a sentence
Millions of parcelssubjectaream/is/aredeliveredpast participleevery day.
Applicationssubjectmustmodalbebesubmittedpast participlebefore 30 June.
- subject
- helping verb
- main verb
Which one do I need?
Active or passive?
Every answer at a glance
Active voice
When the doer is the point, make it the subject. Active sentences are also clearer for your own opinions in Task 2.
The government has cut funding for rural bus routes.
Passive + by + doer
Keep the thing affected as the subject and add by + doer at the end, because the doer is new or important information.
The new library was designed by a firm from Copenhagen.
Active only: no passive
This verb has no object to become the subject, so forms like was happened or was arrived are impossible.
The number of visitors rose sharply after 2015.
am/is/are (being) + past participle
Facts, routines and Task 1 process steps take am/is/are + past participle. Add being only for work in progress now: is being built.
First, the glass is sorted by colour and crushed into small pieces.
was/were + past participle
A finished action at a stated or known past time takes was/were + past participle.
The original bridge was built in 1932.
have/has been + past participle
No finished time, and the result matters now, as on a Task 1 map showing changes up to today.
Since 2010, many of the old warehouses have been converted into flats.
will / modal + be + past participle
Keep be after will or any modal: will be held, must be submitted. Dropping be is one of the most common passive errors.
All essays must be submitted online by Friday.
How to use passive voice
What is the difference between active and passive voice?
In an active sentence, the subject performs the action: the doer comes first, then the verb, then the receiver. The passive reverses the spotlight: the receiver of the action becomes the subject, the verb changes to be + past participle, and the doer either disappears or moves to the end after 'by'.
Both versions describe the same event; what changes is the focus. Choose the active when the doer is the story, and the passive when the action or its receiver matters more than who performed it.
- The city council approved the new cycling lanes.active: focus on the council
- The new cycling lanes were approved last week.passive: focus on the lanes; the doer is unstated
- The new cycling lanes approved last week.missing 'were': the passive always needs be + past participle
When should you use the passive voice?
Use the passive when the doer is unknown, obvious from context, or simply less important than the action. It also keeps the topic of a paragraph in subject position, which makes formal and academic writing flow more smoothly.
News reports, scientific writing and official notices lean on the passive constantly, because processes and outcomes matter more there than individual actors.
- My scooter was stolen outside the library.the thief is unknown
- Two suspects were arrested at the border.obviously by the police, no need to say it
- Portuguese is spoken by people in Brazil.grammatical but clumsy, the agent adds nothing: Portuguese is spoken in Brazil
When do you mention the agent with 'by'?
Add 'by + agent' only when the doer is genuinely informative: new, surprising or important information. If the agent is vague (somebody, people, they) or predictable, leave it out; empty agents are the fastest way to make a passive sound unnatural.
- This mural was painted by a teenager from Medellín.the agent is the interesting part
- The novel was translated into forty languages.translators unknown or unimportant, no agent needed
- The window was broken by somebody.'by somebody' adds nothing, drop it
How do reporting passives like 'It is said that…' work?
English reports general beliefs impersonally with two patterns. The first uses a dummy subject: It is said/believed/thought/claimed + that-clause. The second promotes the topic to subject: subject + be + said/thought/reported + to-infinitive (or to have + participle for past claims).
These distancing passives let a writer present a view without owning or sourcing it, essential hedging in academic style, and named explicitly in Band 7 to 8 grammar descriptions of flexible, wide-ranging structures.
- It is often claimed that remote work weakens team culture.distances the writer from the claim
- The company is reported to have laid off a third of its staff.be + reported + to have + participle for past claims
- Green tea is believed to improve concentration.
- It is believing that the climate is changing.the reporting verb must be a past participle → It is believed that…
How is the passive used in IELTS Task 1 process descriptions?
Process diagrams (how chocolate is made, how bricks are manufactured, how water is recycled) describe stages where no individual doer matters, so the conventional answer is written almost entirely in the present simple passive, linked by sequencers such as first, next, after that and finally.
Vary the pattern with a perfect passive to show one stage completed before another begins, and with a modal passive for requirements.
- First, the cocoa beans are harvested and left to ferment.present simple passive + sequencer
- The mixture is then heated to 80°C before it is poured into moulds.
- Once the bottles have been filled, they are transported to regional warehouses.perfect passive marks a completed stage
Which verbs cannot be used in the passive?
Only transitive verbs (verbs with an object) can be made passive, because the passive works by promoting that object. Intransitive verbs such as happen, occur, arrive, die, rise and fall have no object to promote, so forms like 'was happened' are impossible.
A few transitive verbs also resist the passive for meaning reasons: have (possession), lack, resemble and suit stay active.
- The accident was happened near the toll gate.'happen' is intransitive → The accident happened near the toll gate
- She was arrived late to the seminar.→ She arrived late to the seminar
- Prices rose sharply in March.'rise' has no passive, the active is the only option
Common mistakes with passive voice
Find what is wrong in each one, then open it to check.
1The parcel was deliver this morning.What's wrong? Show the fix
The parcel was delivered this morning.
The passive needs the past participle after be: 'was delivered', never the base form 'deliver'.
2My passport was steal at the airport.What's wrong? Show the fix
My passport was stolen at the airport.
Irregular verbs use their participle form in the passive: steal → stolen, take → taken, write → written.
3The meeting will held on Zoom.What's wrong? Show the fix
The meeting will be held on Zoom.
Future and modal passives keep 'be' before the participle: will + be + held. Dropping 'be' is one of the most common passive errors.
4A new hospital is build near our district.What's wrong? Show the fix
A new hospital is being built near our district.
An action in progress needs the continuous passive is/are being + participle, and the participle of build is built.
5The earthquake was occurred at dawn.What's wrong? Show the fix
The earthquake occurred at dawn.
Intransitive verbs like occur, happen and arrive have no object, so they can never form a passive.
6I am agree with this opinion.What's wrong? Show the fix
I agree with this opinion.
'Agree' is an ordinary active verb, not an adjective or a passive. Inserting 'am' is a classic transfer error from languages that express agreement with 'to be'.
7English is speaking all over the world.What's wrong? Show the fix
English is spoken all over the world.
The passive takes the past participle (spoken), not the -ing form: 'is speaking' would mean English itself is talking.
Practise
Write your own
Write a sentence of your own with passive voice, about you, your studies or your town.
Passive voice in IELTS
Speaking
- The passive is rarer in speech, but a few natural passives lift Part 1 answers: 'I was brought up in Chattogram' or 'Our flat is being renovated at the moment.' Examiners hear these as extra range at no cost to fluency.
- In Part 3, a distancing passive lets you present a common view before evaluating it: 'It's often said that city life is more stressful, but I'm not convinced.' That concede-then-counter move is classic Band 7 behaviour.
Writing
- Task 1 process diagrams are effectively a passive test: a Band 7 answer sequences present simple passives ('the pulp is pressed, dried and cut') instead of unnatural actives like 'people press the pulp'.
- In Task 2, one or two distancing passives ('It is widely believed that…', 'It has been argued that…') signal the impersonal academic register examiners reward, but keep most sentences active so the essay stays direct.