Passive voice means the subject receives the action.

• Active: Sam broke the window.
• Passive: The window was broken by Sam.

How to Use Passive Voice

• When the doer is unknown or unimportant: My bike was stolen.
• For a polite/neutral tone: A mistake was made.
• Focus on result: Payment has been received.
• Common in science/news: Samples were tested at 20 °C.

Avoid passive voice when it makes longer, unclear sentences.

How to Form (Keep the Original Tense)

• Present simple: is/are + V3 → Reports are checked daily.
• Present continuous: is/are being + V3 → Files are being uploaded.
• Present perfect: has/have been + V3 → The issue has been fixed.
• Past simple: was/were + V3 → The show was canceled.
• Future/modals: will/can be + V3 → The visa will be issued next week.

Key Points

• Can you add by ___? If yes, it's passive voice.
• Object-first test: If the thing matters more than the doer, use passive.

Bottom line: Passive isn't "bad." Use it on purpose for results/politeness.

Examples by Level

• A2: The classroom was cleaned last night.
• B1: New rules are being tested before launch.
• B2: All interviews were recorded and later transcribed.

FAQs

Q: Is passive voice wrong? A: No! It's a common pattern. It becomes a problem when it hides responsibility or makes sentences complicated.

Q: How can I spot passive quickly? A: Look for a form of "be" + past participle (is made, was chosen) and optionally a by-phrase.