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The Passive Voice

Shifting focus from agent to action

Form: be + past participle in any tense

The object of the active becomes the subject of the passive.

📊 Passive tenses
Tense Active Passive
simple present they make it is made
simple past they made it was made
present perfect they have made it has been made
future they will make it will be made
💬 Examples
The letter was written by her.
the focus is on the letter not the writer
📝 active → passive
The bridge is being built.
action in progress — agent not mentioned
📝 passive with continuous
Use passive when the agent is unknown or unimportant

By + agent can be added if needed.

💬 Examples
My car was stolen last night.
we do not know who stole it
📝 agent unknown
English is spoken all over the world.
who speaks it is not important here
📝 agent unimportant
Get-passive is informal and common in spoken English

Get replaces be in casual contexts.

💬 Examples
She got fired last week.
informal — get replaces be
📝 get + past participle
He got caught stealing.
informal passive — very common in speech
📝 informal passive