Twelve Verb Tenses - Passive
Level Seven
Lesson 73
After you learn all twelve verb tenses in the active voice, you can learn how to use verbs in the passive voice. In the passive voice, the subject does not perform some type of action. In fact, the person or thing performing the action does not even need to be mentioned. This represents a new level of knowledge for you as you continue forward in your study of English.
- simple verb tenses, passive
- continuous verb tenses, passive
- perfect verb tenses, passive
- perfect continuous verb tenses, passive
Forming the passive voice requires attention to helping verbs and the main verb. In the passive voice, the main verb is always in the form of a past participle, and the helping verb is some form of the verb “be” or the verb “get.” The video provided here explains this.
There are 12 verb tenses in English.
73a. simple verb tenses, passive
Verbs in the simple tense, passive voice look like this:
(be) + past participle
The helping verb (be) changes according to the subject and the verb tense. The main verb is in the form of a past participle.
Before you learn to use verbs in the passive voice, you must know how to identify verbs in the active voice. In the sentences provided below, the main verb is in the active voice. The examples that follow show how the verb changes in each of the three simple verb tenses. Notice that in the passive voice it’s not necessary to say who is performing the action.
teach / taught / taught / teaching
- I teach you English. (present active voice)
- You are taught English. (present passive voice)
- I taught you English last year. (present active voice)
- You were taught English last year. (past passive voice)
- I will teach you English tomorrow. (future active voice)
- You will be taught English tomorrow. (future passive voice.
It’s important to know that the passive voice is often not the best first choice when forming a sentence. In fact, you should consider avoiding it if you want your sentences to be clearer and more direct. However, as you are student of the language, it’s necessary to learn this because it will help you avoid being confused when you hear it or read it.
73a. simple verb tenses, passive
Here are examples of verbs in the present, past, and future tenses.
- Colleges teach doctors medicine. (present active)
- Medicine is taught in colleges. (present passive)
- The college taught them how to prepare for a career in medicine. (past)
- They were taught by the school. (past passive)
- They will practice medicine after they graduate. (future)
- Medicine will be practiced by them after they graduate. (future passive)
73b. continuous verb tenses, passive
Continuous verb tenses in the passive voice look like this:
(be) + being + past participle
The helping verb (be) changes according the subject and the verb tense. After “be,” use the word “being” followed by the main verb in the form of a past participle.
help / helped / helped / helping
- It is helping you. (present continuous, active voice)
- You are being helped. (present continuous, passive voice)
- It was helping you. (past continuous active voice)
- You were being helped. (past continuous, passive voice)
- It will be helping you. (future continuous, active voice)
- You will be getting helped. (The only way to make the future continuous tense passive is to replace “being” with “getting,” but this also sounds a little awkward. Because “will” is a modal verb, you could also replace it with might, should, must, ought to, and other modal verbs.)
73b. continuous verb tenses, passive
- He is helping her. (present continuous active)
- She is being helped. (present continuous passive)
- He was helping her. (past continuous active)
- She was being helped. (past continuous passive)
- He will be helping her. (future continuous active)
- The future continuous passive doesn’t work here.
Note: The confusing thing about continuous verbs in the passive voice is that you need to use “be” twice, once to match the verb tense and subject, and then again because the verb is continuous: being. This results in three verbs in the verb phrase. She is being helped.
73c. perfect verb tenses, passive
Perfect continuous verb tenses in the passive voice look like this:
(have) (be) + being + past participle
Perfect verb tenses include some form of the verb “have” (has, have, had, or will have), the verb “be” (been), and the main verb is in the form of a past participle: (have) + been + past participle
- He has hired many new employees. (present perfect, active voice)
- Many new employees have been hired. (present perfect, passive voice)
- He had hired many new employees before he realized he didn’t need them all. (past perfect, active voice)
- Many new employees had been hired before he realized he din’t them all. (past perfect, passive voice)
- By the end of the year, he expects many new employees will have either quit or left the company. (future perfect, active voice)
- By the end of the year, he expects some of the new employees will have been fired due to poor performance. (future perfect, passive voice0
73c. perfect verb tenses, passive
- New technology has created a lot of new opportunities for young people. (present perfect, active voice)
- New opportunities for employment have been created by new technology. (present perfect, passive voice)
- It had created new opportunities. (past perfect, active voice)
- New opportunities had been created. (past perfect, passive voice)
- It will have created new opportunities. (future perfect, active voice)
- New opportunities will have been created. (future perfect, passive voice)
73d. perfect continuous verb tenses, passive
Perfect continuous verb tenses look like this:
(have) + been + being + past participle
Perfect continuous verb tenses are difficult to put together. You can, however, substitute the word “getting” for “being,” and then it might sound okay, but you can’t do this for all of the perfect continuous verb tenses. My advice: don’t worry about it too much.
- He has not been getting paid lately. (This sentence is in the present perfect continuous tense, passive voice, and it sounds okay.)
- He has not been being paid lately. (If you tried using “being” instead of “getting,” this is what it would look like. Don’t do it.)
73d. perfect continuous verb tenses, passive
- The number of people that have been getting injured in automobile accidents has increased in recent years. (present perfect continuous tense, passive voice)
The present perfect continuous tense and the past continuous tense is used in the passive voice if “being” changes to “getting.” The future continuous passive voice is nearly impossible to put together.