Grammar: Advanced Voice & Tense
C2 Lesson 3: Passive Voice Review
Why It Matters: Active vs. Passive
Using the passive voice allows you to change the focus of a sentence from the doer of the action to the receiver of the action.
The government built the bridge.
The bridge was built in 2020.
Forming the Passive Voice Across Tenses
The Golden Rule
The passive voice is always formed with:
a form of the verb 'to be' + Past Participle
- Present Simple: Rice is grown all over Cambodia.
- Past Simple: The Royal Palace was built in the 1860s.
- Future Simple: The new bridge will be opened next year.
- Present Continuous: A new road is being built.
- Past Continuous: The movie was being shown.
- Present Perfect: The old market has been renovated.
- Past Perfect: The food had been eaten.
- Future Perfect: The airport will have been completed.
💡 Pro Tip: Complete Passive Tense Chart
This chart shows the clear pattern of changing the verb 'to be' for each tense.
| Tense | Passive Structure |
|---|---|
| Present Simple | is/are + p.p. |
| Present Continuous | is/are + being + p.p. |
| Present Perfect | has/have + been + p.p. |
| Past Simple | was/were + p.p. |
| Past Continuous | was/were + being + p.p. |
| Past Perfect | had + been + p.p. |
| Future Simple | will be + p.p. |
| Future Perfect | will have + been + p.p. |
Practice Your Grammar 🎯
Exercise 1: Tense Transformation
Convert the verb in brackets to the correct passive tense.
- Right now, a new hotel _______ (build) by the riverside.
→ is being built - By the time we got to the party, all the good food _______ (eat).
→ had been eaten - The results of the exam _______ (announce) tomorrow morning.
→ will be announced - My motorbike _______ (steal) last night!
→ was stolen
Exercise 2: Change the Voice
Rewrite these active sentences in the passive voice.
- Active: The university provides scholarships to many students.
→ Passive: Scholarships are provided to many students by the university. - Active: The storm damaged hundreds of homes.
→ Passive: Hundreds of homes were damaged by the storm.
Key Vocabulary
- Passive Voice A sentence where the subject receives the action of the verb.
- Active Voice A sentence where the subject performs the action of the verb.
- Comprehensive Including or dealing with all or nearly all elements of something.
Your Grammar Mission ⭐
Find a short news article in English (e.g., from VOA Learning English or the Phnom Penh Post) about a recent event, like the construction of a new building or a festival that was held.
Write a 3-4 sentence summary of the article. In your summary, try to use at least two different passive tenses.