The passive

The passive voice is used to focus on the action or the recipient of the action rather than the doer. It is formed with the appropriate tense of the verb "to be" and the past participle of the main verb. The passive voice can be used across all tenses, and it's essential to understand how it works in different contexts.

Present Simple Passive

Form: am/is/are + past participle

• Example: The letters are written by him.
• Use: Routine actions or general truths.

Present Continuous Passive

Form: am/is/are being + past participle

• Example: The house is being painted.
• Use: Actions happening at the moment of speaking.

Present Perfect Passive

Form: have/has been + past participle

• Example: The work has been completed.
• Use: Actions completed at an unspecified time before now.

Past Simple Passive

Form: was/were + past participle

• Example: The book was published last year.
• Use: Completed actions in the past.

Past Continuous Passive

Form: was/were being + past participle

• Example: The song was being sung by her.
• Use: Actions that were happening at a specific time in the past.

Past Perfect Passive

Form: had been + past participle

• Example: The project had been finished before the deadline.
• Use: Actions completed before another action or time in the past.

Future Simple Passive

Form: will be + past participle

• Example: The new model will be released next month.
• Use: Actions that will happen in the future.

Future Perfect Passive

Form: will have been + past participle

• Example: By next week, the book will have been written.
• Use: Actions that will be completed before a specified time in the future.

Infinitive Passive

Form: to be + past participle

• Example: The next step is to be decided.
• Use: To describe actions that need to be done, often after modal verbs or adjectives.

Gerund Passive

Form: being + past participle

• Example: Being interviewed can be stressful.
• Use: Referring to actions as subjects or objects in a sentence.

Note: It's important to consider the agent (the doer of the action), typically introduced by "by." However, in many cases, especially in formal or written English, the agent is omitted when it is unknown, obvious, or irrelevant to the context.