The Changing from Active Sentences into Passive Sentences
The Simple Present Tense
A (Active): The predicate VERB 1 (present tense).
P (Passive): The predicate am / is / are + VERB 3 (past participle).
Examples:
A: Mr. White teaches me English.
P: I am taught English by Mr. White.
A: Mr. White teaches him English.
P: He is taught
English by Mr. White.
A: They teach
the students of the college programming languages.
P: The students of the college are
taught programming languages.
P: The students of the
college are not taught
programming languages.
P: Are the students of the college
taught programming languages?
P: What programming languages are the students of
the college taught?
P: English is spoken all over the world.
P: English and Japanese are spoken here.
The Present Continuous Tense
A: The
predicate am / is / are + verb-ing.
P: The
predicate am / is / are + being
+ VERB 3.
Examples:
A: Mr. White is teaching them English
at the moment.
P: They are being taught English by Mr. White at the moment.
A: John is fixing Ann’s laptop right
now.
P: Ann’s laptop is being fixed by John
right now.
P: Is your laptop being fixed by John?
P: Whose laptop is being fixed by John?
P: My laptop is not being fixed
by John.
The Simple Past Tense
A: The predicate Verb 2 (past tense).
P: The predicate was / were + Verb 3. [was (from am and is) and were (from are)]
Examples:
A: Mr. Black taught me C language at the college last term.
P: I was taught C language by Mr. Black
at the college last term.
A: Mr. Black taught us C language at the college last term.
P: We were taught C language by Mr. Black at the college
last term.
P: Ann was offered the job.
P: She was
given two hours to make her decision.
P: In the end, the offer was accepted.
P: Was the job offered to Ann?
P: Why was
it offered to her?
P: Why wasn’t
it offered to Jane?
P: It was
offered to her, but the offer was
refused.
P: How much was Ann paid to do the job?
P: She was
paid very much to do it.
The Past Continuous
A: The predicate was /
were + Verb-ing.
P: The predicate was /
were + being + Verb 3.
Examples:
A: At 9 o’clock yesterday somebody was interviewing him for a post at
the company.
P: At 9 o’clock yesterday he was being interviewed for a post at the company.
A: At 9 o’clock yesterday the computer
programmer was testing the
program.
P: At 9 o’clock yesterday the program was being tested by the computer
programmer.
A: They were
testing and debugging the programs when I came
in.
P: The programs were
being tested and debugged when I came in.
The Present Perfect Tense
A: The predicate have /
has + Verb 3.
P: The predicate have / has
+ been + Verb 3.
Examples:
A: They have
invited me to
the seminar.
P: I have been invited to the seminar.
A: We have
asked him to join us.
P: He has been asked
to join us.
A: Somebody has delivered my
order.
P: My order has been delivered.
A: Somebody has
delivered my orders.
P: My orders have been delivered.
The Present Perfect Continuous Tense
A: The predicate have /
has + been + Verb-ing.
P: The passive form is the same as that of the present perfect tense. (See The Present Perfect Tense)
The Past Perfect Tense
A: The predicate had + Verb 3.
P: The predicate had +
been + Verb 3.
Examples:
A: When we first met, they had offered me a job at the bank.
P: When we first met, I had been offered a job at the bank.
A: The room looked much better. Somebody had cleaned it.
P: The room looked much better. It had
been cleaned.
A: Tom didn’t know about the change of the
plans. Somebody hadn’t told him.
P: Tom didn’t know about the change of the
plans. He hadn’t been told.
The Past Perfect Continuous Tense
A: The predicate had +
been + verb-ing.
P: The passive form is the same as that of the past perfect tense. (See The Past Perfect Tense)
The Future Tense
A: The predicate will /
can / may / must + Verb 1.
P: The predicate will /
can / may / must + be + Verb 3.
Examples:
A: They will
/ can / may / must solve this problem soon.
P: This problem will / can / may
/ must be solved soon.
A: They will
ask you a lot of questions at the interview.
P: You will be asked a lot of questions at the interview.
P: The work must be finished.
P: A decision will not be made until the next meeting.
P: You will
be given the answer next week.
The Future Continuous Tense
A: The predicate will + be + Verb-ing.
P: The passive form is the same as that of the future tense. (See The Future Tense)
The Future Perfect Tense
A: The predicate will + have
+ Verb 3.
P: The predicate will + have
+ been + Verb 3.
Examples:
A: By next month they will have finished the work.
P: By next month the work will have been finished.
The Future Perfect Continuous Tense
A: The predicate will + have +
been + verb-ing.
P: The passive form is the same as that of the future perfect tense. (See The Future Perfect Tense)