Tense forms of the passive

Note Only the tense of the verb ‘be’ changes. The past participle remains the same.

In the question form of passive verbs, an auxiliary verb precedes the subject. Was the boy helped by Mary? Has the boy been helped by Mary?

*The progressive forms of the present perfect, past perfect, and future perfect are rarely used in the passive.

Change the active to passive. 1. Shakespeare wrote that play. > That play was written by Shakespeare 2. Waitresses and waiters serve customers. 3. The teacher is going to explain the lesson. 4. Two horses were pulling the farmer’s wagon. 5. Toshi will invite Yoko to the party. 6. Alex is preparing that report. 7. Kathy had returned the book to the library. 8. Miriam has designed several public buildings. 9. His tricks won’t fool me. 10. I didn’t write that note. Did Jim write it?

Change into active Our assignments are going to be corrected by the teaching assistant. Was the electric light bulb invented by Thomas Edison? The speed limit on Highway 5 isn’t obeyed by most drivers. Have you been informed of the rent increase by the building manager?

If possible, change the following into passive A strange thing happened yesterday. Jackie scored the winning goal. The winning goal was scored by Jackie. I agree with Dr. Ikeda’s theory. Dr. Ikeda developed that theory. A hurricane destroyed the small fishing village. A large vase stands in the corner of our front hallway. The children seemed happy when they went to the zoo. After class, one of the students always erases the board. The solution to my problem appeared to me in a dream.

Our plan succeeded at last. Barbara traveled to Uganda last year. A special committee is going to settle the dispute. Did the police catch the thief? This room is a mess. What happened?

More than 50,000 people are believed (to have been killed, to be killed) by the earthquake. Cigarettes are (knew, known) to be bad for people's health.