Active vs. Passive Voice
Learn when and why to use the passive voice to emphasize actions, objects, or formal contexts.
- check_circleI can understand the difference between active and passive voice.
- check_circleI can use the passive voice when the actor is unknown or unimportant.
- check_circleI can use the passive voice in formal contexts.
Discover
Meet today's English in a real situation — no rules yet. Read it once and try to guess the pattern in the words in bold. Underlined words open a short definition.
The Art Heist
Detective Miller: So, what exactly happened here last night?
Museum Director: It’s a disaster, Detective! The famous painting was stolen at midnight.
Detective Miller: Are you sure? The security guards were patrolling the area.
Museum Director: Yes, but the alarms were deactivated from the inside. The thief clearly knew what they were doing. Our main security guard was knocked unconscious.
Detective Miller: I see. Do we have any suspects?
Museum Director: No one obvious. The gallery is cleaned every evening by a new company. They might have left a door unlocked.
Detective Miller: We will find out. The evidence will be analyzed at the lab immediately. We need to investigate every clue.
Museum Director: Please hurry. This masterpiece is worth millions, and the public is demanding answers!
Learn
Now the rules behind what you just saw — explained simply, with examples. Underlined words open a short definition — hover on desktop, tap on a phone.
Most sentences in English are in the active voice. In an active sentence, the subject does the action. But sometimes, we use the passive voice. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action.
Active: The dog bit the postman. (The dog did the action)
Passive: The postman was bitten by the dog. (The postman received the action)
How to form the passive voice
To make a passive sentence, we use the verb to be + the past participle (V3) of the main verb. The verb to be changes depending on the tense.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | They clean the office. | The office is cleaned. |
| Past Simple | Someone stole my car. | My car was stolen. |
| Future (will) | They will build a new bridge. | A new bridge will be built. |
If you want to say who did the action in a passive sentence, use the word by. The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
When and why to use the passive voice
We don’t use the passive voice all the time. We choose it for specific reasons:
1. When we don’t know who did the action, or it doesn’t matter. Sometimes the actor is a mystery, or it’s just not important.
- My bike was stolen last night! (I don’t know who stole it.)
- The museum was built in 1990. (It doesn’t matter who built it.)
2. To emphasize the action or the object. If the object is more interesting than the person who did the action, we put it first.
- Millions of smartphones are sold every year. (The smartphones are the focus, not the shop assistants.)
3. In formal contexts, news, and science. The passive voice sounds more objective and formal. You will often see it in newspapers, academic papers, and official rules.
- The evidence will be examined by experts.
- Passengers are asked to remain seated.
Common mistake: Spanish speakers often try to use an active sentence with an impersonal “they” when a passive would be more natural in English.
They broke the window last night.(If we don’t know who “they” are)- The window was broken last night. (Much better in English!)
- Active: Subject DOES the action. (E.g., Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.)
- Passive: Subject RECEIVES the action. (E.g., Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.)
- Formula: Verb to be (in any tense) + Past Participle (V3).
- Use passive when the actor is unknown, unimportant, or you want to be formal.
- Use by to introduce the actor if necessary.
Practice
Try it yourself. You'll see right away whether you got it right, plus a short explanation of why.
Use It
Now make the language yours in a real task. Use the prompt below — the editor keeps a simple word count, and nothing is saved or graded.
Before you finish — be honest. Can you do these now?