Passive Voice

How to build it

be + past participle (V3)

That's the whole formula. You just change "be" depending on the tense:

Tense

Active

Passive

Present Simple

They deliver orders every day

Orders are delivered every day

Present Continuous

They're fixing the website

The website is being fixed

Past Simple

Someone broke the window

The window was broken

Past Continuous

They were repairing the road

The road was being repaired

Present Perfect

They've sold 500 units

500 units have been sold

Past Perfect

They had already shipped it

It had already been shipped

Future (will)

They'll announce the results

The results will be announced

Modal verbs

You can fix this

This can be fixed

When do native speakers ACTUALLY use it?

1. Business & work — all the time:

  • "The meeting has been cancelled."

  • "You'll be contacted by our team."

  • "The payment was processed yesterday."

  • "This item can't be refunded."

2. When something bad happened to you:

  • "I got fired." (= I was fired)

  • "My car got towed."

  • "We were charged twice."

  • "I've been scammed."

3. News & media:

  • "Three people were injured."

  • "The suspect has been arrested."

  • "A new law was passed."

4. Rules & signs:

  • "Phones must be switched off."

  • "Smoking is not permitted."

  • "Passengers are advised to arrive early."

5. When you don't know who did it:

  • "My bike was stolen."

  • "The email was sent to the wrong person."

  • "I was given the wrong order."

"Was done" vs "Got done"

In real life, people often use get + V3 instead of be + V3. It sounds more casual and natural:

  • "I got promoted" (more natural) vs "I was promoted" (more formal)

  • "She got fired" vs "She was fired"

  • "We got invited to the party" vs "We were invited"

  • "My phone got stolen" vs "My phone was stolen"

Rule of thumb: "got" = spoken English, everyday stuff. "was/were" = written, formal, news.

Common mistakes

❌ "The window was break." → ✅ "The window was broken." (Always V3, not V1)

❌ "I was worked there for 5 years." → ✅ "I worked there for 5 years." (Not everything needs passive — here YOU did the working)

❌ "It was happened yesterday." → ✅ "It happened yesterday." (happen, arrive, die — these verbs can't be passive)

❌ "The food was been delivered." → ✅ "The food has been delivered." (Don't mix up was + has been)

Verbs that CAN'T be passive

Some verbs never go passive because they don't have an object:

  • happen, appear, disappear, exist, arrive, die, sleep, rain

❌ "It was happened" → ✅ "It happened" ❌ "He was died" → ✅ "He died"