Passive verb forms

A Introduction

A passive verb is a form of be + a passive participle, e.g. is baked, was worn. Some participles are irregular (see appendix 2).

B Summary of verb tenses

ACTIVE PASSIVE

Present simple: We bake the bread here. The bread is baked here.

Present continuous: We are baking the bread. The bread is being baked.

Present perfect: We have baked the bread. The bread has been baked.

Past simple: We baked the bread yesterday. The bread was baked yesterday.

Past continuous: We were baking the bread. The bread was being baked.

Past perfect: We had baked the bread. The bread had been baked.

We form negatives and questions in the same way as in active sentences.

The bread isn't baked in a factory. Where is the bread baked?

The jacket hasn't been worn for years. Has the jacket ever been worn by anyone else?

The future and modal verbs in the passive We use be + a passive participle after will, be going to, can, must, have to, should, etc.

The gates will be closed this evening.

This rubbish should be thrown away.

The machine has to be repaired.

The news might be announced soon.

Seats may not be reserved.

How can the problem be solved?

ACTIVE PASSIVE

Future: We will bake the bread next. The bread will be baked next.

We are going to bake the bread. The bread is going to be baked.

Modal verb: We should bake the bread soon. The bread should be baked soon.

We ought to bake the bread. The bread ought to be baked.

C The passive with get

We sometimes use get in the passive instead of be.

Lots of postmen get bitten by dogs.

I'm always getting chosen for the worst jobs.

Last week Laura got moved to another department.

Get is informal. We often use it for something happening by accident or unexpectedly.

In negatives and questions in the present simple and past simple, we use a form of do.

The windows don't get cleaned very often.

How did the painting get damaged?

We also use get, normally in active voice, in these expressions:

get dressed/changed (dress oneself)

get washed (wash oneself)

get engaged/married/divorced

get started (start)

get lost (lose one's way).

Emma and Matthew might get married.

Without a map we soon got lost.