english grammar exercises passive voice

English Grammar Online Exercises and Downloadable Worksheets

Online exercises.

• Passive Voice

Levels of Difficulty : Elementary Intermediate Advanced

• PA020 - Active to Passive Sentences Intermediate
• PA019 - Active to Passive Sentences Intermediate
• PA018 - Passive Voice Intermediate
• PA017 - Passive Voice - Present and Past Tenses Elementary
• PA016 - Passive Voice - Sentences Intermediate
• PA015 - Passive Voice - Sentences Intermediate
• PA014 - Passive Voice - Sentences Elementary
• PA013 - Passive or Active Elementary
• PA012 - Passive Voice - Sentences Elementary
• PA011 - Active to Passive Intermediate
• PA010 - Active to Passive Elementary
• PA009 - The Stradivari Elementary
• PA008 - Passive Voice - Sentences Elementary
• PA007 - Passive or Active Intermediate
• PA006 - Active to Passive Intermediate
• PA005 - Active to Passive - Present and Past Tense Elementary
• PA004 - What Happened in 1900 ? - Past Passive Elementary
• PA003 - The History of Paper - Active or Passive ? Elementary
• PA001 - Passive Voice - Sentences Intermediate
• PA002 - Incident in the Sky - Complete the sentences with passive structures Advanced
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Passive Exercise 5

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Passive Voice – English Grammar Exercises

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Passive voice - 1

Passive voice - 2

Passive voice - 3

Worksheets - handouts

Exercises: passive sentences

• Active or passive? - exercise 1
• Active or passive? - exercise 2
• Passive: present forms - write
• Active to passive 1 - exercises
• Present and past - write
• Active to passive 2 - exercises
• Correct passive form - exercises
• Passive: present and past - write
• From active to passive - exercises
• From active to passive - write
• Verb tenses - write
• Passives - quiz
• Passive voice - flash game

ENGLISH 4U English Language Learning

• GRAMMAR EXERCISES
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• IRREGULAR VERBS

The Passive Voice

Sentences can be active or passive. We usually use the active in written and spoken language. The difference is that in an active sentence the subject performs the action and in a passive sentence the subject receives the action. Study the following information to learn how to form a passive sentence, how to put an active into a passive sentence and how to form the tenses in the passive voice.

How to form the Passive

Form of to be + past participle (3 rd form) of the verb

How to form a passive sentence

SUBJECT - FORM OF TO BE + 3 rd FORM - ADVERB, ...

The room is cleaned every day.

They are sold as pets.

A lot of guests are invited to a party.

Put an active sentence into a passive one:

Active : Subject - Verb - Object

Bats eat insects.

Passive: Subject - Verb - by - Agent

Insects are eaten by bats.

Tom saw the burglers.

The burglars were seen by Tom.

Subject of the active sentence → Agent of the passive sentence

Object of the active sentence → Subject of the passive sentence

Passive Voice - Exercise 1 - mixed tenses, fill in exercise

Passive Voice - Exercise 2 - mixed tenses, fill in exercise

Passive Voice - Exercise 3 - fill in the present simple or past simple

Passive Voice - Exercise 4 - form passive sentences - all tenses

Passive Voice - Exercise 5 - form passive sentences - present and past tense

Passive Voice - Exercise 6 - form passive sentences - present and past tense

Passive Voice - multiple choice exercise - all tenses

Passive Voice - multiple choice exercise - present and past simple

Passive Voice - grammar test

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Passive Voice

Exercises on Passive

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs )

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
• the finite form of the verb is changed ( to be + past participle)
• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Level: lower intermediate

Examples of passive level: upper intermediate, passive sentences with two objects level: intermediate.

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That ’ s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive .

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception ( e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Exercises on Passive (Form)