ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES CHART

SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST The active object becomes the passive subject. am/is/are + past participle was/were + past participle Passive: Simple Present I am fascinated by the movie. Jack is bored by the movie. They are surprised by the movie. Passive: Simple Past I was bored by the movie. Jack was fascinated by the movie. They were surprisedby the movie.

Active: Simple Present The movie fascinates me. The movie bores Jack. The movie surprises them.

Active: Simple Past The movie bored me. The movie fascinated Jack. The movie surprised them.

PRESENT and PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) Passive form: am/is/are + being + past participle was/were + being + past participle Active: Present Continuous I am helping Shannon. June is helping Su and Ling. Active: Past Continuous I was cleaning the bathroom. They were cleaning the Passive: Present Continuous Shannon is being helped by me. Su and Ling are being helped by June. Passive: Past Continuous The bathroom was being cleaned by me.

bedroom. Susan was cleaning the kitchen and patio.

The bedroom was being cleaned by them. The kitchen and patio were being cleaned by Susan.

PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT Passive form: have/has been + past participle had been + past participle Active: Present Perfect I have mailed the gift. Jack has mailed the gifts. Passive: Present Perfect The gift has been mailed by me. The gifts have been mailed by Jack. Passive: Past Perfect The movie had been directed by Steven Spielberg. The movies had been directed by Penny Marshall. Passive: Future Perfect The project will have been finished by next month. The projects will have been finished before then.

Active: Past Perfect Steven Spielberg had directed the movie. Penny Marshall had directed those movies. Active: Future Perfect John will have finished the project next month. They will have finished the projects before then.

FUTURE TENSES Passive forms: will + be + past participle is/are going to be + past participle Active: Future with WILL I will mail the gift. Jack will mail the gifts. Passive: Future with WILL The gift will be mailed by

me. The gifts will be mailed by Jack. Active: Future with GOING TO I am going to make the cake. Sue is going to make two cakes. Passive: Future with GOING TO The cake is going to be made by me. Two cakes are going to be made by Sue.

PRESENT / FUTURE MODALS The passive form follows this pattern: modal + be + past participle Active: WILL / WON'T (WILL NOT) Sharon will invite Tom to the party. Sharon won't invite Jeff to the party. (Sharon will not invite Jeff to the party.) Active: CAN / CAN'T (CAN NOT) Mai can foretell the future. Terry can't foretell the future. (Terry can not foretell the future.) Active: MAY / MAY NOT Her company may give Katya a new office. The lazy students may not do the homework. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Passive: WILL / WON'T (WILL NOT) Tom will be invited to the party by Sharon. Jeff won't be invited to the party by Sharon. (Jeff will not be invited to the party by Sharon.) Passive: CAN / CAN'T (CAN NOT) The future can be foretold by Mai. The future can't be foretold by Terry. (The future can not be foretold by Terry.) Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may be given a new office by her company. The homework may not be done by the lazy students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT

Her company might give Katya a new office. The lazy students might not do the homework.

Katya might be given a new office by her company. The homework might not be done by the lazy students. Passive: SHOULD / SHOULDN'T English verbs should be memorized by students. Cigarettes shouldn't be smoked by children. Passive: OUGHT TO English verbs ought to be memorized by students.

Active: SHOULD / SHOULDN'T Students should memorize English verbs. Children shouldn't smoke cigarettes. Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to learn English verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used) Active: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT Students had better practice English every day. Children had better not drink whiskey. Active: MUST / MUST NOT Tourists must apply for a passport to travel abroad. Customers must not use that door. Active: HAS TO / HAVE TO She has to practice English every day. Sara and Miho have to

Passive: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT English had better be practiced every day by students. Whiskey had better not be drunk by children. Passive: MUST / MUST NOT A passport to travel abroad must be applied for. That door must not be used by customers. Passive: HAS TO / HAVE TO English has to be practiced every day. The dishes have to be

wash the dishes every day. DOESN'T HAVE TO/ DON'T HAVE TO Maria doesn't have to clean her bedroom every day. The children don't have to clean their bedrooms every day.

washed by them every day. DOESN'T HAVE TO/ DON'T HAVE TO Her bedroom doesn't have to be cleaned every day. Their bedrooms don't have to be cleaned every day.

Active: BE SUPPOSED TO I am supposed to type the composition. I am not supposed to copy the stories in the book. Janet is supposed to clean the living room. She isn't supposed to eat candy and gum. They are supposed to make dinner for the family. They aren't supposed to make dessert.

Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO The composition is supposed to be typed by me. The stories in the book are not supposed to be copied. The living room is supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum aren't supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner for the family is supposed to be made by them. Dessert isn't supposed to be made by them.

PAST MODALS The past passive form follows this pattern: modal + have been + past participle Active: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN'T HAVE The students should have learned the verbs. Passive: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN'T HAVE The verbs should have been learned by the

The children shouldn't have broken the window.

students. The window shouldn't have been broken by the children. Passive: OUGHT TO The verbs ought to have been learned by the students. Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) The composition was supposed to be typed by me. The story in the book wasn't supposed to be copied. The living room was supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum weren't supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner was supposed to be made by them. Dessert wasn't supposed to be made by them. Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper may not have been written by the students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might have been

Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to have learned the verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)

Active: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) I was supposed to type the composition. I wasn't supposed to copy the story in the book. Janet was supposed to clean the living room. She wasn't supposed to eat candy and gum. Frank and Jane were supposed to make dinner. They weren't supposed to make dessert.

Active: MAY / MAY NOT That firm may have offered Katya a new job. The students may not have written the paper. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT That firm might have offered Katya a new job. The students might not have written the paper.

offered a new job by that firm. The paper might not have been writte

Put in the correct form of the verb in Passive into the gaps. Use the verb and the tense given in brackets. Example: A letter __________ by Peter. (to write - Simple Present) Answer: A letter is written by Peter. 1) The words Simple Present) 2) We Simple Past) 3) This car 4) This street Present Perfect) 5) A new restaurant future) 6) He Past) 7) The blue box Present) 8) I Simple Past) 9) The dishes Present Perfect) 10) I by the teacher today. (to explain a letter the day before yesterday. (to send . It's too old. (not/to steal - will-future) because of snow. (already/to close next week. (to open - willto the party yesterday. (to invite - Simple . (can/not/to see - Simple the book by my friend last Sunday. (to give by my little brother. (not/to wash by Robert. (not/to ask - will-future)

1) The words are explained by the teacher today. 2) We was sent a letter the day Correct answer: We were sent a before yesterday. (to send letter the day before yesterday. Simple Past) 3) This car won't be stolen. It's too old. 4) This street has already been closed because of snow. 5) A new restaurant will be opened next week. 6) He was invited to the party yesterday. 7) The blue box can't be seen. 8) I was given the book by my friend last Sunday. 9) The dishes haven't been washed by my little brother. 10) I won't be asked by Robert

Active / Passive Verb Forms

Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.

Active Form
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active. [Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action] Examples:

Passive Form
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action. [Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action] Examples:

Active / Passive Overview

Active Passive

Simple Present

Once a week, Tom cleans the house.

Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.

Present Continuous

Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.

Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.

Simple Past

Sam repaired the car.

The car was repaired by Sam.

Past Continuous

The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.

The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.

Present Perfect

Many tourists have visited that castle.

That castle has been visited by many tourists.

Present Perfect Continuous

Recently, John has been doing the work.

Recently, the work has been being done by John.

Past Perfect

George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.

Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.

Past Perfect Continuous

Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.

The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.

Simple Future
WILL

Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.

The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.

Simple Future
BE GOING TO

Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.

A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.

Future Continuous
WILL

At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.

Future Continuous
BE GOING TO

At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.

At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.

Future Perfect
WILL

They will have completed the project before the deadline.

The project will have been completed before the deadline.

Future Perfect
BE GOING TO

They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.

The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.

Future Perfect Continuous

WILL

The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.

The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.

Future Perfect Continuous

BE GOING TO

The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.

The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.

Used to

Jerry used to pay the bills.

The bills used to be paid by Jerry.

Would Always

My mother would always make the pies.

The pies would always be made by my mother.

Future in the Past

WOULD

I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.

I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.

Future in the Past

WAS GOING TO

I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.

I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.