English — The Passive Voice (Present Simple and Past Simple) — Formation, Rules and Exercises — 4th Year Middle School — Algerian Curriculum

The Passive Voice (Present Simple and Past Simple)

The passive voice is used when the action is more important than the person who does it. In this lesson, we will learn how to form the passive voice in the Present Simple and Past Simple tenses.

Learning Objectives

• Understand the difference between active and passive voice
• Form the passive voice in Present Simple
• Form the passive voice in Past Simple
• Know when to use the passive voice
• Transform active sentences into passive sentences

1. Active vs Passive Voice

Voice	Structure	Example
Active	Subject + Verb + Object	The chef cooks the meal.
Passive	Subject + be + past participle + (by agent)	The meal is cooked (by the chef).

When do we use the passive voice?

• When the agent (doer) is unknown: “My bike was stolen.” (we dont know who stole it)
• When the agent is obvious: “The criminals were arrested.” (by the police — obvious)
• When we want to focus on the action or the receiver: “The school was built in 1990.”
• In formal or scientific writing: “The experiment was conducted.”

2. Passive Voice in Present Simple

Structure: Subject + am/is/are + past participle + (by agent)

Subject	am/is/are	Past Participle	Example
I	am	known, seen, etc.	I am known by everyone.
He / She / It	is	made, built, etc.	The cake is made by my mother.
You / We / They	are	taught, invited, etc.	They are invited to the party.

Examples — Present Simple Passive

• English is spoken all over the world.
• The classroom is cleaned every day.
• These books are sold in the library.
• I am called by my friends every evening.
• Rice is grown in many countries.

3. Passive Voice in Past Simple

Structure: Subject + was/were + past participle + (by agent)

Subject	was/were	Past Participle	Example
I / He / She / It	was	written, built, etc.	The letter was written yesterday.
You / We / They	were	discovered, found, etc.	The pyramids were built by the Egyptians.

Examples — Past Simple Passive

• The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889.
• These books were written by a famous author.
• The window was broken by the storm.
• We were told about the exam yesterday.
• The game was won by our team.

4. Negative and Question Forms

Negative Form

Add not after the auxiliary verb (am/is/are/was/were):

• The work is not (isnt) finished yet.
• The letters were not (werent) sent.

Question Form

Invert the subject and the auxiliary verb:

• Is the work finished yet?
• Were the letters sent yesterday?
• Who was the cake made by?

5. Transforming Active to Passive

Steps:

1. Move the object of the active sentence to the subject position
2. Add the correct form of be (am/is/are for present, was/were for past)
3. Change the main verb to its past participle form
4. Add “by” + agent (optional, if important)

Active	Passive
The students clean the classroom.	The classroom is cleaned by the students.
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.	Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
My mother makes the cake.	The cake is made by my mother.
They built this school in 2000.	This school was built in 2000.

6. Exercises

Exercise 1: Active to Passive (Present Simple)

1. The teacher explains the lesson. → The lesson _______
2. The students do the homework. → The homework _______
3. My father drives the car. → The car _______
4. People speak English in many countries. → English _______

Exercise 2: Active to Passive (Past Simple)

1. The students finished the project. → The project _______
2. The chef prepared the meal. → The meal _______
3. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. → The telephone _______
4. They built this bridge in 1995. → This bridge _______

Exercise 3: Choose the correct form (active or passive)

1. The book _______ (wrote / was written) by a famous author.
2. The children _______ (play / are played) in the garden.
3. The window _______ (broke / was broken) by the wind.
4. I _______ (invited / was invited) to the party.

Answers

Exercise 1: 1. is explained by the teacher – 2. is done by the students – 3. is driven by my father – 4. is spoken in many countries

Exercise 2: 1. was finished by the students – 2. was prepared by the chef – 3. was invented by Alexander Graham Bell – 4. was built in 1995

Exercise 3: 1. was written – 2. play – 3. was broken – 4. was invited

7. Writing Task

Write 5 sentences about your school or town using the passive voice.

Example: My school was built in 2010. The classrooms are cleaned every day.

Summary

Tense	Passive Structure	Example
Present Simple	am / is / are + past participle	The cake is made by my mother.
Past Simple	was / were + past participle	The cake was made by my mother.

Use passive voice when the action is more important than the doer, or when the doer is unknown/obvious.

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