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Passive Voice for all Tenses - Rules

There are two basic rules for converting sentences from active voice into passive voices, which apply to all tenses.

  1. The places of the subject and the object in a sentence are interchanged for converting active voice into passive voice.
  2. Only 3rd form of the verb (e.g., written) is used as the main verb in passive voice.

The rules for using ‘auxiliary verb’ (or helping verb) in passive voice are different for each tense, as explained below. At the end of this page, you can also see an easy way to remember these rules.

Present Indefinite Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: is / am /are
Active Voice
Passive Voice
He writes a letter
A letter is written by him.
He does not write a letter.
A letter is not written by him.
Does he write a letter?
Is a letter written by him?
They buy books.
Books are bought by them.
He helps me.
I am helped by him.
We make chairs.
Chairs are made by us.

 

Present Continuous Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: is being / am being / are being
Active Voice
Passive Voice
She is eating a mango.
A mango is being eaten by her.
She is not eating a mango.
A mango is not being eaten by her.
Is she eating a mango?
Is a mango being eaten by her.
They are washing shirts.
Shirts are being washed by them.
You are disturbing me.
I am being disturbed by you.
We are decorating the room.
The room is being decorated by us.

 

Present Perfect Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: has been / have been
Active Voice
Passive Voice
He has finished the work.
The work has been finished by him.
He has not finished the work.
The work has not been finished by him.
Has he finished the work?
Has the work been finished by him?
She has bought chairs.
Chairs have been bought by her.
They have started a business.
A business has been started by them.
I have helped the kids.
The kids have been helped by me.
You have broken the cup.
The cup has been broken by you.

 

Past Indefinite Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: was / were
Active Voice
Passive Voice
He bought a car.
A car was bought by him.
He did not buy a car.
A car was not bought by him.
Did he buy a car?
Was a car bought by him?
I wrote a letter.
A letter was written by me.
She decorated the walls.
The walls were decorated by her.
They saw a joker.
A joker was seen by them.
She kissed the babies.
The babies were kissed by her.
He asked some questions..
Some questions were asked by him.

 

Past Continuous Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: was being / were being
Active Voice
Passive Voice
She was washing a shirt.
A shirt was being washed by her.
She was not washing a shirt.
A shirt was not being washed by her.
Was she washing a shirt?
Was a shirt being washed by her.
He was eating the meal.
The meal was being eaten by him.
They were enjoying the party.
The party was being enjoyed by them.
She was teaching the kids.
The kids were being taught by her.
He was appreciating the students.
The students were being appreciated by him.

 

Past Perfect Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: had been
Active Voice
Passive Voice
They had won the competition.
The competition had been won by them.
They had not won the competition.
The competition had not been won by them.
Had they won the competition?
Had the competition been won by them?
He had bought a car.
A car had been bought by him.
She had passed the exam.
The exam had been passed by her.
They had resolved the issue.
The issue had been resolved by them.
The thief had stolen the money.
The money had been stolen by the thief.

 

Future Indefinite Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: will be
Active Voice
Passive Voice
He will study this book.
This book will be studied by him.
He will not study this book.
This book will not be studied by him.
Will he study this book?
Will this book be studied by him?
They will start a business.
A business will be started by them.
She will write a story.
A story will be written by her.
We will play a game.
A game will be played by us.
She will wear a new dress
A new dress will be worn by her.

Future Pefect Tense
Auxiliary verbs used in passive voice: will have been
Active Voice
Passive Voice
He will have received the letter.
The letter will have been received by him.
He will not have received the letter.
The letter will not have been received by him.
Will he have received the letter?
Will the letter have been received by him?
She will have cleaned the room.
The room will have been cleaned by her.
He will have finished the task.
The task will have been finished by her.
They will have attended the meeting
The meeting will have been attended by them.


The easy way to remember the rules for change of auxiliaries is that each indefinite tense converts into continuous tense, each perfect tense converts into perfect continuous tense, and for each continuous tense the word ‘being’ is added with the auxiliary verb. As tense are generally learnt in a specific order, it can be said that six types of tenses directly convert into the next tense (within major tense e.g., present, past and future tense) and for two tenses (continuous tenses) the word ‘being’ is added to auxiliary. The remaining four tense are non-convertible to passive voice.

Present Indefinite tense into present continuous tense.
Present perfect tense into present perfect continuous tense.
Past Indefinite tense into past continuous tense.
Past perfect tense into past perfect continuous tense.
Future Indefinite tense into future continuous tense.
Future perfect tense into future perfect continuous tense.

For present continuous tense, the word ‘being’ is added with the auxiliaries ‘is’, ‘are’, and ‘am’, making them as ‘is being’ ‘are being’ and ‘am being’

For future continuous tense, the word ‘being’ is added with the auxiliaries ‘was’, and ‘were’, making them as ‘was being’ and ‘were being’.

Note. The sentence of the following tenses cannot be converted into passive voice.

  1. Present Perfect Continuous Tense
  2. Past Perfect Continuous Tense
  3. Future Perfect Continuous Tense
  4. Future Continuous Tense
  5. Also, the sentences having Intransitive verbs.



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