Passive voice: ESL lesson plans and exercises

Q: When do we use the passive voice?

When the action matters more than who does it. That's typical of processes ( The bars are decoded into digits ), history ( The patent was filed in 1949 ) and notices ( The shipment was delayed by three weeks ). It also fits when nobody knows, or everyone knows, who did it. When a person or a system clearly did the action, the active is often clearer: The merchant types the amount .

Q: How do you form the passive voice?

The right form of be, then the past participle. Only be changes with the tense: The coffee is shipped , was shipped , has been shipped , will be shipped . Regular verbs add -ed, and irregular ones have their own participles, such as written , taken and chosen . Don't drop be : The shipment was delayed , not The shipment delayed .

Q: How do you change an active sentence into the passive?

Make the object the subject, then use be + participle. They have rerouted the ship becomes The ship has been rerouted : be takes the tense of the active verb, and the main verb becomes a past participle. Leave out the doer, or keep it with by when it matters: The decision was made by the shipping line .

Q: Which verbs can't be passive?

Verbs with no object, such as arrive and happen. Arrive , happen , occur , go , come , stay , rise and take place have no object to become the subject, so they stay active: The container arrived late , not The container was arrived late . Likewise, It has happened before , never It has been happened .

Q: What is the causative with have and get?

It says someone else does a job for you. The pattern is have or get + object + past participle: We're having the stories translated . With the person who does it, have takes the base form and get takes to : We'll have the agency send three ideas ; Can you get Ryan to check the sizes? Get sounds a little more informal.

Q: What are passive reporting structures?

Phrases like it is said that and is believed to. They report what others say or think without naming anyone, which suits advisories and formal reports: It is believed that two more images contain the old version ; The vendor is said to have fixed the bug . Use to have + past participle for an earlier action, and pick the verb by your evidence: known for proof, thought or believed for a best guess.

Q: How do I teach the passive voice to B1 students?

Start with how things work and how they began. Processes and history call for the present and past passive naturally: in English for IT B1, learners explain how a barcode is read and when the first one was scanned. Business English B2 then takes the passive through every tense with a late coffee shipment, and English for IT C1 adds reporting verbs for a security advisory.

Q: What are good passive voice games and activities?

Quizzes about how things are made and who invented them. Teams answer questions such as Where is coffee grown? or When was the laser invented? in full passive sentences. In a process chain, students take turns adding the next step, such as The beans are roasted . Every passive voice lesson also has a speaking chapter with a chat and a game, for example Open the box.

Q: Are there interactive passive voice exercises?

Yes: try a few passive exercises above. The lessons below have the full set: drag-and-drop, gap-fills, tables to complete and quizzes on the passive. Students do them in their own edio.ai accounts, every answer on the passive is checked on the spot, and a free trial unlocks each passive voice lesson along with the rest of the library.

Q: Can I teach the passive voice one-to-one?

Yes, live or with homework in between. In a live class, the student follows the passive voice lesson in their own account, in sync with you, and describing a process from their own job ( First, the order is checked ) makes a natural speaking task. Between classes, the passive drills check themselves, and some tasks come back to you.

Levels B1 to C1 18 lesson plans · 5 drill lessons Exercises that check themselves

The passive voice puts the thing an action happens to first: The code is scanned, The container was loaded in Djibouti. You'll find 18 ready-made passive voice lessons from the edio.ai library on this page, levels B1 to C1, from how a barcode is read to a security advisory. Play exercises from the lessons, study the passive in their grammar schemes, and pick the one that suits your class. Each passive voice lesson is interactive and in American English, and its drills check every answer.

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Passive voice lesson plans and drills

18 lesson plans and 5 drill lessons, B1 to C1. Lesson plans are whole lessons with reading, listening and speaking; drill lessons are 45 to 46 self-checking exercises with no new words.

Try the passive voice exercises

One exercise from each of 6 lessons. These are the same exercises your students do in edio.

Passive voice explained

We use the passive when the action matters more than who does it, or when we don't know or don't need to say who: The sailing has been moved. It's common in reports, notices and descriptions of how things work. The form is be in any tense + the past participle, with by + the doer only when it adds something: The bars were designed by George Laurer.

Present and past: is, are, was, were + past participle

For how something works now, use is or are + past participle: The code is scanned. For history, use was or were: The laser was invented in 1960. In questions, be jumps ahead of the subject: How is a barcode read?

Use	Form	Example
How it works now: one thing	is + past participle	The code is scanned.
How it works now: two or more	are + past participle	Card numbers are never stored on the phone.
History: one thing	was + past participle	The laser was invented in 1960.
History: two or more	were + past participle	Dots and dashes were drawn in the sand.
Negative	isn't / aren't / wasn't / weren't + past participle	The card number isn't stored in the app.
Question	(How / Where) is / are / was / were + thing + past participle?	How is a barcode read?

From the lesson How is a barcode read? (English for IT B1)

Active or passive, and when to add by

When the doer matters, stay active: The customer scans the code. When what happens matters more, switch to the passive: A payment link is created on the server. Add by + the doer only if it's useful: The code is read by the phone's camera.

Active or passive?

Active: who does it matters

The merchant types the amount.
The customer scans the code.

Passive: what happens matters more

A payment link is created on the server.
The payment is confirmed in a few seconds.

Who does it? Add by + agent when it matters

thingis / are / was / werepast participle(by + who or what)

The code is read by the phone's camera.

The bars were designed by George Laurer.

From the lesson How is a barcode read? (English for IT B1)

Every tense: only be changes

In every tense, the past participle stays and be takes the tense: is being unloaded, has been rerouted, had been made, will be delivered. The table puts each active sentence next to its passive, from the present simple to going to and modals.

Tense	Active	Passive
Present simple	We ship the coffee every month.	The coffee is shipped every month.
Present continuous	They are unloading the container now.	The container is being unloaded now.
Past simple	They loaded it last week.	It was loaded last week.
Past continuous	They were loading it when the email came.	It was being loaded when the email came.
Present perfect	They have rerouted the ship.	The ship has been rerouted.
Past perfect	They had already made the decision.	The decision had already been made.
will	We will deliver your order on Friday.	Your order will be delivered on Friday.
going to	We're going to place the order earlier.	The order is going to be placed earlier.
Modals	We can't guarantee the date. We must tell clients.	The date can't be guaranteed. Clients must be told.

From the lesson The Late Shipment (Business English B2)

Causative: have or get something done

When someone else does a job for us, we use have or get + the object + past participle: We had the bags redesigned means an agency did it. We redesigned the bags means we did it ourselves.

Who does the job?

We do it ourselves

We redesigned the bags.
Ana is writing the stories.
Ryan checked the sizes himself.

Someone does it for us

We had the bags redesigned.
We're having the stories translated.
Ryan had the sizes checked.

The thing that is done

have / getthe objectthe past participle

We're having the bags redesigned.

We need to get the labels translated.

From the lesson Working with an Agency (Business English B2)

Reporting: it is said that, is believed to

To report what people think or say without naming them, use It is thought that + a clause, or the subject + is thought + a to-infinitive: A bot is thought to be scanning our API. The verb shows how sure you are.

Pattern 1: It + passive + that-clause

Itis + said, thought, believed, reported, known, understoodthat + clause

It is thought that a bot is scanning our API.

It is known that the account first contributed in 2021.

It is understood that the vendor will ship a fix on Monday.

Pattern 2: subject + passive + to-infinitive

subjectbe + said, thought, believed, reported, known, understoodto-infinitive

A bot is thought to be scanning our API.

The vendor is said to have fixed the bug.

Two images are believed to contain the old version.

From the lesson Security Advisory: The xz Backdoor (English for IT C1)

Questions about the passive voice

When do we use the passive voice?

When the action matters more than who does it. That's typical of processes (The bars are decoded into digits), history (The patent was filed in 1949) and notices (The shipment was delayed by three weeks). It also fits when nobody knows, or everyone knows, who did it. When a person or a system clearly did the action, the active is often clearer: The merchant types the amount.

How do you form the passive voice?

The right form of be, then the past participle. Only be changes with the tense: The coffee is shipped, was shipped, has been shipped, will be shipped. Regular verbs add -ed, and irregular ones have their own participles, such as written, taken and chosen. Don't drop be: The shipment was delayed, not The shipment delayed.

How do you change an active sentence into the passive?

Make the object the subject, then use be + participle. They have rerouted the ship becomes The ship has been rerouted: be takes the tense of the active verb, and the main verb becomes a past participle. Leave out the doer, or keep it with by when it matters: The decision was made by the shipping line.

Which verbs can't be passive?

Verbs with no object, such as arrive and happen. Arrive, happen, occur, go, come, stay, rise and take place have no object to become the subject, so they stay active: The container arrived late, not The container was arrived late. Likewise, It has happened before, never It has been happened.

What is the causative with have and get?

It says someone else does a job for you. The pattern is have or get + object + past participle: We're having the stories translated. With the person who does it, have takes the base form and get takes to: We'll have the agency send three ideas; Can you get Ryan to check the sizes? Get sounds a little more informal.

What are passive reporting structures?

Phrases like it is said that and is believed to. They report what others say or think without naming anyone, which suits advisories and formal reports: It is believed that two more images contain the old version; The vendor is said to have fixed the bug. Use to have + past participle for an earlier action, and pick the verb by your evidence: known for proof, thought or believed for a best guess.

How do I teach the passive voice to B1 students?

Start with how things work and how they began. Processes and history call for the present and past passive naturally: in English for IT B1, learners explain how a barcode is read and when the first one was scanned. Business English B2 then takes the passive through every tense with a late coffee shipment, and English for IT C1 adds reporting verbs for a security advisory.

What are good passive voice games and activities?

Quizzes about how things are made and who invented them. Teams answer questions such as Where is coffee grown? or When was the laser invented? in full passive sentences. In a process chain, students take turns adding the next step, such as The beans are roasted. Every passive voice lesson also has a speaking chapter with a chat and a game, for example Open the box.

Are there interactive passive voice exercises?

Yes: try a few passive exercises above. The lessons below have the full set: drag-and-drop, gap-fills, tables to complete and quizzes on the passive. Students do them in their own edio.ai accounts, every answer on the passive is checked on the spot, and a free trial unlocks each passive voice lesson along with the rest of the library.

Can I teach the passive voice one-to-one?

Yes, live or with homework in between. In a live class, the student follows the passive voice lesson in their own account, in sync with you, and describing a process from their own job (First, the order is checked) makes a natural speaking task. Between classes, the passive drills check themselves, and some tasks come back to you.

More English grammar

Lessons for every grammar point, from the verb to be to reported speech. All grammar points

Passive voice lesson plans and drills

Christmas around the world

Can you cross a city without going outside?

A park on top of a freeway?

Can a desert city catch the rain?

Can an old railroad become a park?

Lettuce from space?

How is a barcode read?

Present and past passive: how is it made?

Passive in other tenses: what's being done?

The Late Shipment

Working with an Agency

1.8 million Polio Pioneers

One clinic, many doctors

A kidney from a twin

Riding a pod with no driver

The hit factory on West Grand Boulevard

Bat-people on the Moon?

Did George Washington really chop down a cherry tree?

Blameless by design

Impersonal passive: it is said that…, she is said to…

Have and get something done: who did the work?

Security Advisory: The xz Backdoor

Advanced passives: who was told what?