Passive voice: it was made, it is done: Spoken English: Zero to Fluent (Intermediate)

Active: "The cook makes the dosa." Passive: "The dosa is made by the cook." In the passive, the thing that receives the action comes first. Hindi does this too: "डोसा बनाया जाता है", "चिट्ठी भेजी गई".

Tense	Passive form	Example
Present simple	is / are + past participle	Tickets are sold online.
Present continuous	is / are being + past participle	The road is being repaired.
Past simple	was / were + past participle	The bridge was built in 1960.
Present perfect	has / have been + past participle	Your application has been received.
Future	will be + past participle	The results will be announced on Monday.
With modals	must / can / should be + past participle	This form must be submitted by Friday.

When to use it

When we don't know who did it: "My bike was stolen."
When it is not important who did it: "Rice is grown in Punjab and Bengal."
In formal notices, news and office messages: "Passengers are requested to stand behind the yellow line."
To be polite and not blame a person: "A mistake was made in the bill."

My phone was stolen on the bus.

Say it: my FOHN woz STOH-len on the BUS

बस में मेरा फ़ोन चोरी हो गया।

We don't know who stole it, so the passive is natural.

Your application has been received.

Say it: yor ap-li-KAY-shun haz bin ri-SEEVD

आपका आवेदन मिल गया है।

A common line in emails and SMS from banks and offices.

The meeting has been postponed to Monday.

Say it: the MEE-ting haz bin pohst-POHND to MUN-day

मीटिंग सोमवार तक के लिए टाल दी गई है।

The results will be announced next week.

Say it: the ri-ZULTS wil bee a-NOWNST nekst WEEK

नतीजे अगले हफ़्ते घोषित किए जाएँगे।

All forms must be submitted by Friday.

Say it: AWL FORMZ must bee sub-MIT-id by FRY-day

सभी फ़ॉर्म शुक्रवार तक जमा करने होंगे।

This temple was built by a local king.

Say it: this TEM-pul woz BILT by a LOH-kul KING

यह मंदिर एक स्थानीय राजा ने बनवाया था।

Use "by" only when the doer is important or interesting.

Indian news, office circulars and railway announcements use a lot of passive: "Passengers are requested to...", "The matter is being looked into", "Strict action will be taken". This is fine in writing. In everyday speech, the active voice sounds more friendly and direct: "We are checking the problem" is warmer than "The problem is being checked".

Verb	Past	Past participle
build	built	built
make	made	made
send	sent	sent
give	gave	given
take	took	taken
write	wrote	written
steal	stole	stolen
break	broke	broken
choose	chose	chosen
speak	spoke	spoken
know	knew	known
do	did	done

Think of it like this: Active and passive are like two cameras at a wedding. One camera follows the person doing the work: "The caterers served the food." The other focuses on the result: "The food was served." Same event; you choose what to show.

Careful: Common mistakes: "It was happened yesterday" (happen has no passive; say "It happened yesterday"). "I am born in 1999" (say "I was born in 1999"; your birth is in the past). "The letter was wrote" (use the past participle: "was written"). "The work is completed by me" when you mean you did it (just say "I completed the work").

Careful: Do not turn every sentence into the passive when you speak. "The tea was made by me" sounds strange in a chat. Just say "I made the tea."

Tip: Look at notices around you: an SMS from your bank, signs at the station, a school circular. Find three passive sentences and read them aloud. Then say who probably did the action.

Passive voice: it was made, it is done

Explanation

When to use it

Watch the lesson

In real life: At the bank counter

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