The passive voice is a marker of higher-level English — used well it earns marks on CELPIP/IELTS writing; used everywhere it makes writing vague and weak. The skill is knowing the form and when to choose it.
Active vs Passive
Active: the subject does the action. "The technician repaired the machine."
Passive: the subject receives the action. "The machine was repaired (by the technician)."
The passive moves the focus from the doer to the thing affected.
The Form: be + Past Participle
Across tenses, only the form of be changes; the past participle stays:
| Tense | Passive form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | am/is/are + pp | "The reports are reviewed weekly." |
| Past simple | was/were + pp | "The form was submitted yesterday." |
| Present perfect | has/have been + pp | "Your request has been approved." |
| Future | will be + pp | "You will be contacted soon." |
| Modal | modal + be + pp | "This must be completed today." |
Only transitive verbs (verbs with an object) can be passive. You cannot make "arrive" or "happen" passive.
When the Passive Is the Right Choice
- The doer is unknown or irrelevant: "My car was stolen." (we don’t know who)
- The result matters more than the actor: "The bridge was built in 1932."
- Formal / academic / official tone: "The data were analysed using…" "Your application is being processed."
- Diplomacy: "A mistake was made" softens blame vs "You made a mistake."
Government and institutional English (which newcomers read constantly) is full of justified passives — recognising them aids comprehension.
The "by" Agent — Often Omitted
Add "by + doer" only if it carries information: "The novel was written by a Canadian author." Omit it when obvious or unknown: "English is spoken here." (by whom is irrelevant). Over-using "by" agents is a common learner habit.
Don’t Overuse It
Strong writing is mostly active — it is clearer and more direct. Chains of passives ("It was decided that it would be required that…") read as evasive. Use the passive deliberately for the reasons above, not as a default style.
Errors That Cost Marks
- Missing "be": ✗ "The report submitted yesterday." → ✓ "The report was submitted yesterday."
- Wrong participle: ✗ "It was wrote by her." → ✓ "It was written by her."
- Passive with an intransitive verb: ✗ "An accident was happened." → ✓ "An accident happened."
- Tense lost: keep the original tense in the be form, not the participle.
How to Practise
Take a paragraph you wrote. Find one sentence where the result matters more than the doer and rewrite it in the passive; find one weak passive and make it active. Deliberately switching voice on your own sentences builds real control — far more than transformation drills.
Bottom Line
Master be + past participle across tenses, choose the passive for unknown/irrelevant doers, formal tone, or diplomacy — and otherwise prefer the active. Controlled, purposeful use of the passive is exactly the kind of range that lifts a CLB writing band.
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