The rule, as people use it
In an active sentence, the person who does the action comes first: "Chen fixed the printer." In a passive sentence, the thing the action happens to comes first, and the doer moves to the end or disappears: "The printer was fixed." You build the passive with a form of "be" plus the third form of the verb: is made, was sent, has been canceled, will be delivered.
In conversation, active is the default. It's shorter and clearer, and it sounds like a person talking. Speakers switch to passive for a reason. Sometimes they don't know who did it: "My bike was stolen." Sometimes it doesn't matter: "The office is cleaned every night." And sometimes they'd rather not say: "Mistakes were made." You'll hear that last one a lot at work, and it's worth noticing.
The mistake learners make is forgetting the "be" part: "My car stolen last night." Without "was", it's not a sentence. The other is using passive where active is more natural, like "The pizza was eaten by us." Say "We ate the pizza." Add "by" only when the doer is news: "This bridge was designed by a student."
Examples
Tap a sentence to hear it. Say it after the voice.
Fill the gap
Type the missing words, then check. The full sentence plays when you get it.
- 1
My phone (steal) at the concert.
- 2
The meeting has (cancel).
- 3
English (speak) in a lot of countries.
- 4
Poppy (give) a prize for her work.
- 5
The results will (send) by email.
- 6
(you / invite) to the party last week?
- 7
This house (build) in 1920.
- 8
Dinner (serve) at seven every night.
Practice · 3 min
Think of five things that went wrong for you or someone you know: something lost, broken, canceled, delayed or forgotten. Say each one out loud in the passive, without saying who did it: "My order was delayed." Then pick two and say them again in the active, adding who did it. Write all seven sentences and check every passive one has a form of "be" or "get".
Say it today
Use it once in a real conversation before tomorrow. Out loud counts, even to yourself.