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is taught does not indicate direct action of the subject, the student, rather shows that the subject

has been acted upon. In the second example, the subject of the sentence approaches or connects
with the verb somewhat indirectly or passively. Hence, it is called a case of passive voice.

Formation of Passive Voice

Each tense has its own passive voice which is created by using a form of the auxiliary verb
to be + past participle.

Remember
Verbs that do not have an object, for example, arrive, exist, go, live, sleep, cannot be changed into the
passive form.

Hence, the following two aspects are very important in the formation of passive voice.

The key to the formation of passive voice is the use of past participle form of the verb with an
auxiliary verb put before it.

l You took it yesterday. (active voice)

l It was taken by you yesterday (passive voice)

auxillary verb past participle

The verb form in a passive voice sentence takes shape, in accordance with the tense, being used
in it. The following chart shows the formation of sentences in passive voice.

Auxiliary
Tense + Past Active/Passive Voice
Participle

I play cricket every day. (active)
subject + am/
Simple is/are + past Cricket is played by me every day. (passive)
Present participle + My friend waters the plants. (active)
by + object
The plants are watered by my friend. (passive)

subject + They are playing football. (active)
am/is/are +
Present being + past Football is being played by them. (passive)
Continuous He is feeding the animals. (active)
participle +
by + object Animals are being fed by him. (passive)

subject + I have planted many trees. (active)
has/have +
Present been + past Many trees have been planted by me. (passive)
Perfect She has posted the letter. (active)
participle +
by + object The letter has been posted by her. (passive)

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