Passive Voice

What it means

In an active sentence, the subject does the action: "Someone stole my bike." In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action: "My bike was stolen." It is like ត្រូវបាន in Khmer or 被 in Chinese, but English uses the passive more often, even for neutral or good news, not only bad things.

How to make it

• be + past participle: The letter was written.
• "be" shows the tense: is made (present), was made (past), has been made (present perfect), will be made (future), is being made (continuous).
• Active → passive: People speak English in many countries. → English is spoken in many countries.
• Add "by" to name the doer: The book was written by J.K. Rowling.
• Present perfect passive = has/have + been + past participle: The results have been checked twice.

When to use it

• The action is more important than who did it: English is spoken in many countries.
• The doer is unknown: My bike was stolen last night.
• Formal and scientific writing: The samples were tested in the lab.
• Formal news and announcements: The new bridge will be opened by the Prime Minister.

Compare

• Active (focus on the doer): The Prime Minister will open the new bridge.
• Passive (focus on the thing): The new bridge will be opened by the Prime Minister.
• Don't overuse it: active sentences are usually shorter and clearer. Use the passive only when you have a reason.

Common mistakes

• ❌ The accident was happened. → ✅ The accident happened. (only verbs with an object can be passive; happen, arrive, die and sleep have no object)
• ❌ The house was build in 1990. → ✅ The house was built in 1990. (use the past participle, not the base verb)
• ❌ English speaks in many countries. → ✅ English is spoken in many countries. (don't forget "be")