2. Tenses in the Passive Voice

The use of a tense in a passive sentence must be the same as that in the active sentence.

Simple present

Examples:

  • Active : The big monkey scratches  the small monkey.
  • Passive:  The small monkey  is scratched  by the big monkey.

Simple present continuous

Examples:

  • Active : Their dog is chasing  my cat.  
  • Passive : My cat is being chased  by their dog.  

Present perfect

Examples:

  • Active : The men  have loaded  sacks of potatoes onto trucks. Active:  The men have loaded  the sheep onto trucks.
  • Passive : Sacks of potatoes have been loaded  onto trucks (by the men).  

Simple past

Examples:

  • Active : That kid  kicked  me on my knee.
  • Passive : I  was kicked  on my knee by that kid.  

Past continuous

Examples:

  • Active : We were discussing  climate change last evening.
  • Passive : Climate change was being discussed  by us last evening. .

Past perfect

Examples:

  • Active : The hunter  had shot  two wild boars.  
  • Passive : Two wild boars  had been shot  by the hunter.

Simple future

Examples:

  • Active : The children  will blow  up these balloons.
  • Passive : These balloons will be blown  up by the children.  

Future continuous

Examples:

  • Active : She will be painting  her husband's grave.
  • Passive : Her husband's grave will be being painted  by her.

Future perfect

Examples:

  • Active : The police  will have questioned  the suspects.
  • Passive : The suspects  will have been questioned  by the police.

Modal

Examples:

  • Active : He should  sell  his old car.
  • Passive : His old car  should be sold .
  • Active:  We must pay the bills.
  • Passive : The bills must be paid (by us).

Modal continuous

Examples:

  • Active:  We may be building  a giant sandcastle. .
  • Passive:  A giant sandcastle may be being built  by us.

Modal perfect

Examples:

  • Active : The robbers could have shot  their victims.
  • Passive : The victims  could have been shot  by the robbers. Â