In my 12 years teaching English, I’ve noticed there are some grammar points that can drive learners crazy.
But the problem isn’t the grammar. Or the learner.
The problem is not looking at it the right way.
One of these problems is using the passive in English.
The Passive in English
Firstly, what’s the passive? Here’s a quick reminder (with cats).
In English, we can express an action in two different ways: active and passive.
Active:
…and passive:
Yes, there are lots of different passive forms. And yes, they all look different. It depends on which tense you’re using.
But they’re all really just one rule.
That rule is: just add “be.”
The tricky part of the passive is remembering to do that. If you can use “be” in any tense, then you can basically use the passive in any tense.
OK. Seems simple, but how does it work in practice?
Try the adjective test.
What’s an adjective? Click here for some examples. big You can use adjectives to help you make passive sentences. Here, let me show you how. But first, let’s look at some sentences with adjectives. OK — except for the slightly tricky continuous at the end there, this is kind of easy, right? That’s because we just need to use “be.” Now, to form the passive, just replace the adjectives with verb 3. What’s verb 3? Click here for some examples. I’m going to choose the verb “ride” (verb 3 is “ridden”). Yes , that’s right. Verb 3 in the passive works just like an adjective.
small
happy
sad
young
old
expensive
cheap
quiet
noisy
interesting
boring
green
red
friendly
healthy…Some sentences with adjectives
Greg the giraffe is tall. present Greg the giraffe was smaller. past Greg the giraffe will be old. modal: will Greg the giraffe can be helpful. modal: can Greg the giraffe has been sick. present perfect Greg the giraffe is being unhelpful. present continuous The Passive
verb 1 verb 2 verb 3 eat ate eaten look looked looked make made made do did done drink drank drunk ride rode ridden 
Greg the giraffe is ridden everywhere every day. present Greg the giraffe was ridden to the pub yesterday. past Greg the giraffe will be ridden home this afternoon. modal: will Greg the giraffe can be ridden by Michael. modal: can Greg the giraffe has been ridden to the hospital. present perfect Greg the giraffe is being ridden to the pool now. present continuous
4 thoughts on “The Passive in English (One Simple Grammar Hack)”
Great work Gabriel! Been reading and doing your quizes all morning. Can’t get enough!
Thanks Girta. I’m glad you enjoy them. Remember, if there’s something you’d like me to write about, let me know!
Dear Gabriel,
Thanks for your great post. However, I have a question:
To me, “The giraffe was ridden”, sounds unnatural for the pictured situation. I would say “The giraffe was given a ride”.
However, I would definitely say, “The donkey is ridden by the owner almost every day.”
Why is it so?
Hi Esther,
Yeah — I think I’d agree with you and in retrospect, it might’ve been a bit more natural if I’d chosen a different verb (or just gone for “given a ride”).
This is one of our early posts and I guess at the time I was more concerned about making sure the grammar was clear.
Thanks for commenting.