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Active → Passive — The Reliable Formula

✍️ Grammar  ·  ⏱️ 6 min read  ·  Updated June 2026

The one rule

Object becomes the subject → add the correct form of be → main verb becomes V3 (past participle) → optional by + agent. The key: the tense lives in the "be" verb, never in the main verb.

Active: Rama writes a letter. → Passive: A letter is written by Rama.
Active tensePassive (be + V3)
Simple Presentis / am / are + V3
Present Continuousis / am / are being + V3
Present Perfecthas / have been + V3
Simple Pastwas / were + V3
Past Continuouswas / were being + V3
Past Perfecthad been + V3
Simple Futurewill be + V3
Future Perfectwill have been + V3
Modals (can/must/should)modal + be + V3

Special cases (high-frequency in exams)

  • Imperatives → "Let + object + be + V3." Shut the door. → Let the door be shut.
  • Questions keep their question form: Who wrote it? → By whom was it written?
  • Verbs of feeling use with, not by: "She was pleased with the gift."
  • Continuous & Perfect-Continuous tenses are rarely changed to passive — if asked, only the basic continuous (is being / was being + V3) is used.
⚠️ Don't drop the agent blindly. Keep "by + agent" when it carries information ("America was discovered by Columbus"); drop it only when the doer is unknown or obvious.

← Back to all study notes  ·  Notes by Dr Pankaj Tiwari, English Lecturer & Author.