CARROTTA
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🔄 Compendium
Grammar
EN
English — the passive voice
The passive puts the receiver of the action first: The letter was written. Build it with be + the past participle.
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How it works
✓ Rule
passive = the right tense of be + the past participle: is made, was written, will be built. The doer, if mentioned, follows by: The letter was written by Anna.
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Across the tenses
| Tense | Example |
|---|---|
| present | English is spoken here. |
| past | The house was built in 1990. |
| future | The work will be done tomorrow. |
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Good to know
⚠ Note
Use the passive when the doer is unknown or unimportant: My car was stolen. Only transitive verbs (verbs with an object) can be made passive.