FluencyLab
GrammarHub
Use be + past participle when the action or receiver is more important than the person who does it.
Overview
Use be + past participle when the action or receiver is more important than the person who does it.
Form and rules
Present simple passive: am/is/are + past participle: Coffee is grown here.
Past simple passive: was/were + past participle: The bridge was built in 1990.
Use the passive when the doer is unknown, obvious or not important.
Add by + agent only when the doer is useful information.
The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
A closer look
Add by + agent only when the doer is useful information.
The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
Examples
English is spoken in many countries.
The room is cleaned every day.
This building was designed by a local architect.
The emails were sent yesterday.
Rice is grown in this region.
Common mistakes
The focus is on coffee, which receives the action, so use the present simple passive: is + past participle.
Last year is finished past time, and the road received the action, so use the past simple passive.
Ready to practise?
The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.