Passive Verb Forms
Study the following table carefully and note how the verb write changes its form when it is changed to the passive.
| Tense | Active Verb | Passive Verb |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | write/writes | is/am/are written |
| Present continuous | is/am/are writing | is/are/am being written |
| Present perfect | has/have written | has/have been written |
| Simple past | wrote | was/were written |
| Past continuous | was/were writing | was/were being written |
| Past perfect | had written | had been written |
| Simple future | will/shall write | will/shall be written |
| Future continuous | will/shall be writing | ————- |
| Future perfect | will/shall have written | will/shall have been written |
Perfect continuous forms of all three tenses are not used in the passive. Similarly future continuous tense is also not used in the passive.
| Tense | Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | John writes a letter. | A letter is written by John. |
| Present continuous | John is writing a letter . | A letter is being written by John. |
| Present perfect | John has written a letter. | A letter has been written by John. |
| Simple Past | John wrote a letter. | A letter was written by John. |
| Past continuous | John was writing a letter. | A letter was being written by John. |
| Past perfect | John had written a letter. | A letter had been written by John. |
| Simple future | John will write a letter. | A letter will be written by John. |
| Future perfect | John will have written a letter. | A letter will have been written by John. |
