Active / Passive Overview

Active Passive

Once a week, Tom cleans the Once a week, the house is cleaned by
Simple Present
house. Tom.

Present Right now, Sarah is writing the Right now, the letter is being written
Continuous letter. by Sarah.

Simple Past Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.

The salesman was helping the The customer was being helped by
Past
customer when the thief came into the salesman when the thief came into
Continuous
the store. the store.

Many tourists have visited that That castle has been visited by many
Present Perfect
castle. tourists.

Present Perfect Recently, John has been doing the Recently, the work has been being
Continuous work. done by John.

George had repaired many cars Many cars had been repaired by
Past Perfect before he received his mechanic's George before he received his
license. mechanic's license.

The restaurant's fantastic dinners had

Chef Jones had been preparing
Past Perfect been being prepared by Chef Jones
the restaurant's fantastic dinners for
Continuous for two years before he moved to
two years before he moved to Paris.
Paris.

Simple Future Someone will finish the work by The work will be finished by 5:00
will 5:00 PM. PM.

Simple Future Sally is going to make a beautiful A beautiful dinner is going to be

be going to dinner tonight. made by Sally tonight.

Future
At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be
Continuous
washing the dishes. being washed by John.
will

Future At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are
Continuous to be washing the dishes. going to be being washed by John.
be going to

Future Perfect They will have completed the The project will have been
will project before the deadline. completed before the deadline.

Future Perfect They are going to have completed The project is going to have been
be going to the project before the deadline. completed before the deadline.

Future Perfect The famous artist will have been The mural will have been being
Continuous painting the mural for over six painted by the famous artist for over
will months by the time it is finished. six months by the time it is finished.

The famous artist is going to have The mural is going to have been
Future Perfect
been painting the mural for over being painted by the famous artist for
Continuous
six months by the time it is over six months by the time it is
be going to
finished. finished.

Used to Jerry used to pay the bills. The bills used to be paid by Jerry.

My mother would always make The pies would always be made by

Would Always
the pies. my mother.

Future in the
I knew John would finish the work I knew the work would be finished
Past
by 5:00 PM. by 5:00 PM.
Would

Future in the
I thought Sally was going to make I thought a beautiful dinner was going
Past
a beautiful dinner tonight. to be made by Sally tonight.
Was Going to

Generally, we avoid using the continuous form of the passive with the
future, present perfect, past perfect and future perfect, although
present continuous and past continuous are quite common and
sound quite natural in the passive voice.
The passive:

For the purpose of the chart below I have used the verb to
clean, but there are obviously many other possibilities:

Simple Continuous
Present: It is cleaned... It is being cleaned...
Past: It was cleaned.. It was being cleaned
Future: It will be cleaned... xxxx xxxx xxxx
Present Perfect: It has been cleaned... xxxx xxxx xxxx
Past Perfect: It had been cleaned... xxxx xxxx xxxx
Future Perfect: It will have been cleaned xxxx xxxx xxxx

Study these further examples of use and note how we avoid

using the continuous form of the passive in the final four
tenses listed:

 This toilet at Terminal One is in frequent use and is

cleaned every four hours. It is being cleaned now, so
you'll have to use the one that is situated opposite the
British Airways check-in desk.
 My daughter's portrait was delivered to my house in
London before I arrived home. I didn't expect this to
happen as it was still being painted when I began my
journey back.
 You will be told when to board the plane in due course.
An announcement will be made, don't worry. And one of
my colleagues will be accompanying you all the way to
Guadalajara. (NOT: You will be being accompanied...)
 The initial enquiry into the accident has been completed.
The full enquiry has been in progress (NOT: has been
being conducted) for six months and will be completed
by Christmas.
 I had no idea why I had been chosen to represent my
country. I was aware that people had been watching
me (NOT: I had been being watched), but it still came as
a surprise.
 The inspection will have been carried out and the report
will have been written by the time Charles gets back from
America. When he gets on that plane in New York, the
inspectors will be holding a press conference to report
their findings (NOT: their findings will have been being
reported)

We avoid using the continuous form of the passive in these

examples by switching to the active voice or by using people to
refer to no person in particular.

Note that in informal English we can also use you or they to

refer to people in general and also in this way avoid using the
passive. Compare the following:
  They're going to build another runway at Heathrow
Airport.
 A new runway will be built at Heathrow Airport some
time next year.

 You can buy all kinds of exotic food in Soho.

 All kinds of exotic food can be bought in Soho.

 You have to leave all your valuables and jewellery in the

lockers that they provide in the changing rooms. You
can't take valuables into the sports centre itself.
 All valuables and jewellery must be left in the lockers that
are provided in the changing rooms. Valuables may not
be taken into the sports centre itself.

When should we use the Passive?

1. When we want to change the focus of the sentence:

o The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more interested in the
painting than the artist in this sentence)
2. When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or
'people in general':
o He was arrested (obvious agent, the police).
o My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
o The road is being repaired (unimportant agent).
o The form can be obtained from the post office (people in general).
3. In factual or scientific writing:
o The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer.
4. In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they (these can be used in
speaking or informal writing):
o The brochure will be finished next month.
5. In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence to improve style:
o Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell.
('Dr. Bell wrote the books' sound clumsy)
6. When the subject is very long:
o I was surprised by how well the students did in the test. (More natural than: 'how
well the students did in the test surprised me')

di, rumus yang digunakan untuk membuat Passive Voice dalam Present Perfect Continuous Tense adalah
sebagai berikut :

S + Have/ Has + Been + Being + V3

To Be yang digunakan untuk membuat kalimat Passive Voice dalam Tense ini adalah To Be bentuk ke-3
yaitu "Been + Being".

Contoh pembuatan kalimat Passive Voice dalam bentuk positive :

Active :

 They have been doing the TOEFL Test for two hours. (Mereka telah (dan masih sedang)
mengerjakan Test TOEFL selama dua jam)
 We have been learning english since 7 p.m. (Kami telah (dan masih sedang) belajar bahasa
Inggris sejak jam 7 malam).
 She has been waiting for you for about an hour. (Dia (P) telah (dan masih sedang) menunggumu
selama sekitar satu jam).

Passive :

 The TOEFL Test has been being done by them for two hours. (TOEFL Test telah (dan masih
sedang) dikerjakan oleh mereka selama dua jam)
 English has been being learned by us since 7 p.m. (Bahasa Inggris telah (dan masih sedang)
dipelajari oleh kami sejak jam 7 malam).
 You have been being waited by her for about an hour. (Kamu telah (dan masih sedang) ditunggu
oleh dia (P) selama sekitar satu jam).

Apabila contoh kalimat Passive Voice diatas ingin kita rubah menjadi kalimat negative, maka kita cukup
menambahkan "not" setelah "Have/ Has". Jadi hasilnya akan menjadi seperti ini :
(-) The TOEFL Test has not been being done by them for two hours
(-) English hasn't been being learned by us since 7 p.m.
(-) You haven't been being waited by her for about an hour..

Dan apabila kita ingin merubah contoh kalimat di atas menjadi kalimat dalam bentuk pertanyaan, maka
kita cukup memindahkan "Have/ Has" ke awal kalimat, sehingga hasilnya akan menjadi seperti ini :
(?) Has The TOEFL Test been being done by them for two hours?
(?) Has English been being learned by us since 7 p.m?
(?) Have you been being waited by her for about an hour?

Catatan : Passive Voice pada tenses ini tidak umum digunakan dalam percakapan sehari-hari.

Jika active voice dalam past perfect continuous tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah had been +
being.
Contoh:
· Active : He had been meeting them.
· Passive : They had been being met by him.
· Active : She had been watering this plant.
· Passive : This plant had been being watered by her.
Thank you ~ Bokutachi kara kimi e ~
Thank you ~ From us to you ~

Sayonara wo suru mae ni

Before we bid goodbye
Bokutachi kara kimi e
From us to you
Kansha no kimochi ni ma gokoro wo komete
From the bottom of our hearts, we'd like to send
Todoketai yo, kono uta
These feelings of gratefulness, through this song

Kyou, kimi to bokutachi wa

Today, you and us
Ikutsu yume wo mita darou
How many dreams you’ve seen?
Kazu kazu no bamen irunna omoi de
I have many settings, and many thoughts
Zenbu hikari kagayaku with you
All of them will shine with you

Kitto minna no egao ya kizuna ga

Surely, everyone's smile and this bond
Asu kara no hagemi ni naru yo
Will become tomorrow’s courage

Say goodbye kyou no hi no minna ni

Say goodbye to your today’s sun
Wakare wa mata au yakusokusa
Farewell is a promise that we’ll meet again
Kokoro hitotsu ni naru shunkan wo
The moment when our heart become one
Kasareru tabi ni ai ga umareru
On this long journey, love was born

Say goodbye mata tsugu aerukara

Say goodbye and we'll meet again
Wakare wa kimi omou jikan sa
Farewell is the time when I think about you
Kokoro hitotsu ni shite itsumademo
Our hearts will always be one
Bokutachi wa tsunagari au
We are all connected to each other
Thank you for your love

Yume no tsuzuki wa taeru koto naku

Keep dreaming is a thing that must always continue
Doko made datte afurete ikuyo
Even when you go nowhere

Say goodbye kyou no hi no minna ni

Say good bye to your today’s sun
Wakare wa mata au yakusokusa
Farewell is a promise that we’ll meet again
Kokoro hitotsu ni naru shunkan wo
The moments when our heart become one
Kasareru tabi ni ai ga umareru
On the long journey, love was born

Say goodbye mata tsugu aerukara

Say goodbye, and we'll meet again
Wakare wa kimi omou jikan sa
Farewell is the time when I think about you
Kokoro hitotsu ni shite itsumademo
Our hearts will always be one
Bokutachi wa tsunagari au
We all are connected to each other
Thank you for your love