Passive voice worksheets for ESL
50 worksheets and 2 lessons · Modals & verb patterns
Start here — 6 free samples
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The passive worksheets
50 printable worksheets with answer keys; the 24 most used, easiest level first.
The passive lessons
2 ready lessons for the four skills: teach on the board, set online or print.
About The passive
The passive is formed with be in the appropriate tense + past participle: English is spoken here. The bridge was built in 1890. The results will be announced tomorrow. We use it when the action matters more than who did it, when the doer is unknown or obvious, and in formal and scientific writing. The agent can be added with by: The novel was written by Orwell.
It is usually introduced at B1 in the present and past simple, extended at B2 to other tenses and modals (It should be finished by Friday), and at C1 covers impersonal passives (It is said that…, He is believed to be…). Learners forget be (*The car stolen), choose the wrong participle, overuse by-phrases and make intransitive verbs passive (*The accident was happened).
This page collects printable passive voice worksheets with answer keys, which can be printed as PDFs or solved online via a class link.
Teaching tips: The passive
- Use processes, such as how chocolate or paper is made, to present the present passive in a natural context.
- Build a tense table in which only be changes: is made, was made, has been made, will be made.
- Run a general-knowledge quiz with past passive questions: When was the telephone invented? Where were the first Olympic Games held?
- Watch for intransitive verbs in the passive (*It was happened); only verbs that take an object can become passive.
- Leave out unnecessary agents: in The window was broken by someone, the by-phrase adds nothing.
Questions teachers ask
When should I use the passive instead of the active?
When the receiver of the action is the topic, when the doer is unknown or unimportant, or in formal and academic writing where an impersonal tone is expected.
What is the get passive?
In informal English, get can replace be, often for unexpected or unwelcome events: He got arrested. My bike got stolen. It is mainly used in speech.
How do verbs with two objects work in the passive?
Verbs such as give, send and offer allow either object to become the subject: I was given a present or A present was given to me. The version with the person as subject is more common.