The passive is used when the action or its result matters more than the person who does it. Form: to be + past participle. Present Simple: Cotton is grown in many regions. Past Simple: The bridge was built in 1998. Future: The festival will be held in May. With a modal: Litter should be put in the bin. Present Perfect: The road has been repaired. If the doer is important, add by: The poem was written by a student. Only transitive verbs (verbs with an object) can become passive; you cannot make a passive from “to arrive”. For a descriptive essay choose adjectives that appeal to the senses: quiet, crowded, breathtaking, narrow, ancient.
Worked examples
Fruit is dried in the sun and then it is sold at the bazaar. The old madrasa was restored last year, and a new museum will be opened next spring.
Which of these sentences is passive? – The students planted trees (active). Trees were planted by the students (passive).
Class activity
“Active–Passive tennis”: in pairs, one student says an active sentence and the partner changes it to the passive at once (We eat plov – Plov is eaten). A mistake loses a point.
Practice
1
Put the verb in the passive: This carpet ___ (make) by hand in Margilan. (Present Simple)
is made
2
Change to the passive: Workers repaired the road in August.
The road was repaired in August (by workers).
3
Write one passive sentence about your town with will or should.
For example: A new park will be built near the river. / Old buildings should be protected.
4
Why do newspapers often use the passive in headlines like “Bank robbed”?
Because the event is more important than the doer, or the doer is unknown.