The Formation and Use of the Passive Voice in English

Grammatical voice is the expression of relationships between the predicate and nominal functions. The two voices in the English language are the active voice and the passive voice. The following sections discuss the formation and use of the passive voice in English.

All forms of the passive voice in English include some form of the verb be followed by a past participle. The following verb chart outlines the verb phrase patterns for the passive voice: For example:

• The packages are delivered. (passive simple present)
• The packages are being delivered. (passive present progressive)
• The packages have been delivered. (passive present perfect)
• The packages have been being delivered. (passive present perfect-progressive)
• The packages were delivered. (passive simple past)
• The packages were being delivered. (passive past progressive)
• The packages had been delivered. (passive past perfect)
• The packages had been being delivered. (passive past perfect-progressive)

Sentences in the passive voice differ from sentences in the active voice in that subject of a passive sentence receives the action of the verb while the direct object of an active sentence receives the action of the verb. For example, the following sentences are active countersentences to the previous passive sentences:

• The postal worker delivers the packages. (active simple present)
• The postal worker is delivering the packages. (active present progressive)
• The postal worker has delivered the packages. (active present perfect)
• The postal worker has been delivering the packages. (active present perfect-progressive)
• The postal worker delivered the packages. (active simple past)
• The postal worker was delivering the packages. (active past progressive)
• The postal worker had delivered the packages. (active past perfect)
• The postal worker had been delivering the packages. (active past perfect-progressive)

Although the verb be is the traditional auxiliary verb used to form the passive voice, many native English speakers also use the verb get when forming passive sentences. For example:

• The cookies were eaten. (be)
• The cookies got eaten. (get)
• My coworker is being disciplined. (be)
• My coworker is getting disciplined. (get)
• The bathroom had been cleaned. (be)
• The bathroom had gotten cleaned. (get)
• Vegetables have been being stolen. (be)
• Vegetables have been getting stolen. (get)

Note that the verb get can only replace the be that directly precedes the past participle. Therefore, while the use of get in have been getting stolen is grammatically possible, the use of get in *have gotten getting stolen is not. (The asterisk * indicates an incorrect example.)

The difference between the use of the verb be and the use of the verb get in the passive voice is, like in most linguistic situations in which multiple forms are possible, a matter of style rather than grammatical correctness with be being more formal and get being less formal. For example, most native English speakers would only ever write was eaten in an academic essay but often say and hear got eaten in casual conversation.

To learn about some commonly cited reasons for avoiding the passive voice, please continue reading on page two.