CEFR B2 · 5 min
As a sommelier at The Ivy, I lived inside the passive voice without knowing it had a name. ‘The wine is aged for twelve months in French oak.’ ‘The cork is extracted at the table.’ ‘The temperature is maintained at 16 degrees.’ In fine dining, the process matters — not who does it. That is exactly when English reaches for the passive.
Today's focus: Passive voice: is/are + pp, was/were + pp, has been + pp; when and why to use it
Form:
- Present: is/are + past participle: ‘The wine is served chilled.’
- Past: was/were + pp: ‘The reservation was cancelled.’
- Present perfect: has/have been + pp: ‘The sauce has been reduced for forty minutes.’
When to use passive:
- The action matters more than the actor (‘Mistakes were made.’)
- The actor is obvious, unknown, or unimportant
- Formal/scientific/process descriptions
Add ‘by’ only when the actor matters: ‘The dish was created by the head chef.’
Examples in context
Try it — click to reveal the answer
▶ Transform: ‘The chef prepares the amuse-bouche fresh every day.’
The ‘by the chef’ part can be omitted if it’s obvious or unimportant.
▶ Why is passive used here? ‘English is spoken in over 50 countries.’
Passive is ideal when the subject would be ‘people’, ‘someone’, ‘they’ — vague or obvious actors.
▶ Find the error: ‘The report was written by me yesterday.’
Passive is not always better. If the actor is known and the sentence is simple, active is cleaner and stronger.
Use passive when the action or result matters more than the person doing it. Add ‘by’ only when that person is important. For simple sentences with a known actor, keep it active.
Independent project; not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification. Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard.