The Passive Voice: Things Get Done (B2)
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B2 ⏱ 5 minutes
The Passive Voice: Things Get Done
🔎 What Is the Passive Voice?
In an active sentence, the subject does the action.
In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action.
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| The chef sliced the foie gras. | The foie gras was sliced (by the chef). |
| They reduce the sauce for three hours. | The sauce is reduced for three hours. |
| The team will set the table. | The table will be set by the team. |
📄 Form: be + past participle
| Tense | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | is / are + past participle | The wine is served chilled. |
| Past simple | was / were + past participle | The table was set before dinner. |
| Present perfect | has / have been + past participle | The menu has been changed. |
| Future | will be + past participle | The guests will be welcomed at 7 pm. |
| Modal passive | modal + be + past participle | Bottles must be stored on their side. |
📚 Examples from the Kitchen and Dining Room
- The foie gras was sliced by hand and arranged on a chilled plate.
- The sauce was reduced for three hours until it reached the perfect consistency.
- The table was set with military precision — not a single glass out of place.
- The wine list is updated every season to reflect the best available vintages.
- Every reservation will be confirmed twenty-four hours before service.
🔎 When to Use the Passive
- When the doer is unknown: The bottle was opened. (We don’t know who.)
- When the doer is obvious: The suspect was arrested. (Clearly by police.)
- When the action is more important than the doer: The sauce is reduced for three hours.
- In formal and professional writing: reports, menus, procedures.
- To add the doer, use by: The dessert was created by the head chef.
👥 Practice Task
Rewrite each active sentence as a passive sentence. Keep the same tense.
- The kitchen staff prepare the mise en place every morning.
- A new sommelier trained the waiting staff last week.
- The manager will announce the new menu tomorrow.
- Someone has already polished all the glasses.
- The chef must store the truffles in a cool, dark place.
👁️ Show Answers
- The mise en place is prepared by the kitchen staff every morning.
- The waiting staff were trained by a new sommelier last week.
- The new menu will be announced (by the manager) tomorrow.
- All the glasses have already been polished.
- The truffles must be stored in a cool, dark place (by the chef).
💬 Writing Practice
Describe a process you know well — making a meal, preparing for a meeting, cleaning a room — using at least three passive sentences.
Example: “The ingredients are chosen the night before. The vegetables are chopped and stored in the fridge. The dish is cooked slowly over two hours.”
Cambridge CELTA course completed — 120 supervised teaching hours and four written assignments validated to the required standard. Independent project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification.
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