🎯 By the end of this 5 minutes, you can:

form and use passive constructions across three tenses and identify why the passive is chosen over the active.

Form: be (any tense) + past participle

Tense	Active	Passive
Present simple	The chef makes the sauce.	The sauce is made by the chef.
Past simple	They built this hotel in 1985.	This hotel was built in 1985.
Present perfect	Someone has stolen the wine.	The wine has been stolen.
Future	We will review the policy.	The policy will be reviewed.

Why choose passive? Use it when: (1) the agent is unknown or obvious, (2) the object is more important than the subject, (3) you want to sound formal or impersonal (academic/professional writing), (4) you want to avoid assigning blame.

Task 1: Transform to passive

Rewrite using the passive:
1. Someone cleaned the room. (past)
2. They are reviewing all applications. (present continuous)
3. We will announce the results tomorrow. (future)
4. The manager has cancelled the event. (present perfect)

💡 Show answer

1. The room was cleaned. · 2. All applications are being reviewed. · 3. The results will be announced tomorrow. · 4. The event has been cancelled (by the manager).

Task 2: Why passive here?

Explain why the passive is used:
1. ‘The new restaurant has been opened in the centre of town.’ (newspaper headline)
2. ‘Mistakes were made.’ (political statement)
3. ‘This wine is produced in the Burgundy region of France.’

💡 Show answer

1. The restaurant is the focus, not who opened it · 2. Avoids naming who made the mistakes (strategic evasion) · 3. Unknown/obvious agent; the wine’s origin is what matters

Task 3: Active or passive?

Choose the more appropriate form for a professional incident report:
a) ‘John spilt coffee on the guest’s bag.’ OR b) ‘Coffee was spilt on the guest’s bag.’

💡 Show answer

(b) The passive is more appropriate in a formal incident report — it focuses on the event, not on blaming an individual, and sounds more objective.

Write a short paragraph (4 sentences) using the passive for a professional context of your choice: a company report, a hotel incident report, a news story, or a scientific finding. Use at least 3 different tenses.