The passive is built on be + past participle. To move it across tenses, you change only the form of be — the past participle stays the same. This lesson shows how that works in every standard tense.
The core pattern
| TENSE | FORM OF *BE* + V3 |
|---|---|
| Present simple | am / is / are + V3 |
| Present continuous | am / is / are being + V3 |
| Past simple | was / were + V3 |
| Past continuous | was / were being + V3 |
| Present perfect | have / has been + V3 |
| Past perfect | had been + V3 |
| Future (will) | will be + V3 |
| Future (going to) | am / is / are going to be + V3 |
Everything else — questions, negatives, agents with by — works exactly as it does in the active voice. You only conjugate be.
Simple tenses
Present simple describes the passive version of routines and general facts.
Past simple is the most frequent passive form in narration and news.
Future with will is used for predictions and decisions.
Future with going to signals plans and intentions already in place.
Continuous tenses
Continuous passives insert being between the form of be and the participle.
Present continuous — happening right now.
Past continuous — in progress at a specific past moment, often interrupted.
Perfect tenses
Perfect passives use been after the auxiliary.
Present perfect — a past action with present relevance.
Past perfect — an action completed before another past action.
Quick reference with full sentences
| TENSE | ACTIVE | PASSIVE |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | They deliver the mail daily. | The mail is delivered daily. |
| Present continuous | They are painting the wall. | The wall is being painted. |
| Past simple | Daniel wrote the report. | The report was written by Daniel. |
| Past continuous | They were cleaning the room. | The room was being cleaned. |
| Present perfect | Sarah has finished the task. | The task has been finished. |
| Past perfect | They had locked the door. | The door had been locked. |
| Future (will) | The team will release the update. | The update will be released. |
| Future (going to) | Maria is going to send the invoice. | The invoice is going to be sent. |
Rarer forms
A few passive constructions are grammatically possible but almost never used in practice.
- Future perfect passive — will have been + V3. Occasionally useful: The project will have been completed by June.
- Present perfect continuous passive — has / have been being + V3. Theoretically exists, but native speakers avoid it and rephrase: The software has been tested for six months is preferred over has been being tested.
- Past perfect continuous passive — had been being + V3. Same story — awkward and rare.
- Future continuous passive — will be being + V3. Also avoided.
If you find yourself needing one of the last three, rework the sentence into the active voice or use a simpler passive tense.
Common mistakes
Missing been in perfect tenses
Missing being in continuous tenses
Wrong form of be for the subject
Using V2 instead of V3
Future passive structure
Double auxiliary in continuous passive