PASSIVE VOICE

Basic Form:
S + to be + V3 + O
to be:is,am,are,was,were

Somebody cleans this room everyday.
This room is cleaned everyday.

Somebody cleaned this room yesterday
This room was cleaned yesterday.


When we use the passive, who or what causes the action is often unknown or unimportant.
A lot of money was stolen in the robbery.
Is this room cleaned everyday?

If we want to say who does or what causes the action, we uses by.
This house was built by my grandfather.
Two hundred people are employed by the company.

The passive voice of Present Continuous.
Study the following active and passive forms:
Somebody is cleaning the room at the moment.
The room is being cleaned at the moment.
So the form:
S + To be (is, am, are) + being + V3

The passive voice of Future Tense.
Examples:
Anton will finish the work at 5:00 PM. Active
The work will be finished by Anton at 5:00 PM. Passive

Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. Active
A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight. Passive

The passive voice of Present Perfect and Past Perfect.
Study the following active and passive forms:
Many tourists have visited that castle. active
That castle has been visited by many tourists. passive

George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license. active
Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license. passive

Study this example situation:
Jono is very old. Nobody knows exactly how old he is, but it is said that he is 102 years old.

We can use this structure with a number of other verbs, especially:
Believed / Considered / Reported / Known
Expected / Understood

Annisa works very hard. It is said that she works 16 hours a day.
The cop are looking for a missing boy. It is believed that the boy is wearing a white shirt and blue jeans.
It is known that people can understand each other when they speak in a particular language.