PE-61: Passive Voice in All Tenses, and the by-agent
One pattern, twelve tenses: change be, keep V3. Plus passives with modals, two objects, and when to keep the by-phrase.
PE-61: Passive Voice in All Tenses, and the by-agent
In PE-60 you built the passive in two tenses. Here is the good news: you already know all the rest. The passive is be + V3, and only the word be ever changes. Put be into any tense you like — using the map from PE-41 — and the passive follows automatically. This lesson turns that one idea into a complete tool.
In this lesson you will learn
- The passive in every tense — by changing only be
- Passives with modals: can be done, must be done, should have been done
- What happens when a verb has two objects
- When to keep by, and when with is the right word
1. The complete table
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | They clean it. | It is cleaned. |
| Present Continuous | They are cleaning it. | It is being cleaned. |
| Past Simple | They cleaned it. | It was cleaned. |
| Past Continuous | They were cleaning it. | It was being cleaned. |
| Present Perfect | They have cleaned it. | It has been cleaned. |
| Past Perfect | They had cleaned it. | It had been cleaned. |
| Future (will) | They will clean it. | It will be cleaned. |
| going to | They are going to clean it. | It is going to be cleaned. |
| Future Perfect | They will have cleaned it. | It will have been cleaned. |
| Modals | They must clean it. | It must be cleaned. |
The bridge is being repaired at the moment, and the road has been closed since Monday.
Koʻprik hozir taʼmirlanyapti va yoʻl dushanbadan beri yopilgan.
Present Continuous passive, then Present Perfect passive — in one sentence.
2. Two tenses that avoid the passive
Grammatically possible, but nobody says them: the Present Perfect Continuous and the Future Continuous passives are too heavy (has been being cleaned). English simply uses the active instead.
The room has been being cleaned all morning.
They have been cleaning the room all morning.
3. Passives with modals
The formula is modal + be + V3, and for the past, modal + have been + V3.
This form must be signed today. — The window can't be opened. — The letter should have been sent last week.
Bu shakl bugun imzolanishi kerak. — Deraza ochilmaydi. — Xat oʻtgan hafta yuborilishi kerak edi.
4. Verbs with two objects
Some verbs give something to somebody: give, send, tell, offer, show, teach, pay. They have two objects, so they make two possible passives — and English usually prefers the one that starts with the person.
Active: The school gave Afsona a prize.
✓ Common: Afsona was given a prize.
✓ Also correct: A prize was given to Afsona.
Maktab Afsonaga sovrin berdi. → Afsonaga sovrin berildi.
Note the to in the second version — it is needed there.
5. by or with?
by — the doer
- The letter was written by my father.
- The window was broken by a ball.
with — the tool
- The bread was cut with a knife.
- It was written with a pencil.
And remember from PE-60: most passive sentences have no agent at all. Keep by only when the doer is genuinely interesting.
6. It is said that… — the impersonal passive
Formal English and news reports use this to say "people say" without naming anybody:
It is said that the bridge is 500 years old. = The bridge is said to be 500 years old.
Aytishlaricha, koʻprik 500 yillik. — Koʻprik 500 yillik deb hisoblanadi.
Common verbs here: say, believe, think, know, expect, report.
7. Common mistakes
The car is repairing now.
The car is being repaired now.
The work has finished by the students.
The work has been finished by the students.
This must to be done today.
This must be done today.
The letter was written by a pen.
The letter was written with a pen.
The homework should have been did yesterday.
The homework should have been done yesterday.
Practice
1 Make it passive: Somebody is painting the classroom.
Show answer
The classroom is being painted.
Present Continuous → is being + V3.
2 Make it passive: They have already sold all the tickets.
Show answer
All the tickets have already been sold.
Present Perfect → have been + V3, with already in its usual middle position.
3 Make it passive: You must wash these plates before dinner.
Show answer
These plates must be washed before dinner.
Modal + be + V3 — never must to be.
4 by or with: The soup was made ___ my mother, ___ fresh vegetables.
Show answer
by my mother, with fresh vegetables. The doer takes by; the materials take with.
5 Two passives from: The teacher showed us a video.
Show answer
We were shown a video. (more natural)
A video was shown to us. (also correct)
Key words — Kalit soʻzlar
- Agentbajaruvchi
- Instrumentvosita
- To repairtaʼmirlamoq
- To signimzolamoq
- To announceeʼlon qilmoq
- Impersonalshaxssiz
- It is said thataytishlaricha
- Prizesovrin
- Form (document)shakl, blanka
- Formalrasmiy
🎯 Remember this
- be carries the tense; V3 never changes.
- Modals: modal + be + V3 · past: modal + have been + V3.
- Two-object verbs give two passives — the person version is more natural.
- by = the doer · with = the tool.
- It is said that… is the formal way to report without naming a source.