Passive Voice in Different Tenses
Learn how the form of be shifts across the simple, continuous and perfect tenses, while the past participle stays exactly the same.
One pattern, many tenses
Only the form of be changes from one tense to the next.
Every passive sentence is built from be and a past participle. Moving between tenses only changes the form of be; the past participle itself never changes.
In The cake is baked., The cake was baked., The cake has been baked. and The cake will be baked., the word baked stays exactly the same across all four tenses. Only is, was, has been and will be change.
This lesson works through the simple, continuous and perfect tenses in the passive voice, one group at a time.
Before you begin
This is one of ten topics on the passive voice.
This lesson focuses on passive voice tenses specifically. The passive voice as a whole includes nine other topics, each covered in its own lesson.
If you would like an overview of the passive voice in general, begin with the Passive Voice page.
The central idea
The tense signal moves from the main verb to be.
Compare the same event in the present simple and the past simple passive.
01
Present simple
The cake is baked fresh every morning.
02
Past simple
The cake was baked fresh this morning.
The useful question is: which word carries the tense?
Is and was carry the tense here. Baked stays the same in both sentences, since the past participle does not change with tense.
The simple tenses
Be changes form to place the passive sentence in time.
Present simple: am / is / are
The store is closed on Sundays.
Past simple: was / were
The store was closed last Sunday.
Future simple: will be
The store will be closed next Sunday.
The continuous tenses
Being is added to show an action in progress.
Present continuous: am / is / are + being
The report is being reviewed right now.
Past continuous: was / were + being
The report was being reviewed when the call came in.
Being signals the action was, or is, actively in progress.
The perfect tenses
Been is added to connect the action to a later point in time.
Present perfect: has / have + been
The documents have been signed.
Past perfect: had + been
The documents had been signed before the meeting started.
Been signals that the action was completed by a certain point.
A quick reference
The same verb, across every tense.
Present simple: The room is cleaned every day.
Present continuous: The room is being cleaned right now.
Past simple: The room was cleaned yesterday.
Past continuous: The room was being cleaned when we arrived.
Present perfect: The room has been cleaned already.
Past perfect: The room had been cleaned before the guests arrived.
Future simple: The room will be cleaned tomorrow.
A useful decision guide
Ask when the action happens, and whether it is in progress or completed.
01
Does the sentence refer to now, the past, or the future?
This decides which form of be to use as the base.
02
Is the action still in progress?
If so, add being for a continuous passive tense.
03
Is the action connected to a later point in time?
If so, add been for a perfect passive tense.
04
Has the main verb’s past participle changed at all?
It should not; only the surrounding form of be changes.
Common mistakes
A missing being, been, or will changes the tense entirely.
Being is needed for a continuous passive tense.
Not: The report is reviewed right now.
Correct: The report is being reviewed right now.
Without being, the sentence reads as a general habit rather than an action in progress.
Been is needed for a perfect passive tense.
Not: The documents have signed.
Correct: The documents have been signed.
Without been, the sentence loses its passive meaning entirely.
Will be, not will, forms the future passive.
Not: The store will closed next Sunday.
Correct: The store will be closed next Sunday.
Check your understanding
Which tense does each sentence use?
Choose the correct answer for each sentence.
The bridge is being repaired this week.
✅ Exactly! Being signals the action is currently in progress.
❎ Not quite. Look for the word that shows the action is in progress.
Is there a “being” in the sentence?
The tickets had been sold before we arrived.
✅ Exactly! Had been signals the past perfect passive.
❎ Not quite. Look at the form of “be” used here.
Is there a “had been” or just a “was”?
The results will be announced tomorrow.
✅ Exactly! Will be places the sentence in the future.
❎ Not quite. Look at the word “will” and what it signals about time.
What word signals the future here?
Choose the best explanation
Select the sentence that explains the mistake correctly.
Why is “The documents have signed.” not passive?
✅ Exactly! “Been” is the piece that makes this a passive, rather than active, perfect tense.
❎ Not quite. Compare this sentence to a correctly formed present perfect passive.
Why does “The store will closed next Sunday.” need to be corrected?
✅ Exactly! The future simple passive is formed with “will be” plus the past participle.
❎ Not quite. Compare this to the correctly formed future passive shown earlier in this lesson.
Try it another way
Complete each sentence with the correct passive form.
Type the missing words.
✅ Exactly! Was being forms the past continuous passive.
❎ Not quite. This describes an action in progress at a past moment.
✅ Exactly! Has been forms the present perfect passive for a singular subject.
❎ Not quite. The subject, “the invoice”, is singular.
Quick review
The past participle stays fixed; be carries every tense change.
The simple tenses use am/is/are, was/were, or will be, followed directly by the past participle.
The continuous tenses add being to show an action in progress.
The perfect tenses add been to connect the action to a later point in time.
In every tense, only the form of be changes; the main verb’s past participle stays the same.
Remember
Change be, not the past participle.
Whatever tense a passive sentence needs, the past participle never moves. Only the form of be around it changes, sometimes with being or been added along the way.