5. “be” in passive sentences
Maybe this discussion will be a little confusing or hard to be digested, but don't worry if you have understood about the function of
“be” before continuous tense, that it wouldn’t be difficult.
Don’t ever try to forget that “ active sentence means the subjects do the action or the verb explain about what the person does; passive sentence means the subject received the action. what is subject in active sentence, now it is object in passive sentence or what is object in active sentence, now it is subject.
In passive sentence, if we include the subject we use preposition “by” to introduce the subject but remember it is now object. Look at the table below:
Present continuous tense (active)
I am buying an umbrella
He is drinking water
She is eating pizza
It is printing documents
We are making our bed
You are pushing a window
They are telling stories
Present continuous tense (passive)
an umbrella is being made by me
water is being drunk by him
pizza is being eaten by her
documents are being printed by it
our bed is being made by us
a window is being pushed by you
stories are being told by them
Past continuous tense(active)
I was buying an umbrella
He was drinking water
He was eating pizza
It was printing documents
We were making our beds
You were pushing a window
They were telling stories
Past continuous tense(passive)
an umbrella was being made by me
water was being drunk by him
pizza was being eaten
documents were being printed by it
our beds were being made by us
a window were being pushed by you
stories were being told by them
again and again, all negative sentences have their “not” after the be and the introgative sentences have their “be” before the subject . here are the formulas.
Positive: subject + be + being + past participle
Negative: subject + be + not + being + past participle
Interrogative: be + subject + being + past participle
If you have mastered above example than it is the time to go to the advance level.
Present tense active positive
Tamariza buys a box of chocolate every week.
Mardi washes his car every day.
Dog always bites a bone.
I make a lot of errors in my life.
We often spend our vacation in Bali.
They cook fried rice every month.
You eat a banana every day.
Present tense passive positive
A box of chocolate is bought every week by Tamariza.
His car is washed every day by her.
A bone is always bitten by dog.
A lot of errors are made in my life by me.
Our vacation is often spent in Bali.
Fried rice is cooked every month by them.
A banana is eaten everyday by you.
Present tense active negative
Tamariza doesn’t buy a box of chocolate every week.
Mardi doesn’t wash his car every day.
Dog doesn’t always bite a bone.
I don’t make a lot of errors in my life.
We don’t often spend our vacation in Bali.
They don’t cook fried rice every month.
You don’t eat a banana every day.
Present tense passive negative
A box of chocolate is not bought every week
His car is not washed every day by her.
A bone is not always bitten by dog.
A lot of errors are not made in my life by me.
Our vacation is not often spent in Bali.
Fried rice is not cooked every month by them.
A banana is not eaten everyday by you.
Present tense active interrogative
Does Tamariza buy a box of chocolate every week?
Does Mardi wash his car every day?
Does dog always bite a bone?
Do I make a lot of errors in my life?
Do we often spend our vacation in Bali?
Do they cook fried rice every month?
Do you eat a banana every day?
Present tense passive interrogative
Is a box of chocolate bought every week?
Is his car washed every day by her?
Is a bone always bitten by dog?
Are a lot of errors made in my life by me?
Is our vacation often spent in Bali?
Is fried rice cooked every month by them?
Is a banana eaten everyday by you?
Formula of present tense active
Positive: subject + verb(s) + obj. /adv. /complement
Negative: subject + do/does + not + obj. /adv. /complement
Interrogative: do/does + subject + obj. /adv. /complement
Formula for present tense passive
Positive: subject ( it was the object) + be + past participle + obj. /adv. /complement
Negative: subject ( it was the object) + be + not + past participle + obj. /adv. /complement
Interrogative: be + subject ( it was the object) + past participle + obj. /adv. /complement
Past tense active positive.
Tamariza bought a box of chocolate last week. .
Mardi washed his car yesterday.
Dog bit a bone.
I made a lot of errors in my life before.
We spent our vacation in Bali last year.
They cooked fried rice last month.
You ate bananas last Friday.
Past tense passive positive.
A box of chocolate was bought last week by Tamariza
His car was washed yesterday by her.
A bone was bitten by dog.
A lot of errors were made in my life before by me.
Our vacation was spent in Bali last year.
Fried rice was cooked last month by them.
Bananas were eaten last Friday by you.
Past tense active negative
Tamariza did not buy box of chocolate last week.
Mardi did not wash his car yesterday.
Dog did not bite a bone.
I did not make a lot of errors in my life before.
We did not spend our vacation in Bali last year.
They did not cook fried rice last month.
You did not eat bananas last Friday.
Past tense passive negative
A box of chocolate was not bought last week by Tamariza.
His car was not washed yesterday by her.
A bone was not bitten by dog.
A lot of errors were not made in my life before by me.
Our vacation was not spent in Bali last year.
Fried rice was not cooked last month by them.
Bananas were not eaten last Friday by you.
Past tense active interrogative
Did Tamariza buy a box of chocolate last week?
Did Mardi wash his car yesterday?
Did a dog bit a bone?
Did I make a lot of errors in my life before?
Did we spend our vacation in Bali last year?
Did They cook fried rice last month?
Did you eat bananas last Friday?
Past tense passive interrogative
Was a box of chocolate bought last week by Tamariza?
Was his car washed yesterday by her?
Was a bone bitten by dog?
Were a lot of errors made in my life before by me?
Was our vacation spent in Bali last year?
Was Fried rice cooked last month by them?
Were bananas eaten last Friday by you?
Formulas of past tense active
Positive: subject + past verb(V II) + obj. /adv. /complement
Negative: subject + did + not + verb word (V I) + obj. /adv. /complement
Interrogative: did + subject + obj. /adv. /complement
formulas past tense passive
Positive: subject + be + past participle + obj. /adv. /complement
Negative: subject + be + not + past participle + obj. /adv. /complement
Interrogative: be + subject + past participle + obj. /adv. /complement
