Passive: Is done, was done

The passive voice emphasizes the action or the receiver of the action rather than the doer. For present and past simple passive we use a form of the verb be + past participle: 'is/are + past participle' for present simple passive and 'was/were + past participle' for past simple passive.

• Use present simple passive (is/are + past participle) for regular or repeated actions and general facts.
• Use past simple passive (was/were + past participle) for completed actions in the past.
• Optional: add an agent with by + noun when the doer is important (The report was written by the team).

Use the correct form of be + past participle

• Present: is (singular) / are (plural) + past participle → The report is sent.
• Past: was (singular) / were (plural) + past participle → The reports were sent.
• Agent is optional: include 'by...' only when the doer matters.

Check the subject to choose is/are or was/were

Watch out for these frequent errors when forming the passive:

• Using the wrong auxiliary verb (e.g., using 'do' instead of 'be').
• Forgetting the past participle (e.g., 'The report is write' instead of 'is written').
• Mixing tenses: using present passive when the action is in the past or vice versa.
• Incorrect subject–object order (passive subject is the receiver of the action).
• Forgetting to use 'by' when you include the agent, which can make the sentence unclear.

Always use be + past participle and match be to the subject and tense.